This book doesn't make any sense to me unless I read a chapter summary before going through the chapters myself. I'm only on chapter 8, is this a bad way to be reading? Should I just struggle blindly until I get it on my own?
do whatever works for you, man
yeah it's better to read summaries than not if you need to. 'pure literary experience' is a meme
There's nothing wrong with using a guide or Cliffsnotes. Just don't read the commentaries until after you've finished, but also don't let the commentary decide what the book is about for you. If you haven't figured it out how the puzzle of the books comes together for yourself, commentaries are pretty helpful guides.
No, it's what I did the first time I read Ulysses. Looked through the chapter summary on wikipedia then tackled the text. Worked really well.
How were you educated so poorly? Stop fucking worrying about this shit.
You're on chapter 8? I'm just about to finish 7 and by this point I don't need to look up summaries, though I did for the first three chapters.
Maybe you've let yourself be too reliant on them?
>>7973589
I actually didn't need summaries for the first three. I just finished Chapter 8 and find the Bloom chapters far more fragmented and impressionistic.
>>7973608
Mmm yeah, looking at the beginning of eight I'm reminded of the difficulty.
I think you should just do whatever you enjoy most. For eight I plan to struggle through until I make it to the end or get frustrated and need to look up a summary. Hoping for the former. Putting the pieces together is part of the fun, and a bit more satisfying without a framework.
>>7972265
Get the Kiberd annotated edition, works beautifully
>>7973589
>>7973608
>>7973652
I'm nearing the end of Sirens in my reading and I've only been going back to look at summaries after having read the chapters. So far I haven't had too much trouble understanding it, especially the Bloom chapters, but this one is proving to be very difficult. I don't think it's necessarily imperative to read first and then look at the summary, but it has allowed me to form my own interpretations beforehand and so far they have proven to be correct on a larger scale. As far as the allusions and things are concerned I think if you look at the summaries to understand those then you will spend more time reading summaries than reading the actual book.
