[whatsername2009]

(Original post by dignityinclay)
I thought that its a renowned book

It is, but if you've never read any Joyce it's probably not the best place to start.

(Original post by James4d)
Seems a bit of a shame though- spending an eternity reading a novel, then after one week you're on to another one. Ah well, suppose that's what English lit courses are about. Ty for the recommendation, might check that out

It's because I'm at Oxford, so our terms are only eight weeks long. I read most of Ulysses over Christmas, then continued reading it until the week when we had to write an essay on it. It's a bit annoying that we have to move on so quickly, but at least there's time to go over work in the holidays.

(Original post by Roger Mexico)
Ulysses is one of the greatest novels written post industrial revolution. Sure it's fairly complex, but just because you're not clever enough to understand it doesn't mean it's bad.

Jesus, half of the posts in this thread are just mind-numbingly stupid. "HURF I didn't understand book X. It's not that I'm vapid, stupid and ignorant, because I've spent my entire life being reassured by my parents that I'm gifted and talented so that obviously isn't the case. No, this book is just a bad book and nobody else can enjoy it because I am basically the bees knees when it comes to reading comprehension. "

Literature is subjective to a certain degree, but there are a number of objective standards by which they can be judged. "I didn't understand it" is not one of them. ****ing stop it. All of you.

I don't recall saying that Ulysses was 'bad', only that the average reader probably wouldn't get much out of it. By your own admission most people aren't 'clever' enough to understand it, and I freely admit that this includes me.

[sarah-clara.jones]

Thank you the bear for this thread - such a good call.

[the bear]

(Original post by sarah-clara.jones)
Thank you the bear for this thread - such a good call.

please think of me when you see this pos

[the bear]

(Original post by hothedgehog)
My god, that book is horrific. I was reading it on a field trip and someone who had already read it kept on laughing at my responses to the more and more ridiculous situations which occurred. After I finished it we both agreed it was crap!

respect for finishing it... i was physically unable to turn the pages after a while

[hothedgehog]

(Original post by the bear)
respect for finishing it... i was physically unable to turn the pages after a while

It was out of sheer desperation - I had nothing else to do!

[the bear]

(Original post by hothedgehog)
It was out of sheer desperation - I had nothing else to do!

My mistake was in thinking that it would be like the wonderful book Aztec by Gary Jennings ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aztec_(novel) highly recommended )
It had a similar cover and size...
Silly me what a waste of 50p !!

[christielovesyou]

'Dorian: An Imitation' by Will Self. Tried to read it when I was going to do the theme of vanity in contemporary literature for my AH English dissertation, but it was so awful that I changed my question so I could go with the original ('The Picture of Dorain Gray') instead. Only made it through about two chapters of that absolute drivel.

[sweeter than a cherry pie]

(Original post by Brevity)
Yeah, I've heard a lot gets lost in the translation from English to English. But, I mean, since you can read Ishiguro's mind and know exactly what he was trying to do and how he failed, that's probably just unnecessary information that would be cluttering up your completely justified evaluation.

This isn't the best post I've written, but I'm sure that's alright since you can bring your mind-reading skills to bear on it and let me know what I was trying to say and how I failed.

Well, you seem a bit of a douche. As I said before, the author was Kazuo Ishiguro - he wrote the book in Japanese originally (okay, I have since been corrected on this one - see below). And have you really never watched a film or read a book and seen what the director/author was attempting to achieve, but didn't quite manage? An example that comes immediately to mind is The Blair Witch Project; an attempt at a spine-chiller, which failed dismally.

Have you read the book?

[Tolth]

(Original post by whatsername2009)
Ulysses by James Joyce. I had to read it for university, and even with multiple guidebooks I couldn't make head or tail of it. Perhaps if I'd spent longer puzzling it out I would have got more from it, but if you just want a decent book to read I'd suggest that you steer well clear.

The fact that you failed to appreciate what is commonly considered to be one of the greatest pieces of fiction ever written does not mean the book is bad.

[Tolth]

(Original post by Roger Mexico)
Ulysses is one of the greatest novels written post industrial revolution. Sure it's fairly complex, but just because you're not clever enough to understand it doesn't mean it's bad.

