Hi all

I couldn't find a post for the second call which would have been on Monday. Did it take place? I would like to hear it. I'll try and get on a future call, but it's at 2am here in the UK on a work night, so tricky! This forum might be the only place I can contribute.

Thought I would share my experiences so far with the book. I listened to the first call which was good for a general understanding and context. I didnt have the book at the time of listening, so it was a bit hard to follow it without seeing it written down. Once I bought the book (not exactly the Gabler edition but uses the same line numbering system as Gabler) I read the first chapter.... and really struggled with it!

Then I read two sets of notes online, first the SparkNotes that people have referred to, but also the Cliff notes which are more detailed and focus on different elements (https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/u/ulysses/summary-and-analysis/chapter-1). Then I went back and re-read the chapter, really slowly! And this time I understood it quite well.

My personal thoughts on it... I find it amazing how much he fits into one chapter, it's so dense! When you start to really unpick every sentence, there is a lot going on. And on top of that, there is zero exposition. He knows it will be read and re-read, so he doesn't really care about your first impression, it's the the third reading he cares about, which is why it's so hard to digest I think. I find it similar to a new Radiohead album, it only starts to make sense after about the fourth listen.

Not having listened to the call I dont know what the second reading is, but I read the second chapter anyway, and I found this much easier to read and digest on first reading. I think once you've accustomed yourself to his style of writing, it's easier. For example, I didn't find it hard to differentiate between Stephen's internal monologues and his conversations with other people in chapter 2, which I struggled with in chapter 1.

So I cant wait to hear the call and see people's thoughts on it. Will be interesting.

Thanks