Finished Ulysses. Great book. Chapters ranked:>Circe>Ithaca>Proteus>Nestor>Hades>Telemachus>Scylla and Charybdis>Wandering Rocks>Penelope>Nausicaa>Cyclops>Eumaeus>Lotus Eaters>Calypso>Lestrygonians>AeolusFiltered by:>Sirens>Oxen of the SunNow I'm between Gravity Rainbow, Infinite Jest (read it in my native language almost a decade ago, will do in English now), or Man Without Qualities.
>>25586456Go with Musil first, his style is more adjacent to Joyce than the other two memes. I’d also rank the chapters the exact same way as you have. Circe and Ithaca often switch. They’re both perfect for opposite reasons. Circe has some apocalyptic yet simultaneously hilarious prose for a lack of a better description>(Bloom, broken, closely veiled for the sacrifice, sobs, his face to the earth. The passing bell is heard. Darkshawled figures of the circumcised, in sackcloth and ashes, stand by the wailing wall. M. Shulomowitz, Joseph Goldwater…. ….the Reverend Leopold Abramovitz, Chazen. With swaying arms they wail in pneuma over the recreant Bloom.)>THE CIRCUMCISED: (In a dark guttural chant as they cast dead sea fruit upon him, no flowers) Shema Israel Adonai Elohenu Adonai Echad.A wild ride to say the least. Shared psychosis between our three protagonists (the third being Dublin)
>>25586456Based Circe appreciator.
>>25586456What's the one where Bloom stands up for himself against the Citizen and leaves on a chariot of fire? That's my favorite. And I'm unironically an antisemite, but that chapter still moves me. Also the double narrator gimmick is hilarious.
>>25586456For me, it's:>Sirens>Circe>Scylla and Charybdis>Cyclops>Calypso>Ithaca>Nausicaa>the rest all kind of blend together in my head, no real preference between them>Aeolus>Penelope>NestorFiltered by:>Proteus>Oxen of the SunI might be overrating Calypso because it felt like breath of fresh air coming right after Proteus, which filtered me hard.Gravity's Rainbow is a brilliant book, and is in a way an answer to Ulysses (Stephen Dodson-Truck being an obvious Joyce stand-in), so you could go for that. Or maybe read through V. first, it sets up many of the themes later developed in GR. On average I'd say it's harder than Ulysses, but Proteus and Oxen are harder than anything GR has to offer.
>>25586622That’s be cyclops. The biscuit tin part was hilarious.
CirceIthacaEumaeus (underrated but very funny) I like all the others pretty much equally.
>>25586456Sirens is phenomenal. Joyce is straight up flexing not only his own innate musicianship but the pure musicality of his prose. Stop trying to understand and simply open your ears.
for me it's ithaca, maybe that's too mainstream an opinion but the prose is unreal
The citizen was right about Bloom
>>25586456Besr chapter is Proteus or whichever one was the funeral procession
>>25586456Why did Sirens filter you? It's not one of the hard chapters and I find it one of the more jubilant parts of the novel.Anyway, I think Nestor and Aeolus are the weakest chapters but even they have multiple moments of intrigue, or even comedy.
>>25587531>this asshole thinks he's like jesus! i'll crucify him, that'll show how un-christlike he is!he's a dusty bum retard, and so are (You)
>>25587509Cyclops to me is the funniest chapter but second place might be Eumaeus >>25586736>On average I'd say it's harder than Ulysses, but Proteus and Oxen are harder than anything GR has to offer.NTA but completely agreed
>>25586456This shit sucked on ice.
>25588011
>>25588023You heard me. Joyce sucks. That's why he had to toss his daughter in the whacko basket.
>>25588025don't you have conan comics to reread, timmy
>>25588030Yes. And they're way better than anything Joyce ever wrote.
>>25588033>I'm a big kid now!
>>25588036>I am le smartJoyce sucks and you're a faggot.
>>25588046I have doubts you read him. But setting that aside. Tell me specifically what you don’t like about his works.
>PLEASE can we buy it, mom??
>>25588066>Tell me specifically what you don’t like about his works.Mostly that they're all incomprehensible, pretentious gibberish that people only pretend to like so that they can feel smart.
>>25588069get your T levels checked, faggot
>>25588071That’s just not true at all though. Dubliners and Portrait are pretty accessible. Ulysses may be a maximalist linguistic labyrinth sometimes, but only in Oxen of the Sun, which if you are familiar with some of the writers being referenced, you may be able to pick up on. Otherwise, there is nothing incomprehensible about the sirens chapter for example, which is one of most enjoyable experiences I’ve ever had reading and I’m sure others would share my sentiment. At no point in that episode are you lost as to what is happening within the story.
