Joyce's "Ulysses" has the shadow of Homer's epic, which is why it is often regarded as an epic poem. This unique book is very rhythmic to read, and it is not difficult to understand the content if you master the rhythm.

In the first five chapters, I discovered several rules of Joyce's style. Writing them down may be helpful to Jian friends who are interested. Let me first state that I am using Xiao Qian’s translation by Classic Translator Lin. There is also Jin Di's translation by People's Literature Publishing House, which is said to be easier to read, but after reading a few pages, I feel that the text is not as refined as Xiao Qian's.

Dialogue:

- "A pathetic lunatic! Mulligan said. Are you scared?"

- "Not a serious thing Son, he said smugly, it should be called a second return. "

"Thank you, Stephen said. I can't wear it if it's gray."

"Run. , said Stephen, Mr. Deasy is calling you."

Many of Joyce's dialogues are in this form of segmentation. A sentence is divided into two parts, and a "so-and-so said" is inserted in the middle.

Stream of consciousness:

Joyce's way of writing stream of consciousness is very different, with a typical beat: action/stream of consciousness. Other famous stream-of-consciousness writers include the French writer Proust in "In Search of Lost Time", the British female writer Woolf in "To the Lighthouse", and Faulkner in "The Sound and the Fury". They all write in different ways.

——His pace slowed down. arrive. Should I go to Aunt Sarah's? The voice of my identical father.

——The dog barked and ran toward him, stopped, and ran back again. My enemy's dog.

——Another slice of buttered bread: three slices, four slices, done. She doesn't like filling her plate.

The above three paragraphs are typical of Joyce's style: action + stream of consciousness.

Let’s take a look at Joyce’s description of the eating scene. Is it mouth-watering?