Ulysses (novel)

Ulysses

First edition of Ulysses by James Joyce, published by Paris-Shakespeare, 1922. The colour of the cover was meant to match the blue of the Greek flag.[1][2]
Author	James Joyce
Language	English
Genre	Modernist novel
Set in	Dublin, 16–17 June 1904
Publisher	Shakespeare and Company
Publication date	2 February 1922
Media type	Print: hardback
Pages	732
Dewey Decimal	823.912
LC Class	PR6019.O8 U4 1922
Preceded by	A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Text	Ulysses (novel) at Wikisource

Ulysses is a modernist novel by the Irish writer James Joyce. Parts of it were first serialized in the American journal The Little Review from March 1918 to December 1920, and the entire work was published in Paris by Sylvia Beach on 2 February 1922, Joyce's fortieth birthday. It is considered one of the most important works of modernist literature^[3] and has been called "a demonstration and summation of the entire movement".^[4] According to the writer Declan Kiberd, "before Joyce, no writer of fiction had so foregrounded the process of thinking".^[5]

The novel chronicles the experiences of three Dubliners over the course of a single day, 16 June 1904. Ulysses is the Latinised name of Odysseus, the hero of Homer's epic poem the Odyssey, and the novel establishes a series of parallels between Leopold Bloom and Odysseus, Molly Bloom and Penelope, and Stephen Dedalus and Telemachus. There are also correspondences with other literary and mythological figures, and such themes as antisemitism, human sexuality, British rule in Ireland, Catholicism, and Irish nationalism are treated in the context of early 20th-century Dublin. The novel is highly allusive and written in a variety of styles.

Since its publication, the book has attracted controversy and scrutiny, ranging from an obscenity trial in the United States in 1921 to protracted textual "Joyce Wars". The novel's stream of consciousness technique, careful structuring, and experimental prose—replete with puns, parodies, epiphanies, and allusions—as well as its rich characterisation and broad humour have led it to be regarded as one of the greatest literary works; Joyce fans worldwide now celebrate 16 June as Bloomsday.