Because is the greatest novel of all time.

because people like the characters, the stream of consciousness musings, and the sense of exploring the day in totality

>>7880501
The same way any novel gets popular, it starts as a meme then people jump in who didn't get that the novel being good was a meme and think it's legitimately good and make up justifications for the meme.

Plus tryhards and hipsters

>>7880511
I have a very strong desire to murder you.

yeah I hated it too don't worry

Daily reminder more people on /lit/ have read infinite jest than Ulysses and 90 pct of posters here haven't actually read enough to appreciate Ulysses

>>7880501

Because it allows book nerds to prattle on and on about how they got all the references, and pretend their literary knowledge is useful.

>>7880691
I read this book when I first got into reading. I Googled "what's the greatest book of all time" and it came up a lot. so I was like sure I'll check it out. not knowing anything about it. didn't even check a synopsis. read it and hated it.

>>7880501
Becausr it's got some of the best characters in literature ever, the references are not only important, but also funny and emotional, it mimics the Odysseus's structure perfectly (up to the point that it's actually better than it), the writing is original, clever, and incredibly coherent with its themes, it inspired a whole literary movement and after all that, it makes you cry and laugh like a baby. You're just baiting or you don't get it at all, or both.

>>7880710
it was pretty boring

>>7880716
It's incredibly dense, definitely. But 'boring', no. The good thing is it's not a book for everyone, so plebs can't ruin it.

>>7880721
>>7880716
>>7880710
>>7880699
>>7880691
>>7880675
>>7880670
>>7880527
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>>7880511
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>>7880507
My question is: how do you guys know he didn't just write random stuff and then felt the need to insert all those references so that his work would appear meaningful?

I've read half of the first chapter and I can already tell he's using Latin and references pretentiously.

>>7880723
Because it makes sense? Because even if he added them later, they're still relevant? Becausr some are also supposed to be part of someone's thoughts so they seem "out of place" but still make sense? Come on, dude. Try to read critically. Look for books om Ulysses. Google the references. Do some work.

>>7880723
Why do you have to go and ruin a thread by quoting fucking everybody?

>>7880723
>I've read half of the first chapter
>and I can already tell
kill yourself

>>7880501
It's the most complex novel of all time and a great show of technical skills. Not necessarily the best or most enjoyable novel.

>>7881528
>It's the most complex novel of all time
Finnegan's Wake

>>7880723
But he did.
That doesn't make the book bad.

>>7880723
Being pretentious isn't necessarily bad. The only people who think that are insecure retards. Joyce WAS pretentious, his references ARE pretentious. Should no authors try, so that all the plebs' delicate sensibilities are protected? Should all fiction be the same, should boldness and originality never be attempted to make those that don't try feel better?

Of course you don't have to like Ulysses, but calling it pretentious is the least valid criticism you could possibly come up with. It betrays not only a lack of, but an outright hatred of intellect.

Know the book is trying to be bold and different. Know that it is, like all other things that make this attempt, making itself vulnerable.

Tl;Dr why do you love being a pleb? Stop it.

>>7880723
>random stuff

Do people actually think this? I'm reading it without a companion and it's fine, the Stephen chapters are quite difficult, but Bloom, while complex, is not necessarilly that difficult to understand.

It's an ancient Irish shitpost about getting cucked

>>7880723
>I've read half of the first chapter and I can already tell he's using Latin and references pretentiously.
That's because Stephen is a pretentious twat and an edgy fedora-tipper that literally euphoriaed his mother to death

>not just watching the movie

>>7880699
I thought it was OK and much better than FW. Wake was trash.

>>7881590
Do you know what pretentiousness is? It's inherently negative, and OP's implication is that Ulysses' linguistic acrobatics and esoteric references are apropos of nothing, and are there basically to be cool. Which is, obviously, bullshit.

There's a pretty good novel buried in Ulysses. Unfortunately it's under a bunch of "Watch me jump, Ma!" showoff crap.

>>7880771
>>7880810
>>7880907
>>7881571
>>7881590
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>>7881680
Look, all I'm asking is this: why? Why does he need to show off his literary knowledge? Why does he need the audience to know that he's read Shakespeare; the Bible; the Greeks; the fables; Latin; the classics. Who fucking cares? If he stripped it all away I believe Ulysses would really fall apart because it INHERENTLY relies on allusions, references, and soulless tangents

>>7882179
Why? Why? Y?YYY!YY? Y? WHY?WHY?WHY?WHY? HELP ME

>>7881546
obligatory
>n's

>>7882179
>>7882187
It's called symbolism. Story-telling becomes infinitely more resonate if you're audience has to work for the meat.

I don't know if you're taking the piss, honestly. If you're not, I hope you're like seventeen or something. For someone who must have at least some passing interest in literature, it's legit bizarre how obtuse you are to something so obvious

>>7882187
Lmao

>>7881751
I presume anon has read

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/feb/09/in-defence-of-pretentiousness

>ITT: why the arts are shit nowadays

>>7881751
The word is inherently negative. You can call what Joyce does in Ulysses anything you fucking want. Its the decision of the speaker to call it pretentious, its the decision of the speaker to call it negative.
But this has nothing to do with what it really is, beyond all definitions and labels. And you will never get at that if you sit in the corner your whole life, jumping through hoops trying to undermine everything that throws you off.