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Ulysses: A Reader's Odyssey
Marking the centenary of Ireland’s – and possibly the world’s – most famous novel, this joyful introductory guide opens up Ulysses to a whole new readership, offering insight into the literary, historical and cultural elements at play in James Joyce’s masterwork.
Both eloquent and erudite, this book is an initiation into the wonders of Joyce’s writing and of the world that inspired it, written by Daniel Mulhall, Ireland’s ambassador to the United States and an advocate for Irish literature around the world.
One hundred years on from that novel’s first publication, A Reader’s Odyssey takes us on a journey through one of the twentieth century’s greatest works of fiction. Exploring the eighteen chapters of the novel and using the famous structuring principle of Homer’s Odyssey as our guide, Daniel Mulhall releases Ulysses from its reputation of impenetrability, and shows us the pleasure it can offer us as readers.
Both eloquent and erudite, this book is an initiation into the wonders of Joyce’s writing and of the world that inspired it, written by Daniel Mulhall, Ireland’s ambassador to the United States and an advocate for Irish literature around the world.
One hundred years on from that novel’s first publication, A Reader’s Odyssey takes us on a journey through one of the twentieth century’s greatest works of fiction. Exploring the eighteen chapters of the novel and using the famous structuring principle of Homer’s Odyssey as our guide, Daniel Mulhall releases Ulysses from its reputation of impenetrability, and shows us the pleasure it can offer us as readers.
324 pages, Paperback
Published March 14, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
July 3, 2022
Insightful and illuminating walk through each chapter of Joyce's story of wandering Leopold.
Written in a charming, warm and compassionate tone of voice; measured and balanced between admiration, adoration and respectful interpretation and understanding. A lovely book.
Written in a charming, warm and compassionate tone of voice; measured and balanced between admiration, adoration and respectful interpretation and understanding. A lovely book.
October 5, 2024
"Those who have taken this journey with me will now know that reading Ulysses is a daunting undertaking. It is a test of patience and concentration, and it is not an easy or convenient read. With its frequent shifts of writing style and the mix of narrative, dialogue and interior monologue, Joyce routinely stretches and discommodes his readers. His preference appears to be to surprise and bewilder us...
Is the joy of Joyce's prose a sufficient compensation for the labor involved? My answer is yes, but I would say that, wouldn't I? There is, I believe, sufficient weight and luminosity to Joyce's prose to make it a valuable venture for serious readers."
For most of his diplomatic career, Daniel Mullhall has used Bloomsday celebrations and its readings from Ulysses to introduce the world to Ireland. His copy of Ulysses has accompanied him for that forty-year journey as Irish ambassador to many different countries. As he says in the Introduction, "...I decided to write a book about that great book. As I look in my rear-view mirror, I realize that I have been in dialogue with Irish history and literature ever since my student days. The pages that follow are a product of that dialogue."
There are many guides to Ulysses available, and many of them will give a much more in-depth treatment of Joyce's literary techniques, the real life people who turned up as characters, the references to Irish history and politics, the symbolism, and the themes from The Odyssey, the arts, and the body that Joyce used to structure his episodes. This one is much more accessible, with just enough thoroughness for the non-academic. Mullhall approaches Ulysses as an enthusiastic reader who is excited to introduce you to a book he loves, and hopes you will, too. He gives a lively overview of all eighteen episodes in a conversational style. You will learn some background of Irish society at the time (June 16th, 1904), the politics that get debated by characters, and some details of Joyce's life to get a sense of Ulysses' context, but not enough to overwhelm beginners. Mullhall's audience is anyone who wishes to pick up Ulysses out of curiosity, not literary undergraduates.
Mullhall is also bluntly honest with readers that parts of Ulysses are rough going, like "Proteus" (where most people get stuck), "Sirens," "Oxen of the Sun," and "Circe." There are parts where Joyce probably got too clever, and parts that really could have used an editor. His advice? Don't worry about understanding every word. Some of these chapters can be appreciated for the poetry of the language more than anything else. If you find the part you're on too difficult, feel free to skip ahead. There's not a lot going on, plot-wise, so don't worry that you'll lose the thread.