>>25588082>At no point in that episode are you lost as to what is happening within the story.At literally every point in every episode I was lost as to what was happening in the story. I've read the rest of the /lit/ canon with no problem whatsoever. Infinite Jest, Lolita, Gravity's Rainbow, Anna Karenina, The Brother's Kharamazov, Moby Dick, every book in the sticky. Only with Joyce do I have no idea what the fuck is going on. He's a shit writer that psueds pretend to like to seem smart. The end.
>>25588084That's loony anon, GR is harder than Ulysses (except Oxen). And you're mixing together CBT books with books readable by your average middle schooler (Anna Karenina)
>>25588084The only book in that list which I’d find hard to follow the plot is GR, specifically towards the end. Saying you were able to understand these books is not the flex you think it is. Just have the humility to admit you got filtered and move on.
>>25588084So something as simple as the allusions to Homer in the Hades chapter, which focuses on death and alienation? You had no idea what was happening then? That they were on a carriage heading to Patrick Dignam’s funeral which is made explicitly clear? You sound like a plotfag anyway who can’t enjoy the fact that each new episode comes with a new linguistic experiment. It takes you aback at most, but you’re used to it (like the parody of romantic prose in nausicaa after we’ve been so used to Bloom’s idiosyncratic stream of consiousness)before long.
>>25588092>>25588094Nah, Joyce sucks and you're a faggot.
>>25588103>each new episode comes with a new linguistic experimentthis is exactly the kind of pretentious psued nonsense that I was referring to
>>25588104>>25588108No point reasoning with a retard as stubborn as you I suppose. Someone could give you a clear and concise sparknotes breakdown of every major plot point and you’d still find ways to deny your own illiteracy.
>>25588108How did you read the whole book without being able to follow it? It’s really not THAT indecipherable, Finnegans Wake? Yes, Ulysses, no. This is why i doubt you’ve read it, or any of the other books you namedropped for that matter.
>>25588114The only reason Ulysses endures at all is because it was used as a basis for a freedom of speech case in the state of NY. Joyce is a hack that only pretentious midwit psueds pretend to like. I'm sorry these facts upset you.
>>25588116I absolutely read every word, and every word of the other books I named. It just sucked and was incomprehensible, is all. Or, I should say, "minimally comprehensible and unnecessarily convoluted".
>>25588122Bet you never did
>>25588071>people only pretend to like so that they can feel smart.This is an overgeneralized unchartiable way of perceiving enjoyer's of Joyce's work, placing them in a performative light as well as being unfalsifiable since you're chosing to repackage their behaviors as inauthentic.
>>25588117No one gives a fuck about some old ass freedom of speech case. It endures because it’s a genuinely inspired piece of literature. Again, I’m sorry your reading comprehension is so stunted that you can’t follow the plot, but that’s on you. There are countless guides out there which break it down, but I suppose they’re all wrong too?
>>25588122You’re just being vague. Forget it.
>>25588126But I did. In fact, I use Tyrone Slothrop as one of my many aliases.>>25588131It's just an observable fact.>>25588134>There are countless guides out there which break it down, but I suppose they’re all wrong too?Yes.>>25588150>You’re just being vague.I was extremely specific.
>25588073you play with dolls lol
>>25588084>literally
>>25588230>another 0 T postI bet you call yourself a feminist IRL lmao
>>25588237>some reddit faggot psued nonsenseyeah that's about what I would expect from Joyce's fanbase
>>25588243
>>25588246it's literally some faggot's opinion about modifiers, go rope yourself you retarded little nigger
>>25588255>>25588237
>>25588257>haha I linked to it againbut you are literally a faggot
>>25588263>>25588237
>>25586456>re-reading Nausicaa>Gerty flashes Bloom>read in notes that Gerty is approximately 17 or 18 years younger than Bloom>realize over the past year a young woman in my area ~17 years my junior has aimed her legs, puss and boobs in my direction to grab my attention, eye-contact included>mfw I have my own Nausicaa/Gerty
>>25586456why does Garden of Seven Twilights get overlooked in every maximalist thread? Cause it's a translation? It's so much more fascinating than the others.
>>25588862I'm interested in this one, but reading doorstoppers takes time. And I want to read Musil, Mason & Dixon, Against the Day and Solenoid first.
>>25588883The bit of Man Without Qualities I did read was funny albeit
>>25588862i'm surprised with a title that faggy it isn't some steven erikson sci fi slop
>>25589138You're the one who reads Steven Erikson
>>25589152i read book one of malazan and it was mid
>>25589173Lying faggot, how else would you know he wrote scifi? I didn't know that, no one does except Steve and you. Probably cause you suck his dick.
>>25589187>ad hominem>personal incredulityYou unconditional concession and surrender has been accepted.
>>25586456>wandering rocks not in top 5shame you didn't enjoy the interconnected vignettes kino>filtered by sirensi understand oxen of the sun, but sirens?>aeolus the lowest ranked>not nausicaawew lad, at least we agree on lestrygonians being one of the worst chapters
