Ulysses receives quite a bit of flack from people: it's been accused of being too self aware, too difficult, too long, the kind of thing you read just so you can say you've read it, an exercise in graduate student pretentiousness.

I can't agree with those people: the experience of reading Ulysses, though difficult, is one of the most rewarding things I've ever done. Every reading yields a whole new meaning from the text: and I am confident that every one will continue to give me something new and wonderful to love about the book. Joyce is called a master for a reason: he reveals the complexities in all of us by describing one simple day in the life of a simple man just trying to make his way. There is something detestable and yet completely endearing about Leopold Bloom, and even as the reader hates him, he or she realizes how masterfully Joyce has recreated the inner workings of the human mind.

It is WORK reading the book: the Gifford "Ulysses Annotated" and the "New Bloomsday Book" are both wonderful companions to the Joycean reader. Whether its your first time picking up Ulysses or the millionth, there is something to be learned, and new emotions to be felt.