A very nice visual touch with this book is that it has huge, page-high capital letters starting off each chapter's opening sentence. They're the same design as appeared in the Random House Modern Library edition of Ulysses in 1933, the first to be published in the United States right after the court case that legalised it. A bit of history there, as well as being released the year of Ulysses' centenary. All in all, a recommended guide if you're attempting Ulysses for the first time.
See also:
Daniel Mullhall mentions the time he invited Irish actress Angeline Ball to do a reading of the "Penelope" episode for Bloomsday. She played Molly Bloom in the 2003 movie adaptation, "Bloom" with Stephen Rea as Leopold. As of this writing, it's available on Kanopy, a US streaming site affiliated with public libraries.
Is the joy of Joyce's prose a sufficient compensation for the labor involved? My answer is yes, but I would say that, wouldn't I? There is, I believe, sufficient weight and luminosity to Joyce's prose to make it a valuable venture for serious readers."
For most of his diplomatic career, Daniel Mullhall has used Bloomsday celebrations and its readings from Ulysses to introduce the world to Ireland. His copy of Ulysses has accompanied him for that forty-year journey as Irish ambassador to many different countries. As he says in the Introduction, "...I decided to write a book about that great book. As I look in my rear-view mirror, I realize that I have been in dialogue with Irish history and literature ever since my student days. The pages that follow are a product of that dialogue."
There are many guides to Ulysses available, and many of them will give a much more in-depth treatment of Joyce's literary techniques, the real life people who turned up as characters, the references to Irish history and politics, the symbolism, and the themes from The Odyssey, the arts, and the body that Joyce used to structure his episodes. This one is much more accessible, with just enough thoroughness for the non-academic. Mullhall approaches Ulysses as an enthusiastic reader who is excited to introduce you to a book he loves, and hopes you will, too. He gives a lively overview of all eighteen episodes in a conversational style. You will learn some background of Irish society at the time (June 16th, 1904), the politics that get debated by characters, and some details of Joyce's life to get a sense of Ulysses' context, but not enough to overwhelm beginners. Mullhall's audience is anyone who wishes to pick up Ulysses out of curiosity, not literary undergraduates.
Mullhall is also bluntly honest with readers that parts of Ulysses are rough going, like "Proteus" (where most people get stuck), "Sirens," "Oxen of the Sun," and "Circe." There are parts where Joyce probably got too clever, and parts that really could have used an editor. His advice? Don't worry about understanding every word. Some of these chapters can be appreciated for the poetry of the language more than anything else. If you find the part you're on too difficult, feel free to skip ahead. There's not a lot going on, plot-wise, so don't worry that you'll lose the thread.
A very nice visual touch with this book is that it has huge, page-high capital letters starting off each chapter's opening sentence. They're the same design as appeared in the Random House Modern Library edition of Ulysses in 1933, the first to be published in the United States right after the court case that legalised it. A bit of history there, as well as being released the year of Ulysses' centenary. All in all, a recommended guide if you're attempting Ulysses for the first time.
See also:
Daniel Mullhall mentions the time he invited Irish actress Angeline Ball to do a reading of the "Penelope" episode for Bloomsday. She played Molly Bloom in the 2003 movie adaptation, "Bloom" with Stephen Rea as Leopold. As of this writing, it's available on Kanopy, a US streaming site affiliated with public libraries.
September 29, 2024
This was very good!
Having done a few evening courses on Ulysses and attended readings and Bloomsday talks over the years to better understand this incredible book I have to say this book contains all you need to get a great understanding and prepare you for what is involved in getting to grips with this story.
A lot of what was covered in any courses is covered in this book and I think it's a great introduction to Joyce and Ulysses.
