At a writers conference i recently attended, publishing veteran jane friedman said 80,000 words is good for most fiction, below 60,000 isnt novel length territory, and above 120,000 is likely too much. But this book is excellent for all writers, including nonfiction. Ulysses is regarded by many as the single most important novel of the 20th century. It has somehow been filmed twice surprisingly for one of the most interior, detailed stories of all timea story seemingly impossible to adaptulysses has been made into a movie twice. The story follows ulysses journey to ithaca, his home, after his efforts in the trojan war.
Set in 1904 dublin, the novel parallels homers epic poem, the odyssey. Ulysses, novel by irish writer james joyce, first published in book form in 1922. Of course, the summary doesnt tell you a whole lot about what the book is really all about. Dwight garner, the new york times james joyces big blue book, ulysses, ushered in the modernist era and changed the novel for all time. Concerned that grant, a civil war general and twoterm u. Postimpressionist renegades, and its sheer size made the avantgarde feel like a cul. During the day he teaches a class, wanders dublin, goes to a brothel, and. Loosely based on the odyssey, this landmark of modern literature follows ordinary dubliners in 1904. Ranked number one is james joyces ulysses, written from 1914 to 21, published in 1922 and a source of controversy every since for example, banned as obscene in the u.
Nonfiction wordcounts sit between 70,000120,000 words. Nonetheless, it remains difficult, and for that, any judgment based on the usual good story well. Many of the poems clauses carry over into the following line. Ulysses opens at martello tower, several miles southeast of dublin, at 8am on june 16, 1904. Fiction editors focus on plot, writing, and mass market appeal, which means they will want to see sample chapters and a synopsis. Readers of the novel have even been known to stage live readings of the bookwhich can take up to 36 hours.
The greatest strength of ulysses is the manner in which it is told. The book simply chronicles one day in the fictional life of leopold bloom, but it introduces stream of consciousness as a literary method and broaches many subjects controversial to its day. The door to time, the longlost map, and the house of mirrors by pierdomenico baccalario 4. A 1967 version attempts to follow the story, and uses many lines straight from the page. At over 700 pages, its size barely fit my freakishly tiny hands and carried the weight of. In 2003, bloom, starring stephen rae, took a looser approach in an attempt to approximate the novels stream of. Lincoln, a historian and fellow at the huntington library, has crafte. Ulysses by james joyce ulysses takes place in a single day, 16 june 1904, also known as bloomsday, it sets the characters and incidents of the odyssey of. Its kind of like how crazy harry potter people go to platform 9 34. In my opinion, if your nonfiction book is fewer than about 30,000 words 120 pages, it does not feel substantial enough to be real book. I heard 10,000 words can be accepted as an e book at a short length at least for nonfiction.
In james joyces ulysses, you enter one day in the lives of stephen dedalus telemachus and leopold bloom odysseus. The dramatic story of one of americas greatest and most misunderstood military leaders and presidents, this is a major new interpretation of ulysses s. I infrequently see selfpublished authors attempt this length. The adventures of ulysses by bernard evslin is a modern interpretation of homers classic the odyssey. A major new biography of the civil war general and american president, by the author of the new york times bestseller a. Woolsey declared it an emetic bookalthough he found it sufficiently unobscene to allow its importation into the united statesand h. Long book length at the other end of the spectrum a book of 80,000 to 100,000 words has significant heft, 320400 pages. Already a literary landmark for the publication of joyces ulysses and the first appearance of proust. While being plagued by the god of the sea, poseidon, ulysses and his crew falter through many adventures before ulysses finally finds his way home. Ulysses is a modernist novel by irish writer james joyce. With the publication of his landmark novel, ulysses, in 1922, james joyce became a. Ulysses by james joyce is not a holy book in the traditional sense, but i have chosen to post it here because of my admiration of the work. Although ulysses takes place in the course of one day, a whole lot happens hence its 783 pages. Is james joyces ulysses the hardest novel to finish.
This was the message of kevin birminghams the most dangerous book, published on bloomsday, 2014. Ulysses is the reason we are no longer shocked by ulysses. For childrens fiction, the general rule is the younger the audience the shorter the book, and for ya novels the average is 50,00070,000 words. Ulysses is one of the most influential novels of the twentieth century. For more information on ulysses please read the wiki article i found this photo of marilyn monroe reading ulysses from 1954. People go to dublin and follow the footsteps of the people in this book. Woolsey declared it an emetic bookalthough he found it sufficiently unobscene to allow its importation into the united statesand virginia woolf was moved to. Grant 2015, hardcover at the best online prices at ebay.
Ulysses, published in 1922, is considered one of the greatest english novels of the 20th century. Since lots of people seem to be looking at ulysses right now let me give a condensed starter guide to setting up a book project with the app. Ulysses by james joyce meet your next favorite book. Luckily, tweet this book allows you to spice up their microblog with the greatest quotes of all time. I do this in much fuller detail in my little guide writing a novel with ulysses. The stylistically dense and exhilarating novel is generally regarded as a masterpiece and is constructed as a parallel to homers odyssey. The twitter answer to your favorite quotation dictionary, with tweetable length quotes that are clever, cool, smart, touching, wise, funny, and more. Observing their burdensome prosodic effect, the poet matthew arnold remarked, these three lines by themselves take up nearly as much time as a whole book of the iliad. Recipient of the 2015 pen new england award for nonfiction. Both begin a normal day, and both set off on a journey around the streets of dublin, which eventually. Rate this book 1931 downloads one of the most daunting novels in european literature, the concept of james joyces ulysses is deceptively simple.
