I think this may be the book that Joyce said took him a lifetime to write so it would take a reader a lifetime to read (comprehend)

He definitely put years into it. I first tried reading it cold, with no prep. I read the first 3 pages over and over and gave up, it made no sense. A few years later I read a book about it which was a huge help. Then I found an entire section at the Connecticut College library dedicated to it.

I'm still finding "hidden tracks" in it after reading it and reading about it for 25 years. Like how the first 3 chapters parallel the last 3 chapters. How Bloom's path at a certain point in the city resembles a question mark. The barmaid Sirens, the drunken lout Cyclops character, and all the other Odyssey parallels.

I visited the Martello tower from Chapter one when i went to Dublin, that was so cool to be there. I never did find Nelson's Pillar though. ;-)

I've been avoiding Finnegan's Wake for years, all the excerpts I have read have scared me off.

*books

Adding video to channels (Books) - requested by Eklek.

I recently re-read this as well as Robinson Crusoe. I find both to be very interesting in that you get an understanding of dominant philosophies of the time, the traditions of life, language and more subtly writing; how all of those developed together and reflected upon each other.

But they are also both incredibly dull. I sort of wish I could read it as someone from that era read it, because I imagine it might be a little like seeing a film with revolutionary use of new film tech like sound or colour for the first time. It might be another old western, but it's engaging with parts of your brain you're not used to using in that particular medium. Whereas we're used to advanced and refined versions of the same thing, because it influenced so many.

I took a Joyce Major Authors class in college (about 15 yrs ago). We read Dubliners and Portrait in their entirety, and probably about 40% of Ulysses and excerpts from Finnegan's Wake.

For some literature, you really need to do homework to appreciate fully. You'll miss a ton if you don't know history and current events that people were generally aware of at the time. And, even when you do that work, sometimes you still won't get it all - which is how I see Finnegan's Wake.

My experience reading (some) Ulysses was great, but it depended on the professor who would assign a chapter for homework and then spend the entire class going through it with us. We were Lit majors, so we knew The Odyssey, but some references were completely over our heads. Like, Bloom is humming advertising jingles throughout the book - and these weave together with other literature references, sometimes making a joke about popular culture, sometimes taking a swipe at literature/history. I got maybe 10% of the significance during my initial, solo reading.

My mid-term paper was a super close reading of one small section (I think it is in chapter 4) where Bloom is in the tub, contemplating how his dick and balls look like a lily pad as they are floating in front of him in the tub.

Yes, chapter 5 is the "Lotus Eaters" chapter, with Bloom at the Turkish Baths at the end.

My favorite chapters are 15 "Circe" in the red-light district where Bloom and Daedalus are visited by apparitions, both euphoric and demonic.

And Chapter 17 "Ithaca" the one written entirely in a question and answer format:

What act did Bloom make on their arrival at their destination?
At the housesteps of the 4th Of the equidifferent uneven numbers, number 7
Eccles street, he inserted his hand mechanically into the back pocket of his
trousers to obtain his latchkey.

Was it there?
It was in the corresponding pocket of the trousers which he had worn on
the day but one preceding.

Why was he doubly irritated?
Because he had forgotten and because he remembered that he had reminded
himself twice not to forget.