“The demand that I make of my reader is that he should devote his whole Life to reading my works.” -James Joyce
In Ulysses, James Joyce uses different types of storytelling while mirroring The Odyssey. He has a table of connections to help his readers to navigate his works and clear knew the investment was placed upon his reader was enormous. It took seven years for him to write Ulysses, so I guess I can’t complain so much about the 5 years of work I spent on Writer’s Quest; however, my novel isn’t even a tad bit as detailed as Joyce’s work.
That was intentional on my part. I wanted my book to be challenging, but at the same time, I wanted it to be accessible. Joyce’s work requires a significant understanding of outside literature prior to grasping all the connections in his novel. Not everyone has the time and support to understand the literature required to connect with Joyce’s work. When I read his book, I dove in, but I was a full-time writer for a chunk of that time. I had to watch videos, reread The Odyssey, and eventually learned his works are much better understood when they are read by someone with an Irish accent who understands Irish culture. Doing all that was exciting and adventurous, and I wanted more people to appreciate that type of adventure right where they are in life.
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