Ulysses

[OrangeSkin]

I'm one of the thirteen people who actually plowed through that entire piece of crap. Is anybody else here in that group?

The greatest novel of all time...my as$. After finishing it earlier today, I felt like I'd completed a monumental task. It was like reading a textbook, and it was nearly impossible to direct my attention towards the words because they made no sense.

I don't understand how a book that has no lasting influence (when was the last time you read a novel written in stream of conciousness?), no emotion, no meaning, just big incomprehensible words is considered great.

The only good thing I can say about it is that it competely ripped off the plot of the Odyssey, so you're not really missing anything by not understanding it.

If I wrote something like that for a class in college, I would've gotten an F. The only reason it's considered so great is because some psuedo-intellectual Ivy League professor declared it so.

I understand what it's supposed to be about. I'm not that dumb. But why do I want to read every thought some Irish Jew has? I have enough thoughts of my own to decipher.

For real literature, read books like "Lolita" and "The Great Gatsby".

[APB]

My guess would be that you are alone in the Ulysees club.

I've just finished rereading Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole and have decided that, in my opinion, it is the second greatest American novel of the 20th Century. My vote for greatest would go to Inifite Jest by David Foster Wallace, but only because it is more "monumental".

If you're looking for something to read next, those are this Skins' fan's suggestions.

[Riggo-toni]

Reminds me of when I had to read Proust in college. Awful, pointless junk. No wonder the guy couldn't find a publisher.

[Kizer Jose]

Orange,

I don't like to read Joyce. He makes my head hurt. I haven't heard "Ulysses" called the greatest novel, just one of the top novels of the 20th. And I don't think it's so much to do with the novel itself, but the influence Joyce himself generated. For example, some argue that without Joyce there would be no Beckett, and without Beckett there wouldn't be writers like Shepard, and without writers like Shepard theater today would be entirely different. I agree, but I still don't like to read Joyce. I would much rather sit down with your suggestions of "Lolita" and "The Great Gatsby." But Joyce didn't rip-off Homer, he purposefully used "The Odyssey" as a framework, begetting much of the same method in postmodern lit the past 35 years or so.

For fiction, I'd recommend Cormac McCarthy, James Kelman, and Denis Johnson.

[Muskrat]

Haven't read Ulysses, but I have read 'The Odyssey' and loved it. I also thoroughly enjoyed 'Gatsby', along with Catcher in the Rye. As for 'great' novels and novelists, I often don't agree with what is considered 'great'. I absolutely hate Hemingway and refuse to read anything by him to this day after the scarring my English teacher in High School caused with her worship of his works...

[PCS]

Hmmmm Haven't read Ulysses myself. And from what I'm reading, I'm sparing myself an excruciating experience that would rival my having to read Gore Vidal's Burr, ( and a couple of very long essays written on Fed Ex ). Love Hemingway...especially Old man and the Sea. I always had a problem with Wuthering Heights....sigh..... 13 girls in class...12 boys. Teacher puts decision between Dune and Wuthering Heights up fro vote....... 13-12 Wuthering Heights....sigh..maybe that's why I didn't like it.

[Sarge]

Cliffnotes, dude. Cliffnotes.

[Yomar]

Have not read Ulysses, but I do like Joyce's short fiction. Some of his symbolism is really obscure, and I greatly benefitted from reading it in college, where I had a professor there to point it out. He deserves his reputation as a great writer, but I have never read any of his long works and frankly I don't intend to. His short stories are pretty dense as it is, I can only imagine how difficult Ulysses is.

[Awgustlab]

I actually loved The Odyssey and Ulysses. Who I really did not like reading was Faulkner, who one of my professors scarred me with making us read and write an essay about. I couldn't even finish half of the book (forget which one it sucked so bad). Now, I did take Russian literature, being a minor in Russian and I have to say that I love reading the Russian authors, especially Dostoevsky. Try Crime and Punishment if you haven't already.

[fansince62]

the early Greek philosophers!!!....the best.........

or....a brilliant mid last century Harvard economist Joseph Schumpter: wrote a seminal work titled Capitalism, Socialism, Democracy.

[Kilmer17]

Sorry, I really like Ulysses.

Sometimes art needs to be accepted as art and not have some greater meaning.

[NavyDave]

Greek and Roman mythology used to be a passsing fad of mine back in my junior and highschool days public schools actually had diversified libraries.

Then it became Hentai or reworked as Euro porno which was entertaining

[Henry]

Hmmm ... I'm not a big fan of 20th century literature. Salinger is great when you are under 21 or mentally unstable.

Faulkner and Vonneget think way too hard and take themselves way too seriously.

Hemingway has his moments, but sometimes I get the idea that he sees something that really affected him deeply and has to share, even if it's really boring to the rest of us.

Joyce? Don't really know much about him, so thanks for the heads up.

But then again, I generally prefer non-fiction, so what do I know?

[@DCGoldPants]

just like Madonna's sex book....right guys? come on.....back me up!

:laugh:

[Darth Tater]

When it comes to fiction, I guess my tastes would generally be considered (at least by some) as low-brow. Generally, when I want to read the hard stuff, I go for non-fiction.