If I were shipwrecked, this is the book I would want with me. Like most people I started very tentatively and failed miserably several times. Something kept drawing me back and I'm so very glad that it did. Little by little things clicked into place. I began to look up things that I had difficulty with. There is a treasure trove of fantastic information online and in print to help unlock this masterful piece of writing. If you are considering diving in I would say, go for it. In store for you is a book that will keep on giving. It's impossible for me to do justice meaningfully to this long, complicated and sometimes confusing book but when you boil it down, what it's really about is, what it means to be human. Joyce said that if Dublin were ever destroyed it could be rebuilt from the pages of his book. Likewise, I think that if an alien read Ulysses he would understand exactly what it means to be human. One final thing don't take everything that the 'experts' say as fact. I found many mistakes/misinterpretations in articles videos and podcasts when looking up different parts of the book. Ulysses is meant for everyone so read it your own way and with your own interpretations, the rewards are huge. Above all enjoy. Tadhg.