Ulysses
James Joyce
55 people recommended it in 27 threads, 2008–2025.
12 commenters pushed back on it — worth reading the threads.
What people on Hacker News said
The reason that it had, and still has, such a positive influence on my life is the plethora of literary tools which it possesses. It allows for infinite play and imagination, while still being the apparent product of extreme dedication and earned mastery.
Indeed, Ulysses is almost nothing but "unnecessary detail", to the extent that it makes the book all but unreadable (which, I think, is no small part of its appeal).
Rushdie's Midnights Children and James Joyce's Ulysses fall into this category.
There's a lot of "fluff" to it, but the parts that are good are so exceptionally good you will need to come back to them.
Ulysses helped me change my very self-image. I am not a “left-brainer”; I am a human, and art is how we can express and share ourselves with each other.
The book is fractally intricate and intellectually puzzling in the best sense—something new and special to notice every time you pick it up.
Where it comes up
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