/lit/, I ask you:
Is there a point in reading a book if you don't take anything away from it?
I just finished Ulysses, and I feel like I'm none the better for it.
Perhaps I am not cultured enough to understand it; I don't know Latin, I've only read a little Sheakspear, so a lot of the books charm is lost on me.
Still, I've read over and over that people should just read it, because it's so worth it.
I acknowledge it's mastery, however, I feel like I've accomplished nothing.
I feel like I've read all the words in a book filled with a foreign language, and have no deeper understanding of anything substantial.
>>8236084
>Sheakspear
>>8236084
oh my sweet dear, you're just a pleb.
>>8236085
yes.
more importantly, chocolate sheakspear
>>8236084
ulysses is one of the most complex works of the english language, if you're reading it without having read even shakespeare you're not going to understand what really makes it so good.
that said, come back to it in a few years and you'll probably get a lot more out of it, you have some basic idea of the novel so you'll probably understand it a lot more.
>>8236087
I acknowledge that.
So is it even worth it to take all the necessary steps to re-read this book and understand it?
>>8236084
What were you expecting? Reading a book doesn't make you smarter by itself.
>>8236107
I was not reading this to "try and make me smarter"....that's not how that works...
I was looking for something profound.
>>8236116
It is a profound book. What were you expecting to 'take away' from it? Superpowers?
>>8236225
yea dude....super powers. sure.
>>8236084
>I just finished Ulysses, and I feel like I'm none the better for it.
How can this happen? Were you on drugs or some shit? You can take a lot from it by reading once chapter.
>>8236808
As I said in my OP, I didn't understand it properly. Sure, I understood what I was reading, and the events happening, but all of the deeper messages and tributes to great works were lost on me, because apparently I'm a Philistine
>>8236808
I did very much enjoy the chapters : Hades, Cyclops, and Sirens though.