Highly recommend for anyone interested in tackling Ulysses!
Having done a few evening courses on Ulysses and attended readings and Bloomsday talks over the years to better understand this incredible book I have to say this book contains all you need to get a great understanding and prepare you for what is involved in getting to grips with this story.
A lot of what was covered in any courses is covered in this book and I think it's a great introduction to Joyce and Ulysses.
Highly recommend for anyone interested in tackling Ulysses!
June 4, 2023
This was a delightful guide to Ulysses. The author is an Irish diplomat (including the former Ambassador to the United States). Normally this would make me concerned, I would rather read a book by a scholar or at least someone who was truly focused on Ulysses not someone who got attention and publication by virtue of their position. But that would wrong in this case. Daniel Mulhall begins with a discussion of the role that Ulysses has played in his cultural diplomacy that sets the stage for his perspective on the book—a certain unpretentious enthusiasm that it speaks to everyone, is grounded in a notion of what Ireland and the Irish are like, and also in Irish history and politics.
The bulk of the book is a chapter-by-chapter guide (or as people call them in Ulysses, “Episodes,” there are 18 of them) that gives you a combination of description, hand-holding and interpretation—many with some light and diverting/motivating descriptions of the roles that the episode played in Mulhall’s own life and the cultural aspects of his diplomacy.
This was one of two guides I read together with Ulysses, the other being The Guide to James Joyce's Ulysses. I liked them both but if I had to choose one it would be this one, it is a little less detailed and nitty gritty and bit more Irish in its wild enthusiasm. But it is also less literary and aesthetic and more introductory.
By the end it helped me to love both Ulysses and also the author of this guide, who himself felt to me a little like Leopold Bloom.
The bulk of the book is a chapter-by-chapter guide (or as people call them in Ulysses, “Episodes,” there are 18 of them) that gives you a combination of description, hand-holding and interpretation—many with some light and diverting/motivating descriptions of the roles that the episode played in Mulhall’s own life and the cultural aspects of his diplomacy.
This was one of two guides I read together with Ulysses, the other being The Guide to James Joyce's Ulysses. I liked them both but if I had to choose one it would be this one, it is a little less detailed and nitty gritty and bit more Irish in its wild enthusiasm. But it is also less literary and aesthetic and more introductory.
By the end it helped me to love both Ulysses and also the author of this guide, who himself felt to me a little like Leopold Bloom.
April 21, 2022
Someone looking for a fantastic book to read before embarking on a reading of James Joyce's Ulysses, or someone who loves Ulysses and wants to savor the impressions, appreciations, and experiences of a devoted reader of the novel, would do well to read this book. Mulhall, who is clearly deeply knowledgeable about Joyce and Ulysses, is a supreme communicator of the context and the beauty of the novel, and his Reader's Odyssey makes a compelling case for stepping alongside Bloom and Dedalus for their day in 1904. Excellent book!
January 14, 2022
A very approachable introduction to Ulysses. If you've never read James Joyce's most famous novel, this will give you a good sense of it. If you are familiar with Ulysses, you'll probably still enjoy Ambassador's Mulhall's guide.
Read
August 7, 2025My Joycean book pick from the Bloomsday festival in Dublin; such a lot of books about book(s)!
There are so many books in the Joyce/Ulysses industry, where does one start with the critiques and analyses? I think I mainly picked this up as a less-academic exploration, and the idea of a “reader’s” Odyssey appealed to me. Oh, and the interesting cover artwork! I had to adjust my expectations after finding out that the ‘reader’ was in fact Mulhall, the introduction seemed like a vanity project. I was wrong; the author was just setting the context of his own lifetime’s experiences with Joyce and Ulysses, as an Irishman, a historian, and diplomat he was both an exile (like Joyce) and a wanderer (like Bloom). The meat of the book provides an excellent introduction and readable tour of each notional chapter, correctly called ‘Episodes’, from the Homeric framework provided after publication. This under-informed reader learnt a lot about the various imagined and real historical characters, the classical allusions, the endlessly rewarding and frustrating structure and wordplay. I also feel that I have permission now to dip into the episodes separately, and to prefer some more than others, without diminishing the breadth and depth of the incredible whole. I’m inspired to re-read Dubliners and ‘Portrait’ now and see how they fit into the Joycean universe.
