Written by: Declan Kiberd
This book arrived with some critical acclaim, which originally drew my attention. The fact that it was written about James Joyce's "Ulysses" made it a must-have. But from there, it sat on my shelf for over a year, until around Bloomsday I decided to give it a read.
The basic thesis is that academics have stolen "Ulysses" from the rest of the world, though Joyce originally intended it to be read by everyone. (I agree and disagree with the thesis; more on that later.) From there, a significant portion of the book is dedicated to a chapter-by-chapter breakdown of the book, focusing on the "everyday" elements of the novel. It then wraps up with several chapters focusing on some major themes and motifs in the book, including the father-son relationship and Shakespeare.
I agree that not enough "everyday" people read "Ulysses." I disagree with Kiberd's assertion that the book has essentially been hijacked by the academic world. In fact, I would argue that, without the professors and grad students who devour the book like a formal steak-and-salmon dinner, "Ulysses" would have gone out of print a long time ago. I will not dispute that Joyce included many banalities of everyday life, nor that Joyce originally intended the novel to be read by as many people as possible. But "Ulysses" is not an easy read, even for a semi-intelligent person such as myself. Try getting through a chapter like "Oxen of the Sun" or "Circe" without an annotated guide, and you'll be lost in the woods.
I would argue that Joyce merged the "everyday" with the "academic," though he may have tipped the scales in favor of the academic in a few cases (again, see "Oxen of the Sun," "Circe"). There are many details from common life included on every page. He intended to make the novel as realistic as possible - including physical vulgarities which had never previously been hinted at in literature. But Joyce also had a masterful control of the language, and he used his abilities to create a multi-layered novel which could be appreciated in several ways. To claim that the academics have unfairly taken control of the book is to ignore the fact that Joyce (sometimes tongue-in-cheek) also included complex features for academics to savor.
There is also a bit of irony that, at points, Kiberd made arguments - such as the Bloom-as-Christ point - that would only be supported by an academic reading of the novel. Instead, that serves to show that the everyday and the academic were joined by Joyce to create what is, indisputably, the best novel off all time.
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