Ulysses by James Joyce and Illuminatus by Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea
How one thing can lead to another
I have tried and failed to read Ulysses many times. It is perhaps the premiere modernist novel. As such it is full of experimental prose. That means it can be hard to parse and boring to read. At least, I’ve always found it so in past attempts. And yet, for some reason, I recently felt motivated to try it again, and…
I am now more than one hundred pages in, and I’m still enjoying it!
Admittedly, it’s not a page-turner for me. I can and do put it down constantly to read or do other things. I imbibe maybe ten pages at a time. But I do enjoy those pages while I’m reading them.
The trick is to not resist!
Let the book be what it is, Let the steam of consciousness passages flow over you like abstract, expressionist poetry. Do not require that you must understand every word or line. Rather, try to compare those passages to the workings and wanderings of your own brain.
Does your mind jump around like that? Yes, it does!
Is it fun to slip into the chaotic thought-flow of Stephen Dedalus or Leopold Bloom, and try to see how much of what they think and feel you can understand? Yes, it is.
Does it matter that you cannot understand everything? No, it does not.
Is the language beautiful? Yes, it is.
Do you disappear into the perceived experiences of the characters? Yes, you do.
And please understand — it’s not all stream-of-consciousness abstraction. Much of it is straightforward (if stylish) narrative. It still won’t be for everyone, but perhaps my thoughts above can help make it work for you. Or, if you want to try something a bit similar but with a more standard prose approach you might want to…
Use Illuminatus as preparation for Ulysess
My reading of another modernist classic, Illuminatus by Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea, helped prepare me for this attempt at Ulysses.
Illuminatus has become my favorite novel of all time. It’s simply a hoot, but in order to enjoy it I first had to accept the scene-jumping time-inversion structure it employs.
Relaxing my grip on standard narrative helped me enjoy Illuminatus, and that paved the way for my current enjoyment of Ulysses. I know this would make Robert Anton Wilson happy because Joyce was an inspiration to him. But Wilson is also something that Joyce was not — FUNNY!
In Illuminatus Wilson and Shea (and then Wilson by himself in later books) took all the conspiracy theories in the world and mixed them together with heavy helpings of sex, drugs, rock and roll, paranoia, credulity, skepticism, surrealism, absurdity, profundity, sobriety, drunkenness, sadism, masochism, and just about everything else you could think of. Illuminatus will also teach you about important things like fnords and Discordianism (Hail Eris!). Plus, Illuminatus has my favorite opening line of all time…
It was the year when they finally immanentized the eschaton.
Should you read Illuminatus first? I would! But don’t be afraid of Ulysses!
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Copyright © Perry Willis 2023
Perry Willis is the co-founder of Downsize DC and the Zero Aggression Project. He co-created, with Jim Babka, the Read the Bills Act, the One Subject at a Time Act, and the Write the Laws Act, all of which have been introduced in Congress. He is a past Executive Director of the national Libertarian Party and was the campaign manager for Harry Browne for President in 2000.