There are so many books in the Joyce/Ulysses industry, where does one start with the critiques and analyses? I think I mainly picked this up as a less-academic exploration, and the idea of a “reader’s” Odyssey appealed to me. Oh, and the interesting cover artwork! I had to adjust my expectations after finding out that the ‘reader’ was in fact Mulhall, the introduction seemed like a vanity project. I was wrong; the author was just setting the context of his own lifetime’s experiences with Joyce and Ulysses, as an Irishman, a historian, and diplomat he was both an exile (like Joyce) and a wanderer (like Bloom). The meat of the book provides an excellent introduction and readable tour of each notional chapter, correctly called ‘Episodes’, from the Homeric framework provided after publication. This under-informed reader learnt a lot about the various imagined and real historical characters, the classical allusions, the endlessly rewarding and frustrating structure and wordplay. I also feel that I have permission now to dip into the episodes separately, and to prefer some more than others, without diminishing the breadth and depth of the incredible whole. I’m inspired to re-read Dubliners and ‘Portrait’ now and see how they fit into the Joycean universe.
September 7, 2022
This is a delightful journey through James Joyce's Ulysses and a perfect read in this centenary year. If you are afraid to read Ulysses, if anyone has told you it's impenetrable, if you are intimidated, pick up this book and read it. It will help you decide whether or not to take the plunge. First of all, Mulhall is a devotee of Irish literature; he wrote this while he was the Irish ambassador to the United States starting from blog posts he wrote about Ulysses during the pandemic. He goes through Joyce's book chapter by chapter, partially summarizing, partially explaining, always sharing his joy in reading the book. If you decide Ulysses is not for you after reading this book, you will at least be able to follow conversations of others about the book at artsy fartsy events! I thoroughly enjoyed this book and bought copies for friends and family, it is a delight!
August 5, 2022
this is a personal account of an Irish ambassadors journey with ulysses. a leather bound copy of the book followed him around the world to New Delhi Germany and the USA and more. he's retiring this year to take up a post as professor of literature at an American University.
this is one of many guides I've read to ulysses and it works because it hangs on to the coat tails of Ulysses itself. Mulhall is particularly interested in how Irish history is dealt with so his favourite episode is Cyclops. He's corrected the impression I had of Michael Cusack who as the Citizen gets a hard time from Joyce. But the citizen is still a very realistic character and can still be found in pubs in Ireland still alive and kicking.
this is one of many guides I've read to ulysses and it works because it hangs on to the coat tails of Ulysses itself. Mulhall is particularly interested in how Irish history is dealt with so his favourite episode is Cyclops. He's corrected the impression I had of Michael Cusack who as the Citizen gets a hard time from Joyce. But the citizen is still a very realistic character and can still be found in pubs in Ireland still alive and kicking.
October 31, 2022
I've been fortunate to hear Mr. Mulhall speak on numerous occasions so I knew I would enjoy this book. I finally accomplished reading this book just before Bloom's Day in time for the 100th Anniversary. So this book was a bit of a celebration and I appreciated reading it to make sure I got what I was supposed to get while enjoying some of the humor Ambassador Mulhall shares. For those reading this tome for the first or 50th time, this is a great companion!
August 22, 2022
A lovely addition to have while reading Ulysses, it makes Joyce more accessible. Not a student’s book , but a simple journey through the 18 chapters in Ulysses for those who wish to read Ulysses but not ponder over every sentence.