Jesus, half of the posts in this thread are just mind-numbingly stupid. "HURF I didn't understand book X. It's not that I'm vapid, stupid and ignorant, because I've spent my entire life being reassured by my parents that I'm gifted and talented so that obviously isn't the case. No, this book is just a bad book and nobody else can enjoy it because I am basically the bees knees when it comes to reading comprehension. "

Literature is subjective to a certain degree, but there are a number of objective standards by which they can be judged. "I didn't understand it" is not one of them. ****ing stop it. All of you.

I unequivocally agree. It's really, really depressing to see people on a bloody student forum of all places criticizing pieces of universally acclaimed literature for being too difficult to read.

[thethinker]

(Original post by sweeter than a cherry pie)
As I said before, the author was Kazuo Ishiguro - he wrote the book in Japanese originally.

Actually, he didn't...

Ishiguro is a Japanese-British novelist, who writes in English. I actually really liked Never Let Me Go, but it is true that some people didn't really like the execution of the idea. You might like The Remains of The Day, it's my favourite book

[sweeter than a cherry pie]

(Original post by thethinker)
Actually, he didn't...

Ishiguro is a Japanese-British novelist, who writes in English. I actually really liked Never Let Me Go, but it is true that some people didn't really like the execution of the idea. You might like The Remains of The Day, it's my favourite book

Oh, pants. I was sure that in the sleeve of my book it gave credit to the translators... Thanks for being nicer about it than Brevity, anyway. Did you see the film?

Quite glad it turns out it wasn't translated, actually, because I remember a lot of the English being very stilted and awkward. I feel I can be more forgiving now.

[TheStudent.]

Twilight

[the bear]

(Original post by christielovesyou)
'Dorian: An Imitation' by Will Self. Tried to read it when I was going to do the theme of vanity in contemporary literature for my AH English dissertation, but it was so awful that I changed my question so I could go with the original ('The Picture of Dorain Gray') instead. Only made it through about two chapters of that absolute drivel.

you have just reminded me of another book to avoid:

The Book of Dave by W. Self

unreadable tosh...like this:

– Wot chew fink, Carl, she asked him, reel aw toyist? Carl took the Davework from her; his thumb traced the edge, once jagged but now smoothed by its millennia-long meander through the lagoon since the MadeinChina. He looked closely at the mark for the shapes of phonics.

– C eer, Sal, he said, beckoning her closer, iss an e´d, C ve eer, an vose lyns muss B . . . Eye dunno . . . sowns aw sumffing . . . mebe¨.

– So toyist? She was disappointed.

– Toyist, deffo. He flung it decisively away from them, and it whirred like a sickseed for a few moments before falling into the grass.

Carl started up – what was the point in such dumb imaginings? Cockslip an bumrub, nodditankijelli snuggul. Sal Brudi ul B up ve duff soon enuff bı` wunnuvose ugli o¨l ****ters . . . No, he best forget it, forget her – and get up to the wallows. Whatever might happen in the next few days, this tariff he had graft to do, important graft.

every single page... hundreds of them

[thethinker]

(Original post by sweeter than a cherry pie)
Oh, pants. I was sure that in the sleeve of my book it gave credit to the translators... Thanks for being nicer about it than Brevity, anyway. Did you see the film?

Quite glad it turns out it wasn't translated, actually, because I remember a lot of the English being very stilted and awkward. I feel I can be more forgiving now.

I haven't seen the film. Is it any good?

[mmckn]

The Great Gatsby, a lot of people seem to love it. I found it incredibly dull and boring, nothing really happens for most of the book. :/

[Pensivedore]

(Original post by mmckn)
The Great Gatsby, a lot of people seem to love it. I found it incredibly dull and boring, nothing really happens for most of the book. :/

This.

Maybe I just didn't get it but I thought it was terribly boring, with an uneventful plot and characters that I couldn't even force myself to care for and like, no matter how hard I tried.

[Roger Mexico]

(Original post by mmckn)
The Great Gatsby, a lot of people seem to love it. I found it incredibly dull and boring, nothing really happens for most of the book. :/

(Original post by Pensivedore)
This.

Maybe I just didn't get it but I thought it was terribly boring, with an uneventful plot and characters that I couldn't even force myself to care for and like, no matter how hard I tried.

Come on guys, really? You're really telling people to avoid a book because you didn't understand it?

[Dirac Delta Function]

(Original post by SarahM94)
My Boyfriend is Older than my Dad

Wrong section.

[Dirac Delta Function]

Thesaurus.

No one needs to use a thesaurus unless they are actually striving to be a pretentious twunt.