Ulysses (Cliffs Notes) [Paperback]

Edward A. Kopper Jr. (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 20, 2003 | ISBN-10: 0764538144 | ISBN-13: 978-0764538148 | Edition: Revised

Hailed by many as the best novel of all time, and cursed by just as many as utterly unreadable, one thing’s for sure: Ulysses is one of a kind. Those who are willing to take on this behemoth of a book will be rewarded with a trip through almost every variety of human experience under the sun. Summaries and commentaries will keep you on track as you step into the daily life of Stephen Dedalus and Leopold Bloom and watch their stories unfold. In-depth character analysis, critical essays, and insight into the novel's literary devices will help unlock the novel’s deeper layers. You'll also discover background information on the life of James Joyce and the creation of this, his most famous work.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"With their familiar yellow and black striped covers, the guides have helped millions of students through the darkest hours...They have became an American icon."

From the Back Cover

More New and Revised Titles.
The Best Just Got Better!

Plus Glossary from Webster's New World^TM Dictionary

Anthem
Atlas Shrugged
Beowulf
Brave New World
The Canterbury Tales
The Catcher in the Rye
The Contender
The Crucible
The Fountainhead
Frankenstein
The Grapes of Wrath
Great Expectations
The Great Gatsby
Hamlet
Heart of Darkness & The Secret Sharer
Huckleberry Finn
The Iliad
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Inherit the Wind
Jane Eyre
Julius Caesar
The Killer Angels
King Lear
The Lord of the Flies
Macbeth
1984
The Odyssey
Oedipus Trilogy
The Once and Future King
Othello
The Outsiders
Pride and Prejudice
The Red Badge of Courage
Romeo and Juliet
The Scarlet Letter
A Separate Peace
A Tale of Two Cities
To Kill a Mockingbird
Wuthering Heights

See inside for the complete line-up of available CliffsNotes!

More Than Notes!

Cliffs Complete^TM –Combines the original text of a work with quality commentary and a helpful glossary.
Cliffs QuickReview^TM –Reviews semester long subjects such as Algebra, Chemistry, and writing taught on middle school, high school, and college.
CliffsAP^TM –Prepares students to take Advanced Placement examinations and receive college credit.
CliffsTestPrep^TM –Prepares test takers–both students and teachers–for individual standardized tests.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Cliffs Notes; Revised edition (January 20, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764538144
• ISBN-13: 978-0764538148
• Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.3 x 8.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #134,983 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #9 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Literature & Fiction > Classics > Greek
  • #52 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Literature & Fiction > World Literature > British > General
  • #64 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Reference > Education > Book Notes

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Invaluable, May 20, 2000

By 

Joseph Dewey (Orem, UT USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ulysses (Cliffs Notes) (Paperback)

This guide was invaluable in helping me to understand Ulysses. I could not have made it through Ulysses without it. Kopper is definitely an intense Joyce fan, who has spent many years studying Joyce and Ulysses.

The most valuable part is his detailed summary of the action in the book (which is the smallest part of Ulysses) in every chapter. The book gives a very in-depth analysis of the style, background, and subtleties of Joyce's manipulation of English.

My only criticism is that Kopper never warns the reader-"This part is a hard part to understand." But, most people will get that by page two of Ulysses anyway.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very helpful for a tricky work., June 24, 2001

By 

Christopher Culver - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ulysses (Cliffs Notes) (Paperback)

For those voyaging through the original, but murky, literary waters of James Joyce's novel ULYSSES, the CLIFFS NOTES ON JOYCE's ULYSSES is a superbly helpful guide.

This book contains contains explication on all eighteen sections of ULYSSES, character analyses, and a list of the novel's myriad characters.

If you're going to tackle ULYSSES, take this CLIFFS NOTES guide along.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good first guide, July 12, 2010

By 

James S. Brown (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ulysses (Cliffs Notes) (Paperback)

You can read Ulysses without guidance. You can. Certainly it's likely that if you do, you'll miss out on a fair amount of what's going on in the novel. That's not a bad thing, necessarily, as if you're anything like me, Ulysses is a book you'll come back to again and again, and there will be something new, some whole new thread of theme or motif, some new chain of allusion, to grab you anew. It's a novel, and it's a way of reading.

I've read a few Cliffs Notes, and I've written a fair number of Masterplots entries (and other guides and reference works of that ilk), and in my opinion, if used in conjunction with a careful reading of Joyce's novel, Kopper's little book is a nice first guide. It sketches you a map that will carry you through on your first trip. Maybe, if you have the time and interest, you'll reread the novel with Harry Blamires's Bloomsday Book as a companion, or even Gifford's Ulysses Annotated. And Thornton's Allusions in Ulysses. And-- ...

But the Cliffs Notes are quite good for what they are.

When I first read Ulysses 25 years ago, I did it like this: I read an episode, then I read the Cliffs Notes, then I reread the episode, and then I moved on. That's how you'll get the most out of this tool. If you use it for what it's supposed to be and don't let it read the book for you, you could do a lot worse. When I taught the novel, I was pleased to recommend this guide to my students.

In the interest of full disclosure: I first studied Joyce as an undergraduate with Ed Kopper, but as I haven't spoken with him in at least 20 years, I think you can consider this review minimally biased at worst. Enjoy!