April 19, 2022
A very down to earth historical approach to Ulysses
March 19, 2025
This was one of three(!) companion books I had while reading Ulysses, and it’s probably the most accessible. I won’t say that it’s the most necessary (for that, see Harry Blamires’s New Bloomsday Book), but it presented the content from a perspective of a normal guy who just loves Ireland and Joyce.
Sure, the normal guy may be the Ireland ambassador to the U.S., but the point is he’s not an academic, so he’s coming from a place of pure passion and the spreading of Irish culture, i.e., cultural diplomacy.
“This is not a Ulyusses encyclopaedia, more a personal sketchbook offering what I hope will be a palatable taster rather than a full-scale scholarly banquet.” In that way, it is also a tour, through Ulysses as well as early 20th century Ireland and Dublin, Joyce’s background and story, some context around the publication of and reaction to Ulysses, and a little of Mulhall’s story too (though not enough to be at all distracting).
Like so many companion texts to Ulysses, the book is helpfully divided by chapters, with some thematic commentary, alongside the Odyssean roots of which the chapter gets its name and theme from. We get excerpts of the text, alongside helpful, and oftentimes humorous, analysis that helps us understand the text, its stylistic quirks and its deeper meaning, while also reminding us that it’s okay to struggle through different parts of it.
And that last bit is probably what’s most helpful about this book — sure, every commentary more or less offers contextual analysis and criticism, but Mulhull’s uniqueness is derived from the fact that he is a casual reader, just like us all. He gets as frustrated with the Joycean complexities for which Ulysses is so known as much as the rest of us.
To sum it up in the last chapter, “A Parting Glass,” Mulhall again reiterates that his point was “to be helpful to readers attempting to come to grips with the twentieth century’s most famous novel,” while acknowledging that Ulysses is “a bit of a bottomless well, whose hidden depths require assiduous plumbing.”
He comments on the many forms and themes the book takes on, from being a moral history of Ireland and its relationship and struggle with Britain; an ambitious adventure and experiment in the English language, with “frequent shifts of writing style and he mix of narrative, dialogue and interior monologue"; the encyclopaedic nature of the text and its “piles of consequential and inconsequential details”; and manifestation of intolerance found in Dublin and Europe as a whole re: Bloom’s Jewish heritage.
But for all this, to Mulhall, Ulysses is ultimately a character-driven novel, with Bloom, Stephen, and Molly at its heart, and Bloom being the ultimate everyman, despite having his roots in Odysseus: “He’s an exceptional figure on account of his essential ordinariness… He accepts his lot as a cuckold, an unsuccessful advertisement salesman and a dreamer of unfulfilled dreams… But he endures and, by doing so, records a minor triumph when he returns to Ithaca, unchanged and unfulfilled but also undaunted.”
Even overlooking the stroke of genius in Joyce, the grand conception of the novel and its command of language and character, it is also a universally relatable story — it has something for everyone — and touches on all aspects of life, with a loving and caring perspective, and most importantly, with a human voice.
Sure, the normal guy may be the Ireland ambassador to the U.S., but the point is he’s not an academic, so he’s coming from a place of pure passion and the spreading of Irish culture, i.e., cultural diplomacy.
“This is not a Ulyusses encyclopaedia, more a personal sketchbook offering what I hope will be a palatable taster rather than a full-scale scholarly banquet.” In that way, it is also a tour, through Ulysses as well as early 20th century Ireland and Dublin, Joyce’s background and story, some context around the publication of and reaction to Ulysses, and a little of Mulhall’s story too (though not enough to be at all distracting).
Like so many companion texts to Ulysses, the book is helpfully divided by chapters, with some thematic commentary, alongside the Odyssean roots of which the chapter gets its name and theme from. We get excerpts of the text, alongside helpful, and oftentimes humorous, analysis that helps us understand the text, its stylistic quirks and its deeper meaning, while also reminding us that it’s okay to struggle through different parts of it.
