Yes, read Portrait first. Hell, read Dubliners before that.

James Joyce grew by leaps and bounds, so tackling him chronologically is an amazing journey, especially if you take in his play and poems

>>8119252
No, but I wouldn't go into it blind. Read up on the structure a bit and definitely buy some notes.

>>8119263
Which notes do you suggest?

>>8119275
Don't buy notes the first time you read it. Do it the second time. They will suffocate you and you won't enjoy the flow of the novel as much.

Try to get as much as you can on your own, and don't worry about not getting it all, because no one can get it all when observing thoughts and lives of other people.

Reread it after that with notes. Joyce didn't put notes in it for a reason.

It doesn't matter all that much. Most introductions to Ulysses give some background info.

Its a book you can read regardless of education

>>8119283
Ok thank you.

>>8119252
Here's the offical list of everything you need to read before Ulysses:
A brief history of Ireland
Dubliners
A portrait of the artist as a young man
James joyce by richard ellmann
Hamlet
The odyssey
The bible
Hero with a thousand faces
Paradise lost
faust
Don quixote
Grimma fairy tales
sound and the fury
The sun also rises
Infinite jest
The 48 laws of power
Hittchhikers guide to the galaxy
House of leaves
Game of thrones
The electric koolaid acid test
Fear and loathing in las vegas
Tao te ching
Bossypants by tina fay
Pulp fiction: the screenplay
1000 movies to see before you die
Winslow homer: paintings
The letters of wolfgang amadeus mozart
The bradygames final fantasy 7 strategy guide

>>8119318
>Its a book you can read regardless of education
Also this. It's quite a shame that people are so afraid of it because everyone thinks it's a book for scholars and professors of literature only. You can get from it a lot even if you are a casual reader.
>>8119319
No problem, senpai.

>>8119252
It depends what you're reading it for.

If you're reading from a perspective of how it connects to Greek mythology and other portions of Western thought, you should be well grounded in Homer and most of the major 'classical' works as this guy/girl >>8119500 suggested.

But if you're just reading it for the style, forget everything i just said.

>>8119556
this

jus dive in. if you know the story of the odyssey you'll get a little more out of it. portrait is really not necessary. ulysses continues the story of stephen deadalus but stephen's character is entirely self contained in ulysses. seeing him at age 10 isn't necessary to understanding him at age 20, though it is kind of neat.

if you're an english student who wants to study joyce or dig down into the book's every nook and cranny, there'll be some supplementary reading to do, but for the average person it's fine going in blind

and feel free to skip around a bit. if a chapter isn't making sense to you (and some surely won't) come back to it later

Why not read portrait first? Its great, plus its easier.

If you want to read both, read them in that order. If you're not really that interested in portrait just read ulysses.

>>8119252

Nah, I'd say it's no need. It only gives you some more background info on a character. The important bits are mentioned, and the less important are mentioned in various annotations, if you plan on using them.

Odysseia, on other hand, is a must if you're trying to understand schemas in different chapters. Without reading Homer you'll miss a ton of really awesome references.

>>8119500
Underrated post.