Book · 1922
Ulysses
by James Joyce
A reader gets twenty pages into Ulysses, realizes they understood none of it, and starts over from page one.
What does Reddit think of Ulysses?
r/suggestmeabook is where most of this happens, and the register is confession, not analysis. One of the highest-upvoted comments in the whole tracked corpus is just "I have a complicated relationship with that book" (↑1220). A second describes getting twenty pages in, realizing nothing had landed, restarting, and still losing the thread after three (↑451). r/booksuggestions reads more critical than r/suggestmeabook on the numbers here, and the quotes back that up: "I can't get more than 50 pages in before I lose all sense of what's going on" (↑139). There's a running bit, too: one comment doubts anyone has actually finished it (↑117), and it keeps getting recommended specifically to test a reader, "he'll definitely suffer... and maybe grow a bit" (↑148). r/Fantasy and r/printSF's small mention counts suggest the book's reputation travels well outside literary-fiction spaces, mostly as shorthand for difficulty instead of a specific plot or character reference.
Community feedback & reader fit
Themes
- · A reputation for being abandoned partway, not finished
- · Recommended specifically to make someone struggle
- · The default answer to 'hardest book you've tried'
- · Paired reflexively with Infinite Jest as the difficulty benchmark
Common praise
- + Shows up in r/suggestmeabook's shortlist next to Confederacy of Dunces and Infinite Jest as one reader's personal three-book canon (↑89).
- + Recommended specifically to make someone struggle and grow from it, alongside Infinite Jest, treating the difficulty itself as the point (↑148).
- + The single highest-upvoted comment in this whole sample is someone still working out their feelings about it years later, not a dismissal (↑1220).
Common criticism
- − r/booksuggestions' top comment gives up around page fifty and says so plainly, with no defense of pushing further (↑139).
- − More than one high-upvoted comment questions whether anyone actually finishes it, which undercuts any claim that it's a rewarding read and not just a stunt (↑117).
- − The most-upvoted comment in this whole sample is a shrug, "a complicated relationship," not an argument for or against reading it (↑1220).
Who it's for
Want to be dared into something? This is Reddit's go-to answer when someone asks for the hardest book on a list, recommended more than once specifically to make a reader struggle (↑148). Restarting a book from page three counts as normal here, not failure. One of the highest-upvoted comments in this sample describes exactly that loop: twenty pages in, lost, starting over, still lost (↑451). Want confirmation you'll finish it and feel good about it? This data doesn't have that. The closest thing to a triumphant read here is silence on the ending, not praise for it.
Mentions over time
Top subreddits
Which Reddit comments matter for Ulysses?
The most relevant excerpts across the subreddits where this book is mentioned — opinionated, argued takes first, then top-upvoted mentions. Click through to read the full thread.
“Ulysses by James Joyce Ulysses by James Joyce. I have a complicated relationship with that book.
“I read a lot and read pretty fast. But when I first read Ulysses (James Joyce), I got about 20 pages in and realized I had no idea what I had read. So I started over and got about 3 pages and realized I was still lost. Finally I slowed down and re-read the first few paragraphs a few times before …
“**Classic Literature** (mostly 19th century fiction) **Beginners:** • To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee • The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain • Wuthering Heights - Emily Brontë Runner up - Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen **Veterans:** • The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Du…
“You want something like Joyce's Ulysses or Foster-Wallace's Infinite Jest - not obnoxious, per se, but he'll definitely suffer... and maybe grow a bit, too.
“If hardback, switch out the book jackets, and read what you want. Most people will be impressed by something with high name recognition and a long history of being considered hard in high school. Shakespeare, for example. Or “the Collected Works of…” If you want to impress the academics, my mom’s …
“Ulysses by James Joyce. I’ve tried starting it a few times now but I can’t get more than 50 pages in before I lose all sense of what’s going on.
“James Joyce’s Ulysses. I refuse to believe that anyone has ever even read through to the end.
“Ulysses. The Joyce one. Never did finish it. Took an Incomplete and then let it turn into an F. No desire to give it another shot.
“Ulysses!! I love The Odyssey. I love the idea of a literary epic. But James Joyce’s prose… ugh. I shamelessly DNF’ed and won’t be returning.
“Ulysses by James Joyce. Can’t get more pretentious than that.
“You haven't read Ulysses or Portrait of the Artist, and you're going to say that Joyce's prose is overrated? That's like saying you think Michael Jordan is an overrated basketball player but you've only ever seen him play for the Wizards.
“Irish here and it's got to be Ulysses by James Joyce
“Ulysses by James Joyce. Tried it 4 times. Just tried the audiobook. Gave up after 30 minutes.
“No, Ulysses is innovative in its development of themes and use of style to convey meaning--saying it gets incredible acclaim because it references other literature is just incredibly wrong lol Intertextuality is apart of why Ulysses is still talked about, but its a singular book that immense depth …
“Funny enough I'm also a lurker, but because I love *Ulysses* so much I'd love to share my thoughts for the first time on the sub. Preeminent thanks for posting something I feel I have the authority to comment on! I actually have my MA in Irish Studies and have done quite a bit of critical work with …
Convinced? Pick up Ulysses
What else does r/suggestmeabook read?
Other books mentioned in the same sub, ranked. Shared-sub overlap with this title breaks ties.
Ulysses — frequently asked
Is Ulysses actually worth finishing, according to Reddit?+
This sample doesn't settle it. The most-upvoted comment tracked (↑1220) is just "I have a complicated relationship with that book," and r/booksuggestions' top mention (↑139) describes giving up around page fifty. Nobody in the displayed excerpts argues the ending pays off the struggle.
Why do people recommend Ulysses to challenge someone?+
Because that's explicitly the pitch in at least one comment here: paired with Infinite Jest as a book that will make a reader "suffer... and maybe grow a bit" (↑148). The difficulty is the recommendation, not a caveat attached to it.
How far do most Reddit readers get into Ulysses before giving up?+
Based on the specific numbers volunteered in this sample: one reader in r/booksuggestions stops around fifty pages (↑139), another describes getting twenty pages in, restarting, and still losing the thread by page three the second time (↑451). Neither reports finishing.
Has anyone on Reddit actually read all of Ulysses?+
At least one high-upvoted comment doubts it outright: "I refuse to believe that anyone has ever even read through to the end" (↑117). That's one commenter's opinion, not something this dataset can verify, but it's a recurring sentiment across the top comments here.