How to read James Joyce’s Ulysses:

Print out a chapter by chapter schematic in quasi-exel form that list themes and motifs for all 18 chapters. There are several on the net.

Get one of the concordances that have been published over the years. Barry Gifford’s Notes on Ulysses is a pretty good one to start with.

Most important: Get Jim Morton’s abridged* audio version to hear the vocal tones of the character’s and their accents. This will clear up a lot of confusion over the way the book is laid out with the idiosyncratic punctuation. (Donal Donnelly has a complete version on audio but his reading is dreadfully dull compared to Morton’s. Patch and fill the abridged version if you must)

For the actual book, I like the 1961 (1934 reset) paperback version as it is the most user friendly**.

Study the themes and motifs page and keep it handy as you listen to each chapter one at a time. After listening to a chapter, read that chapter. After finishing the chapter, study the note book(s) like Gifford’s.

Budget a month to get through it. You may not read it all again, but once all the way through, you can go back to favorite chapters over time and know where you are. It’s all worth it.

*According to Amazon, an unabridged version by Morton is now available.

**User friendly in that you will need to take the book with you and read during pauses in your day. If you commute on mass transit, that’s when you read; not listen or study.