Joyce & Bloomsday & such

[Woodsy]

so yesterday was Bloomsday, the 100th year anniversary of that day in 1904, Stephen Dedalus and Leopold Bloom each took their epic journeys through Dublin in James Joyce's Ulysses.

it was celebrated round the world & i even had some pints with some gents last night in SLC on red bikes & with the green cumberbunds.

so I know some of the iconagraphy & the passion some people have for this work & the city it depicts.

The problem: I cant finish the damn book.

I am moderately intelligent & semi well read & have started this monstrosity 4 times to no avail. It is just a slog.


any hints or help?

I feel like I am missing something

[iceman]

Dude, if you're a mad puzzle-solver it's a treat. I know people who live for the NYT crossword, and to them it's just another puzzle, they absolutely love it.

But if you're like me, after a while some smart guy trying to trick and bamboozle you gets old.

Joyce was brilliant, but eventually he decided his readers were morons, and set out to prove it.

Read "The Dubliners" instead.

And for God's sake, stay away from "Finnegan's Wake" (which may be the most amazing work ever written in English, or perhaps the worst).

Flann O'Brien is my favorite writer, and the funniest man of the century past, in my opinion. Mencken might be second. Or maybe S.J. Perelman, or Thurber.

Joyce, feh, further down the list for me.

[CantDog]

Its amazing one person could write some of the best books, but also the worst. Portrait of the Artist of a young man is one of my favorite reads, but I absolutely cannot stand Dubliners. I also really enjoyed the Dead. Tried Ulysses, but there is a point when an author is too smart for his own good.