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I agree, roachboy, as far as my minimal exposure to Joyce will allow me.
I'm not afraid to admit that I had a single failed attempt at reading Ulysses. (I'm willing to believe that 80% of those who claim to have read it have not read its entirety....but I could be wrong.)
My issue is that I'm somewhat ignorant of organized religion and the culture and history surrounding it. This immediately means a good portion of the references are lost on me. This is what dissuaded me from continuing past the first 100 or so pages.
In hindsight, I wish I had continued my trek. I don't think anyone gets all the references, and now I know it's not about getting them. It's about your own experience with the work.
Ulysses is a heavy weight dangling over my head. It taunts me. I hope to read it before I'm dead.
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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön
Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot
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