My final thoughts on Ulysses, in the style (sort of) of Episode 18, which should give you some idea of what reading this book was like…
Yes I say YES I have finished Ulysses and I say yes Joyce is most definitely whacked and yes indeed he spews and yes that song was more prescient than I ever could have guessed and yes I should have just read this comic that Erin‘s husband found or even listened to the words of Joyce’s own wife that Other Jill sent to me because even Nora thought that her husband’s writing was crap only she said chop suey and he should write “sensible books that people can understand” so yes I am so damned glad this book is over this piece of shit piece of crap book that Trisha talked me into reading and if she ever asks again I will say no I will say HELL NO I will say Joyce is demented and Bloom is a hypocrite and godonlyknows what the point of Stephen or any of it was and there is no way I am ever reading this piece of shit piece of crap book again (and I call it that because that’s what I feel but also because Joyce had an obsession with piss and shit and I’m being nice and explaining why I included that unlike Joyce who didn’t explain squat and filled his book with obscure references that I’m convinced only he knew or maybe even made up and at this point I could give a flyingfuckall about any of it) or any other novel that Joyce penned and if I even mention it please smack me upside the head with a waffle maker because holycrapola I cannot stand the way he writes and yes chop suey really is the best way to describe it besides piece of shit piece of crap and yes I admit that I can’t figure out what the point of it all was other than to create misery and baffleloathment and WTF’ery in my mind my heart even my soul and yes wow Joyce really knows how to suck the reading mojo right out of a person yes he does but for now I will rejoice yes indeedy I will exult I will exclaim and yes I will exclaim in all caps because they are ohsoapropos HALLELUJAHTHANKGODPRAISEJESUSANDALLAHANDYAHWEHANDZEUS (but not Joyce, oh no never him) I have finished and this readalong is over and done with it’s alldone it’s finis it’s put to bed oh yes it’s nevereverEVER happening again.
I’m guessing you’re writing this in the style of one of those chapters…
You should see Jason’s original review of the book. He wrote it in sections each after the style of the chapter he was talking about. He spent hours putting it together and giggled about it the whole time: http://5-squared.blogspot.com/2009/05/ulysses-by-james-joyce.html
Ha ha! Nice.
There was a great quote about James Joyce in Jane Goes Batty! It had me laughing
OMG – I can’t believe you actually finished it!! Loved this post…
Ok… so let me get this straight…
you didn’t like it?
Terrific post Molly, er, Jilly
Wow. I am so in awe that you finished that book! I don’t think I could ever do it. I did manage to read Stephen Hero- much much shorter book that just focused on Stephen- but even that one there was so much confusion in there I could not make head or tails of. Yikes!
Congratulations on seeing it through
Well, I’m sorry you went through all that – I’d have said HELL NO before it even started – but getting a post this awesome out of the experience means it’s not a total loss. Maybe?
Well I for one think it was worth the pain just so you could write the funniest post ever!! Sounds like the Brothers K was a walk in the park in comparison.
I’m so in awe of you and sad that I can’t quite share ALL of the misery but I guess I can say I was there at the start. What an accomplishment. I’d order you a plaque but you’d probably just throw it hard into the ocean, right?
I am so proud of you! Even hearing all of that, I still wish I had not dropped the damn thing….perverse of me I know.
Congratulations!!! I’m still never going to read it but I am mightily impressed by those who fight through it in the face of its manifold frustrating aspects. :p
Bravo! I may get there someday…
ROFL! Well done!
Thanks to you now I know what Ulysses is about. I can say that I know somebody who has read Ulysses, and it’s crap.
This novel was absolutely an exercise in anger management. I’ve placed an official restraining order against Joyce in our household! Thanks again for hosting – I would have given up long ago if I didn’t know someone else was sharing my pain.
Ooooooh dear god.
I still have my copy on the family room side table like I might pick it up any day now and continue on but after reading this post and hearing that Brothers K wasn’t even as bad, I’m thinking Hell to the No. Funny how it started off with promise. I mean, at the first check in none of us were finding it terrible, right? Or have I just forgotten?
Sorry to have abandoned ship but big fat kudos to you and Jason for finishing.
Ha! Love it! I’m so impressed you actually finished. My husband is halfway through but is determined to finish. He keeps reading bits to me just to be obnoxious.
Yes. Ulysses is absolute crap. I don’t know what the fuck the fake fuss is about not being able to read it and finish the pathetic crap. Back in 1989 I had to wait five months after requesting it at my local library because it was continuously on hold. I read this over rated rubbish in 1 week… and I was not impressed. I couldn’t give a flying fuck about Bloom and the other non characters. Seriously, Homer, Odysseus, Stephen, etc bored me to death.
This book is highly regarded… why?! Is it because it is supposed to be ‘hard’ therefore it is amazing literary art? Is it because it uses so-called for its time the avant-garde/modernist writing aproach therefore it is somehow the most brilliant? Is it because it is a fantastical literary smokescreen with fuck-all substance and a lot of pretentious twat? Probably.