By David O’Brien

IRISH SPECIAL

James Joyce is one of Ireland’s most important writers. He wrote several novels and short stories, such as “Finnegan’s Wake”, “Dubliners” and his most famous book, “Ulysses”. He is the Irish equivalent of Shakespeare or Cervantes. Books by these two writers, such as “Hamlet” and “Don Quixote”, are often on the school curriculum in their native countries. However, Ulysses is not required reading in school in Ireland, or any other country in the world. Why is this?

COMPLICATED

In fact, there are not many Irish people who have even read “Ulysses”. It’s one of those books that everyone intends to read one day, but never seems to get around to doing. It is also one of those books that people start reading but never actually finish. In fact, it must hold the Guinness World Record for the number of people who have tried to read it and failed. One of the reasons for this is that it is very long and unbelievably complicated. Just take a look at this extract, which is the first part of the book. Readers are welcome to write in with their own interpretations:

God, he said quietly. Isn’t the sea what Algy calls it: a grey sweet mother? The snotgreen sea. The scrotumtightening sea. Epi oinopa ponton. Ah, Dedalus, the Greeks. I must teach you. You must read them in the original. Thalatta! Thalatta! She is our great sweet mother. Come and look.