Ulysses
Published in 1922, Ulysses chronicles a single day, June 16, 1904, in the lives of three Dubliners: the advertising canvasser Leopold Bloom, his wife Molly, and the young writer Stephen Dedalus. Loosely structured around Homer's Odyssey, each episode corresponds to a moment in the ancient epic while remaining grounded in ordinary city life. James Joyce shifts styles constantly, ranging from interior monologue and stream of consciousness to parody, drama, and catechism, with the famous closing section given over to Molly's unpunctuated soliloquy. The novel captures the texture of thought, speech, and daily routine in vivid detail. Initially banned for obscenity in several countries, it is now widely considered one of the most influential novels in the English language and a defining achievement of literary modernism.
What you might want to know about Ulysses
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
A single day in Dublin follows three characters in a sprawling modernist reimagining of Homer's Odyssey.
Its frank sexual content led to obscenity charges and bans in several countries before later being cleared.
Loosely; each episode parallels a moment in the ancient epic while depicting an ordinary day in Dublin.
Ulysses was written by James Joyce, published in 1922 by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
Ulysses is 562 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Ulysses takes most readers 8 to 12 hours to finish.
Ulysses is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.