And that last bit is probably what’s most helpful about this book — sure, every commentary more or less offers contextual analysis and criticism, but Mulhull’s uniqueness is derived from the fact that he is a casual reader, just like us all. He gets as frustrated with the Joycean complexities for which Ulysses is so known as much as the rest of us.
To sum it up in the last chapter, “A Parting Glass,” Mulhall again reiterates that his point was “to be helpful to readers attempting to come to grips with the twentieth century’s most famous novel,” while acknowledging that Ulysses is “a bit of a bottomless well, whose hidden depths require assiduous plumbing.”
He comments on the many forms and themes the book takes on, from being a moral history of Ireland and its relationship and struggle with Britain; an ambitious adventure and experiment in the English language, with “frequent shifts of writing style and he mix of narrative, dialogue and interior monologue"; the encyclopaedic nature of the text and its “piles of consequential and inconsequential details”; and manifestation of intolerance found in Dublin and Europe as a whole re: Bloom’s Jewish heritage.
But for all this, to Mulhall, Ulysses is ultimately a character-driven novel, with Bloom, Stephen, and Molly at its heart, and Bloom being the ultimate everyman, despite having his roots in Odysseus: “He’s an exceptional figure on account of his essential ordinariness… He accepts his lot as a cuckold, an unsuccessful advertisement salesman and a dreamer of unfulfilled dreams… But he endures and, by doing so, records a minor triumph when he returns to Ithaca, unchanged and unfulfilled but also undaunted.”
Even overlooking the stroke of genius in Joyce, the grand conception of the novel and its command of language and character, it is also a universally relatable story — it has something for everyone — and touches on all aspects of life, with a loving and caring perspective, and most importantly, with a human voice.
August 27, 2025
The best craic of any Ulysses book I looked at [while reading the novel], and thus one of the only ones I actually properly read through. Originating as a series of blog posts, it is neither systematic nor particularly helpful as a guide, more of a series of asides and musings from a very charismatic and interesting man—which I can attest to personally, having somehow managed to end up at lunch with Mulhall in Edinburgh [in 2024]—who has a lot of thoughts about at least some of Ulysses. It’s clear Mulhall loves ‘Cyclops’ and does not particularly enjoy ‘Oxen’, which should give those who know Ulysses a handle on the kind of reader he is (not meant to be derogatory in any manner).
June 22, 2022
The most used word in this book is “I”.
This is not a companion to Ulysses, it is one man’s telling us all about his life with the book (which I thought would be covered enough in the preface) but even 3 chapters it just seems to be about how “I” did this and “I” did that, which I can’t say is so engaging coming from some privileged diplomat. Reads like someone exercising their ego.
Put it down on the third chapter. Ulysses is infinitely more readable.
This is not a companion to Ulysses, it is one man’s telling us all about his life with the book (which I thought would be covered enough in the preface) but even 3 chapters it just seems to be about how “I” did this and “I” did that, which I can’t say is so engaging coming from some privileged diplomat. Reads like someone exercising their ego.
Put it down on the third chapter. Ulysses is infinitely more readable.
June 29, 2023
This is an accessible travel guide around Joyce’s gargantuan novel with interesting insights drawn from Mulhall’s experience as an ambassador. It hasn’t made me any more excited to read Ulysses, but I feel that it has given me enough context to get more from the novel than I might otherwise have done.
May 20, 2022
A wonderful guide to reading Ulysses. Highly recommended.
October 15, 2022
The best of the three Ulysses "guidebooks". Mr. Mulhall's enthusiasm for Ulysses comes through on every page and you feel like he's having a conversation with you.
February 7, 2024
I took my time with this one. I enjoyed it....a great guide to Ulysses....and not an academic text, as the author is at pains to point out. I found that it has increased my appreciation of 'Ulysses'.
December 18, 2023
Very good accompaniment to Ulysses; I would not have made it through without this guide
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews