Hello Veeky Forums I just got this book what should I expect?

Pleb alert. Also Finnegans Wake is his best.

its brilliant so far but i dont think i can take more 20p passages about hell and piety. desu its worth it for the proz alone

...

That part seemed intentionally difficult to get through because it was a part of the protagonist's life that was difficult to get through. It was a painful experience that he felt stifled his life, which is exactly what the prose conveys there.
That's how the entire book works.

The retreat is one of the best parts of the book.

I would be delighted to feel my flesh tingling under your hand . Do you know what I mean, Nora dear? I wish you would smack me or flog me even. Not in play, dear, in earnest and on my naked flesh. I wish you were strong, strong, dear, and had a big full proud bosom and big fat thighs. I would love to be whipped by you, Nora love! I would love to have done something to displease you, something trivial even, perhaps one of my rather dirty habits that make you laugh: and then to hear you call me into your room and then to find you sitting in an armchair with your fat thighs far apart and your face deep red with anger and a cane in your hand. To see you point to what I had done and then with a movement of rage pull me towards you and throw me face downwards across your lap. Then to feel your hands tearing down my trousers and inside clothes and turning up my shirt, to be struggling in your strong arms and in your lap, to feel you bending down (like an angry nurse whipping a child's bottom) until your big full bubbies almost touched me and to feel you flog, flog, flog me viciously on my naked quivering flesh!!

i love Veeky Forums

i love how half the on-topic threads on this board are desperate pseuds basically asking other desperate pseuds, "how do I enjoy this book."

you fucking read it, you read the context behind it, you can read the suggested works before it, you form your own fucking opinion

It's a story consisting of various episodes in his life.
Expect impressionism, Catholicism, Thomas Aquinas and based priests that you will never have to teach you metaphysics and aesthetics.
Also, hookers.

It blew me away and got me into Joyce, buying a $3 copy of this and Dubliners together was the greatest purchase I've ever made.

Can anyone tell me what the best version to get is? I'm having trouble choosing between the Oxford Classics, Penguin & Barnes & Noble editions.
I've read in various places that Oxford is superior to them all but I'd like some feedback on this

Anyone ever notice how many threads we have of OP buying a book and then asking our opinion on it, without having read it yet? What goes through the brains of people like this? Wouldn't it make more sense to ask before buying?

Or how about actually reading the damn thing, and then make a thread what you thought of it, and ask for opinions?

I don't get these dumb threads.

it's his worst major work, which still places it somewhere in the range of top 500 books ever written desu.

I usually buy Penguin editions because they look nice but I'm sure Oxford/Barnes & Noble have more scholarly introductions and footnotes. Perhaps that why you always see Penguin editions at second-hand bookstores

>goodreads

Just in front of the next bus you see

I read the Barnes & Noble, which was nice because it had both Portrait and Dubliners, and it did help me understand some parts with the notes. But often there were just too many footnotes, they unnecessarily explained things that were obvious. Granted, it was only mildly annoying, but it was annoying.

No, nobody notices, shut up.

Apologies friend, I merely wanted to know what everybody tought of it. As a form of preparing myself for the read and getting some discussion flowing on the author. But all means make another philosophy thread why don't you.

I'll keep it mind. Thanks for the feedback anons.

Just stop. Clearly you haven't read Ulysses. Yes, Portrait is more accessible, and that's a point of merit, but anyone who sticks with Ulysses could not really deny the latter's incomparable richness, creativity. I like Portrait but its kind of a standard coming of age thing.

>inb4 I'm a "pseud"

both are great for different reasons, but Ulysses pulls it through in my book. the way Joyce plays with perception with sight and sound is absolutely mind boggling.

I bought a used copy from the 50s for $1. I looked up a lot of Irish history references and wtf a "tundish" is on Wikipedia while I was reading it. I'm glad I made it though it, I'm of mostly Irish descent so I'm glad I've read some Joyce.

AFTER THE RACE IS UNDERRATED AF

I had brief friendships with monied, continental Europeans during high school and it describes the experience perfectly.

Dubliners is the old testament of middle class feels.

Went to a thrift store today and found an 8th printing of Ulysses, but they evidently knew what it was and they want $500 for it.

>I like Portrait but its kind of a standard coming of age thing.

That's kind of unfair. I just finished Portrait, and while it's no Ulysses, I found it to be more than just a standard coming of age tale, it's more like an exceptional example of Kunstler-Roman in English literature; the way in which Joyce follows not only Stephen's maturation of self but of his artistic ability and voice is nothing less than exquisite.

I remember a girl I dated said she had a whole class on Joyce. Maybe even another one on just his Ulysses. That or her uni just offered an addition one just on it.

Also, I remember talking to her about Dublinerd a d Araby in particular.

Just reread it.

Fuck. That is even more depressing than I remember.

I am about to go to grad school for a Master's in English Lit. The first semester they offer a course entirely on Ulysses. I am considering taking the plunge.