David_T_Whitworth (davtwhit@mars.utm.edu) from 192.239.151.236 at 03/25/96 05:32PM
comment
You wanted three things about Ulysses that everyone should know?
- 1. There is a fine, sometimes invisible line in this book--not
everything that happens actually happens. Some of it is only in the minds
of the characters, and it can be hard to tell the difference.
- 2. Bloom is sometimes merely pathetic, sometimes a little obscene, but
when you look at some of the things said about him you start to feel very sympathetic towards him in spite of his faults.
- 3. It's very tempting to skim thru large portions of the book. You can
probably do that without missing much plot (the description of Bloom's fantasy estate is extremely skimmable, for instance) but you can miss a lot of good jokes if you do (like in the
list of saints' names).