Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: Ulysses by James Joyce ISBN: 0-679-72276-9 Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 01 June, 1990 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $17.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.88 (318 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: By God Kinch, what does it all mean?
Comment: I've read the reviews. I've seen the complaints. "It doesn't mean a thing... I can't understand it... It's just a bunch of drivel..." All are opinions that anyone who has read the book is certainly entitled to. As for all the scholars out there who say that there are hidden meanings in every sentence, well, that's your opinion too. And you're more than welcome to scour "Ulysses" for the rest of your natural life looking for pieces to Joyce's grand puzzle. But I'm going to offer something a little different - those who would scour the novel for such meanings are missing the point in almost the same way as those who toss it aside as incomprehensible.
In "Ulysses", we are given access to the inner-consciousness of Stephen Dedalus, Leopold Bloom, and Molly Bloom. They are normal people living ordinary lives in early 20th century Dublin. They go to work, go to the bathroom, walk the streets, greet people, and think about their lives. They mull over details of their own lives that are so personal to them that they could mean nothing to anyone else. And if you think about it, isn't that what we all do? If someone were to open up your head and read your thoughts, they might say the same thing - "What the heck is this?" But we also consider the things that affect us all; love, death, loss, and hate, among others. Those are the thoughts that would carry weight and meaning for anyone, and the characters in "Ulysses" ponder these things as we all might. We cannont completely become them, and thus we cannot completely understand everything they think of. But they hit upon enough major truths so that there is meaning for anyone. Their adventures through Dublin would have made an interesting story on their own - being able to see inside their minds takes the novel to a completely different level.
Rating: 5
Summary: Inner organs of beast and fowl
Comment: In reading some of the reviews other Amazon customers have written about ULYSSES, I feel compelled to respond. I am particularly concerned by the number of people who gave the book a poor review after admitting that that hadn't bothered reading past the first few pages. There's an adage in criticism that goes something like "Just because it's popular doesn't mean it's good" (AMEN to that)...a corallary could be "Just because it's difficult doesn't mean it's a 'literary hoax."
Yes, as hard as it may be to believe in some circles, ULYSSES is not a hoax. It is, however, difficult, and not, I repeat NOT for everyone. The stream-of-consciousness, the language(s), the style(s), and the fact that Joyce brought in all sorts of obscure references make it just plain difficult sometimes.
The travels of Leopold Bloom about Dublin on that fateful day of June 16, 1904, can be, for the right individual, a difficult, fun journey. What brings fans of this work, like myself, back to it again and again, is the fact that each time we read it we discover something we missed (or misunderstood) the last time (or last 10 times) around.
With a little work on the reader's part, ULYSSES can be finished. Many of us have actually made it to the end, scratched our head, and started again a few weeks later (after full recovery).
Give it a shot, and if it's not for you, don't even bother moving onto FINNEGANS WAKE...you won't make it past the third line!
Rating: 5
Summary: TAKES MORE SMARTS THAN I HAVE
Comment: I made the decision that I was an educated person. As such, in order to be well read, there were certain books I needed to read. One of them is "Ulysses". I struggled. It was almost beyond my ken. My feeling is it can be read and understood as part of a class, in which the reader takes notes and periodically discusses it with an expert. As far as "pleasure reading," I leave it to smarter people than me.
STEVEN TRAVERS
AUTHOR OF "BARRY BONDS: BASEBALL'S SUPERMAN"
 |
Title: Ulysses Annotated by Don Gifford ISBN: 0520067452 Publisher: University of California Press Pub. Date: 01 October, 1989 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
 |
Title: A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man (Penguin Classics) by James Joyce ISBN: 0142437344 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 25 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $9.00 |
 |
Title: The New Bloomsday Book: A Guide Through Ulysses by Harry Blamires ISBN: 0415138582 Publisher: Routledge Pub. Date: 01 August, 1996 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
 |
Title: Finnegans Wake (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics) by James Joyce ISBN: 0141181265 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 December, 1999 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
 |
Title: Dubliners (Dover Thrift Editions) by James Joyce ISBN: 0486268705 Publisher: Dover Publications Pub. Date: 01 August, 1991 List Price(USD): $2.00 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
