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oh dear, and you have such a long way to go still... not very readable then?

It's by far the most complex book I've ever read. Before, Proust's In Search of Lost Time held that position but this one is even... worse? Better? I don't even know.

I read this, but only because I had to for University and I needed to read critiques and essays to understand it. But once youve finished it you should feel proud!

glad you (sort of) liked it! Here's my take on Bloomsday, in honor of Bloomsday:

Thought I would Die before finishing, I was actually going through Radiation Therapy at the time... I only Wished after finishing, that Someone would have suggested I read the End; Molly's take, before reading Leopold's!...
Then again... Maybe Not!...

How did you find this emily? Should I read this? Our professor in literature made us read joyce's araby and I really liked his use of stream of consciousness and his first person narration is certainly remarkable.

Checking the reviews of people I follow after reading and reviewing this book for myself -- amazed to see that you and I feel exactly the same way after finishing this book. I can't rate it either. Reading this book was a feat and I certainly didn't enjoy the journey, but I *think* I enjoyed the destination.

Accurate

Haven't read it yet, but your reaction sounds a lot like my reaction to Blood Meridian.

I love that reaction. I'm not a huge Joyce admirer. Haven't gone into this tome yet sadly. Read Portrait of the Artist, which I liked a lot but didn't love. But, of course I will read his Ulysses one of these days. I love that he's different, and I don't think its a pretension, he sees the world this way and is a genius. His language and prose is like poetry, always, and I admire his tenacity to be unapologetically creating what he wanted to create and not what anyone else would require of a book. Gotta love the spirit of a real artist. But, he kinda leaves me with the same feeling I get reading Thomas Wolfe, (not tom wolfe), different dude, who was a genius writer died far too young in American letters. That feeling is, dang, he's a genius and he writes beautifully, but his content sometimes lacks the damn drama it needs. Like in Portrait. Yes, brilliant telling of his life slowly throwing off the provincial to become an artist, but turning back to make art of the provincial, throwing off the trappings of religion and becoming his own mind, but damn, the choices of scenes need more drama for me. Like stop telling the reality of life, and start giving me the dramatic that emphasizes a real thing in life. Where's the damn madness. Excuse the crudeness, but Joyce feels like a tease that never climaxes, because he's being too authentic in a way. I'm like dammit. Punch a vicor or something and if you didn't, make it up that you did. haha. flash a nun, haha, stop talking about how you were in a school play once and got bullied before by a mulligan and then were all chagrin about it. haha. like. ya. it happened that way. but i also eat three square meals a day but im not gonna write a novel bout em. haha. Just kidding. I'll read this one too at some point. And I'll do so out of love of genius.

Awesome.

oh my! maybe in my next life I may tackle it...

I have been willing to read but I'm still not sure whether I want to read it in a way where I'd Google and look up each reference or just plow through it missing most of its brilliance 😵

Amazing book

Yup, saying you read it is the priority. I guarantee you'll never want to read it ever again though.

To-The-Point Reviews wrote: "Yup, saying you read it is the priority. I guarantee you'll never want to read it ever again though."

Never ever again. In fact, these days I tend to tell people life is too short for Ulysses or Infinite Jest. I don't value bragging rights as much as I used to, I guess 😂

Your reviews are why I still have some hope in this site. All the one-line 'life's too short lololol' fluff was starting to make me lose faith. People should challenge themselves at least once (even if they don't return to it).

Have you read Finnegan's Wake? Joyce might have lost himself a bit there, but I found his ambition admirable.

Now I’m intrigued and want to give it a shot, thanks!

This motivated me to read it!

Couldn’t have summed it up better lol

Well said. I just finished it and couldn’t agree more!

This review is the one thing keeping me from completely giving up on this dang book.

That's a great review. I read it in college- I remember struggling mightily and that was with the help of a professor. It might be time to read it again now that I'm old and (guffaw) wise.

Your review sums up this book perfectly�.

Lol!

What an accomplishment!!! That’s awesome.