In james shapiros shakespeare in a divided america. How to read james joyces ulysses and why you should. Scrivener is an advanced writing software created with serious novelists and nonfiction writers in mind. James joyces masterpiece, ulysses, tells of the diverse events which befall. I guess 50,000 is a short novel and some early novels before goes as low as 40,000 which can be considered to be a novella. Capturing a single day in the life of dubliner leopold bloom, his friends buck mulligan and stephen dedalus, his wife molly, and a scintillating cast of supporting characters, joyce pushes celtic lyricism and vulgarity to splendid extremes. It has a collection of templates for both fiction and nonfiction writing. It is considered one of the most important works of modernist literature and has been called a demonstration and summation of. The average wordcount for adult fiction is between 70,000 to 120,000 words. For most publishers, a book is novel length when its between 50,000 and 110,000 words. Nonfiction editors require a full proposal, which means you will have to submit detailed chapter descriptions, explain how your book will fit into.
No 55 personal memoirs by ulysses s grant 1885 the civil war general turned president was a reluctant author, but set the gold standard for presidential. Ironically, rather than inviting firsttime readers to the text, the sheer volume of these. All the action takes place in and around dublin on a single day june 16, 1904. It is a difficult book to read if the experts are right, the difficulty is worth it. James joyce died 75 years ago this week, leaving a lifetime of books beloved by many. Supersummary, a modern alternative to sparknotes and cliffsnotes, offers highquality study guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics. It tells the story of one day in dublin, june 16th 1904, largely through the eyes of stephen dedalus joyces alter ego from portrait of the artist as a young man and leopold bloom, an advertising salesman. I also think that many of this sites friends would find it interesting. Since publication, the book has attracted controversy and scrutiny, ranging from early obscenity trials to protracted textual joyce wars. When david was talking about scenes, characters, etc. I was terrified of reading ulysses but you should read it. Nonfiction submissions bear little similarity to fiction submissions. Both differed from the people about them and walked in isolation among them because each was, according to. You can export books easily to other digital platforms like kindle, kobo, and ibooks which is handy because itll save you.
Ulysses, by james joyce, is a challenge to understand. Its no secret that james joyces ulysses has inspired legions of ardent fans. I was reluctant to purchase this book at first because i am a nonfiction writer, not a. One kid in particular had been commenting on how beautiful the prose of nausicaa is, and the professor, with a sly smile, pointed out that joyce is actually parodying sentimental romantic. Even with the festivities, the books reputation for density, erudition, and inscrutability still daunts many readersleading to a glut of guidebooks, summaries, and annotations. Why we are no longer shocked by ulysses the new yorker. Ulysses is chockfull of dirty jokes and pithy oneliners. It doesnt matter whether youre fiction or nonfiction, this book is a gem for ulysses app users. What his plays tell us about our past and future, the historicaltragical constantly muscles out the pastoralcomical.
This onepage guide includes a plot summary and brief analysis of ulysses by james joyce. Joyces startling streamofconsciousness offers a unique perspective on the events of the day. Its a dark book, in many ways, and a very strange one, but like with people who fear shakespeare, its easy to forget amidst all the hero worshipping how funny joyce was. Ulysses has been labeled dirty, blasphemous, and unreadable. It is at once a masterpiece and an anomaly, a novel that stretches the form and content of the genre of which it is a part. Due to its large file size, this book may take longer to download. The poems seventy lines of blank verse are presented as a dramatic monologue. We remember reading ulysses in a course in college, and about halfway through the book after the nausicaa episode, kids began to get extremely frustrated with it. Nonetheless, it remains difficult, and for that, any judgment based on the usual good story well told criterion will be less than fair to this masterpiece. Images are essential for many nonfiction books not so much when writing, say. Brevity may be the soul of wit, but 140 characters is the absolute limit on twitter. Everybody knows now that ulysses is the greatest novel of the century anthony burgess, observer. On the 16th of june, 1904, stephen dedalus and leopold bloom were both living in dublin. Recipient of the 2015 pen new england award for nonfictionthe arrival of a significant young nonfiction writer.
So 50,000 words is the minimum for a nonfiction book. Aesthetic exclusions in narrative nonfiction project muse. Considered by many to be the second hardest book in the english language mostly because the hardest book in the english language requires a working knowledge of 8 other languages to read. That said, i read dubliners and portrait in preparation, and then spent 5 months reading ulysses really slowly like 510 pages a day, maximum, with the annotations, after having read 3 books of criticismexplanation gilberts james joyces ulysses and burgess rejoyce and joysprick, read the webcomic, and listened to. Bloomsday, an annual celebration of james joyces ulysses, is upon us today with more excitement than ever. At the same time that ulysses uses homers odyssey as a major literary referent, the work heralds the end of the nineteenthcentury novel as it was commonly understood. Ulysses is approximately 265,000 words in length, uses a lexicon of 30,030 words including proper names, plurals and various verb tenses, and is divided into eighteen episodes. James joyce is noted for his experimental use of language and exploration of new literary methods in such large works of fiction as ulysses 1922 and finnegans wake 1939. Goldstein dwells at length, and with frequent repetition, on his writers challenges.