I agree, and in fact I did not start with Ulysses and do not recommend people do. I read 2-10 on the list, then Hamlet, then Ulysses - which I feel mostly prepared me for it. I did love it, but it is not an easy read, and took me the better part of a month to get through.

Why are you conflating "best" with "what you would recommend a friend"?

Many of the best things in life are hard. And you wouldn't necessarily recommend them to a friend.

When you consider specific domains, often the best instances of X tend to be harder versions of X. Or, when people become familiar with many instances of X they seek out the "best" instances of X. Its natural that those best instances would be difficult for people unfamiliar with the domain.

"Many of the best things in life are hard. And you wouldn't necessarily recommend them to a friend."

Yup.

How did you find Ulysses, was it a good read for you?

>Or, when people become familiar with many instances of X they seek out the "best" instances of X

I think you're saying the same thing as the GP? Ulysses is a book for lit nerds, which I suppose the Modern Library board were.

Looking at the list, there's hardly any books from after mid 20th century. That makes me think that the board comprised primarily old lit nerds, who stopped reading long before voting. The list is also super ethno centric, which makes me more dubious still about the claims for "best" anything.

According to the NYT[1], between 1950 and 2018 95% of published English-language fiction authors were white. That Top 100 Novel list contains at least 3 black authors, Ellison, Wright, and Baldwin. Considering that the percentage of black authors for the period 1900-2000 was probably even less than for 1950-2000, and that there are actually only 75 unique authors in that list, on its face I don't see the bias by the voters. The bias is in the disproportionate share of published white authors.

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/12/11/opinion/cultu...

Yes, this list reads like one a Midwestern high schooler would go through to impress his failed literature teacher, who will write him a nice recommendation letter for the ultra-conformist university of his dreams, dooming him to 25 years of debt and a miserable life working as a consultant

Yes, but now tell us how you really feel.

> Ulysses has a massive user experience problem

Seems this book is not intended for you then!

> It's hard. Dense, convoluted, absurd.

These are a few of my favorite things!

Exactly. This is extremely boring piece of writing.

There's definitely some of that going on.

I've gotten the same feeling watching old movies a second time.

I would watch a movie when I was young, and it just came out. It would be "modern", maybe state of the art, and it would have an impact on me. But I was young, and easily impressed by the cliche or trite.

And then I would watch the same movie decades later. Times changed, the art has changed, casting, pacing, effects have all advanced to support the storytelling. And I am older, a different person, and maybe more aware of what is "timeless" with a little more experience under my belt.

It might be a historical deep dive, but compared to the available material our present has, some older media should drop off the list.

Expertitis is not a thing and your criticism is based merely on public perception of the book and not the book itself. In case it wasn’t clear, I disagree completely: Ulysses is very worthy of the honor. It is as approachable as it is lofty.

I have never heard that book described as approachable.

It’s not, really. If you try to read it you will fail miserably with a completely unenjoyable experience. It’s kind of like The Bible or The Odyssey, anyone who recommends it is out of touch.

If you think Ulysses is dense, convoluted and absurd, try Finnegans Wake.

I prefer The Ginger Man to both. Glad to see it make the cut.