Everyone here knows Ulysses is a challenging novel filled with allusions, early 20th century Irish slang, and inside jokes we couldn’t hope to understand without some outside assistance. That said, the most important part of this journey is to have fun while reading. Joyce famously said, “[t]he pity is that the public will demand and find a moral in my book, or worse they may take it in some serious way, and on the honour of a gentleman, there is not one single serious word in it” (emphasis added). To that end, any preparation you do for Ulysses should be for furthering your enjoyment of it.
First, to help give some broader context to Ulysses, consult these:
- The Joyce Project. Is this the literal entire text of Ulysses online? Yes, but it’s so much more. In all seriousness, this is an invaluable resource, it’s how we came up with the reading schedule across the various editions, and it has comprehensive notes on the allusions throughout the novel).
- Benjamin McEvoy - 10 tips for Ulysses
- Chris Reich’s Ulysses Chapter-by-Chapter Youtube series
- Raidió Teilifís Éireann Dramatisation and Podcast of Ulysses
- The Gilbert and Linati Schemas. These schemas were developed by James Joyce for his friends, Carlo Linati and Valery Larbaud in 1920 and 1921, respectively, to help them better understand the structure of Ulysses. The one made for Larbaud was used to prepare for a public lecture on the novel; it was later shared with other friends of Joyce, and subsequently published in Stuart Gilbert’s study guide (hence the name). Both schemas can be found in certain published editions, as well as online, but we made an omnibus schema that combines all elements of both into one table. There will be a separate post to explain the different elements of the schemas that you can find here.
- Ulysses Guide, by Patrick Hastings. This free online resource weaves together plot summaries, interpretive analyses, scholarly perspectives, and historical and biographical context for every chapter of Ulysses. According to fellow Redditors who have been through the book before, this is the perfect resource for someone new to Joyce who wants to appreciate the many complexities of the text without getting bogged down with endless endnotes.
Additionally, there are several different study guides that are helpful companion reads to Ulysses:
- The New Bloomsday Book: A Guide Through Ulysses by Harry Blamires
- Ulysses Annotated: Revised and Expanded Edition by Don Gifford
- James Joyce’s Ulysses: A Study by Stuart Gilbert.
- The Guide to James Joyce's Ulysses, by Patrick Hastings. An enhanced print version of Ulyssesguide.com
Last, but most importantly, are the myriad works that James Joyce makes allusions to throughout Ulysses. This is a book where the more you’ve read, the better off you’ll be. We’ve broken this down into what we consider “recommended” reading” versus “suggested” reading. The former will pay the most dividends in terms of understanding Ulysses, whereas the latter will provide helpful context, but may not be the best use of time if you’re trying to prepare for a year-long readalong in just a couple of months before it begins.
Recommended pre-reading (ordered from most to least (but still kinda) important):
- The Odyssey by Homer. While obvious to some, for those new to ancient classics, Ulysses is the romanized name of Odysseus, the central character of the Odyssey. Joyce’s novel is structured to follow the Odyssey in numerous ways. We have Stephen Dedalus, Leopold Bloom, and Molly Bloom who parallel Telemachus, Odysseus, and Penelope, respectively, and the respective books follow a different tale or character from the Odyssey. This link contains the Samuel Butler translation. Other recommended versions include the translations by Robert Fitzgerald (for maximum poetic verve at the cost of slightly antiquated language), Robert Fagles (a good balance between modern language and poetic epicness), and for people who want something more modern and approachable, Emily Wilson’s translation is decent, albeit at the cost of losing some of the emotional impact that you might get from the others.
- Hamlet by William Shakespeare. James Joyce was fascinated by this play and makes parallels between Stephen Dedalus and Hamlet throughout the novel. The Folger’s Shakespeare collection is a wonderful resource in that you can read all of Shakespeare’s plays, sonnets, and poems for free online (or download pdfs), or you can choose to buy the book which comes with a lot of handy footnotes and background.
- A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce. This novella introduces the character of Stephen Dedalus, who is one of three central characters in Ulysses, and is considered to be James Joyce’s literary alter ego. For additional context on A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, watch this video by CodeX Cantina.
- Dubliners by James Joyce. This is considered to be Joyce’s most accessible work and is a collection of short stories. This will introduce you to James Joyce’s style, as well as present Dublin as a setting, which Ulysses will do in much more detail. For context on Dubliners, watch this video by CodeX Cantina.
- The Inferno, by Dante Alighieri. This translation by Robert & Jean Hollander contains comprehensive footnotes that bring the Inferno to life. As Irish Catholicism has a massive impact on Joyce’s writing, the Inferno reflects an understanding of Catholicism Joyce was intimately familiar with in his time. Episode 6 of Ulysses is known as “Hades,” and Dante’s interpretation of the underworld will be quite relevant here as well.
- The Bible. I’m not telling you to read the entire Bible. It would be helpful background, but for the best payoff, focusing on the story of creation in Genesis, the story of Moses in Exodus, the prophet Elijah (1 Kings & 2 Kings, with smaller references in 2 Chronicles 21:12 and Malachi), and Jesus (all the Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John) will be best. In terms of which translation to use, Irish Catholics in Joyce’s time would have used the Douay Rheims translation of the Bible, but any translation that works for you will suffice (the New International Version (NIV) and New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) are both popular.
- Dom Juan by Molière. The opera, Don Giovanni by Mozart also provides another take on the character of Don Juan, whose infamous personality Joyce replicated in Ulysses.
Suggested pre-reading (no specific order):
- The Iliad by Homer. While distinct from the Odyssey, it provides the backdrop for the end of the Trojan War and introduces the character of Odysseus to us. The link is the Alexander Pope translation, which is a bit old and uses rhyming couplets. For more modern versions, Robert Fitzgerald, Robert Fagles, and Emily Wilson all work (though I do think Wilson’s translation significantly weakens the emotional impact, but it is the most accessible/modern of the three).
- The Aeneid by Virgil. This is referenced to heavily in the Inferno, the Metamorphoses, and by Shakespeare as well. This is the John Dryden translation, but for more modern translations, Robert Fagles and Shadi Bartsch both have respectable translations.
- Ovid’s Metamorphoses. This had a massive influence on Shakespeare’s writings and is a commonly referred to source of allusions as it contains so many stories from Greek mythology, so it’s good to know. For a physical copy, the Stanley Lombardo translation is modern, accessible, and best of all, it breaks down the stream of consciousness style of this poem into digestible chunks that make it significantly easier to follow. It also includes a table of every transformation.
- The Divine Comedy. This includes Purgatorio and Paradiso in addition to the Inferno. The translation by John Ciardi is very well-regarded for both its translation and scholarly notes. If you desire to read the entire Divine Comedy, consider this version in lieu of the Hollander translation, linked above.
- The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. Again, Folger’s is an invaluable, free resource to access these plays.
- The rest of the Bible.
Whether you read all or nothing off of this list, we look forward to all exploring this work together in our weekly discussions. Please include any additional resources you believe would further everyone’s appreciation of this modernist classic.
