today,

i found out that i'm that kind of person.

i said to myself, i don't empathize well with characters right now. i find them boring. i find their troubles overrated and their joys irrelevant.

i said to myself, this would be an excellent time to read an epic, or something. something from before the time when writing was more about character than plot. like, the iliad or something. but i've always had a hard time with those. i find them dull, too.

i said to myself, what do i find interesting in books? i answered myself, theme? that third layer to books, after story and character?

so i was like, i've heard ulysses is all full of that, and i don't think you have to take the person seriously, and the story follows that of the odyssey, but in the same stroke, nothing happens. maybe i should read that.

and then i asked google. google says it's impenetrably hard to read. most people either don't get through it or just don't get it. there are a number of personal accounts of people who say it's not worth it, that they hated it, that it's really long, and other people who say that now they get it, but they didn't at first. and all of that made me want to read. i guess i'm that kind of a person.

so i guess i'm going to try to tackle james joyce's ulysses. i'll tell you how it goes.

cheers,
claire.