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jankyalias's review against another edition
informative
fast-paced
4.0
Good guide to Ulysses. Don’t necessarily agree on all analyses, but very useful on ensuring the more prosaic aspects of the novel aren’t lost.
sheldynely's review against another edition
3.0
The Guardian quote on the back of the book saying it’s “unpretentious” is literally gaslighting me. But like it did tell me what the hell was going on in the book!
sarah_dietrich's review against another edition
3.0
A useful companion to Ulysses, but unfortunately it doesn't contain translations for the sentences that are in other languages.
david_rhee's review against another edition
4.0
A guidebook for a work as expansive as Ulysses would naturally be thought to undergo expansion itself. Gifford's Annotations is almost as big as Ulysses itself. The compact size of The New Bloomsday Book raises doubts about its completeness. As one proceeds through this neat little helpmate, it proves to be one of the best available supplementary works. This is not to say this has become an all-out competition. Having both the Blamires and Gifford beside you works wonders.
Even when compared to Stuart Gilbert's study (and the Blamires is easily superior), each study has its unique value. The gripe I had with the Gilbert is that the commentaries on each episode left so much to be desired. The strength of Gilbert's study is its introduction. The Blamires guide lacks an introduction entirely. It dives right into the episodes and therefore fits seamlessly into its role as a reader's sidekick. Blamires incorporates what makes the Gilbert intro so good into its commentaries. He doesn't hold back highlighting themes which loom over the work as a whole. He also gets very detailed and points out, for example, trinitarian symbols and Shakespearean parallels that are sure to elude most readers. All of this is wrapped in a small package. Blamires either has the gift of being concise or he is just highly considerate knowing Ulysses readers will have enough text to slog through. This is a great guide to tie the whole book together. Have the Gifford to pick off the minutiae and partner it with this valuable supplement.
Even when compared to Stuart Gilbert's study (and the Blamires is easily superior), each study has its unique value. The gripe I had with the Gilbert is that the commentaries on each episode left so much to be desired. The strength of Gilbert's study is its introduction. The Blamires guide lacks an introduction entirely. It dives right into the episodes and therefore fits seamlessly into its role as a reader's sidekick. Blamires incorporates what makes the Gilbert intro so good into its commentaries. He doesn't hold back highlighting themes which loom over the work as a whole. He also gets very detailed and points out, for example, trinitarian symbols and Shakespearean parallels that are sure to elude most readers. All of this is wrapped in a small package. Blamires either has the gift of being concise or he is just highly considerate knowing Ulysses readers will have enough text to slog through. This is a great guide to tie the whole book together. Have the Gifford to pick off the minutiae and partner it with this valuable supplement.
kjboldon's review against another edition
4.0
A very useful guide through Joyce's bewildering Ulysses, but with a little too much by way of spoilers plus interpretation put forth as fact.
jessrock's review against another edition
4.0
If you're going to read [b:Ulysses|338798|Ulysses|James Joyce|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1428891345s/338798.jpg|2368224], you want at least one good reference nearby. There is a lot of good information available online, and I definitely spent a lot of time searching online for translations and clues at understanding references, but The New Bloomsday Book is a very helpful guide to have at your fingertips for its concise summaries of each chapter.
There were a lot of times I wished the book went into more depth than it did, but if it had I probably would have been frustrated at how long each chapter was, so I can't complain too much that I didn't always get as much detail as I wanted from The New Bloomsday Book. A couple people in my Ulysses reading group were using [b:Ulysses Annotated|10543|Ulysses Annotated|Don Gifford|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1166254003s/10543.jpg|13227] as their companion book, and I think having both reference books available would be a great way to approach Ulysses since they are so different in their methods of helping the reader make sense of this complex and confusing book.
There were a lot of times I wished the book went into more depth than it did, but if it had I probably would have been frustrated at how long each chapter was, so I can't complain too much that I didn't always get as much detail as I wanted from The New Bloomsday Book. A couple people in my Ulysses reading group were using [b:Ulysses Annotated|10543|Ulysses Annotated|Don Gifford|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1166254003s/10543.jpg|13227] as their companion book, and I think having both reference books available would be a great way to approach Ulysses since they are so different in their methods of helping the reader make sense of this complex and confusing book.
howattp's review against another edition
4.0
The only reason this gets 4 stars is that I wouldn't have understood [b:Ulysses|338798|Ulysses|James Joyce|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320396914s/338798.jpg|2368224] without it. Thank you, Harry Blamires. You are my savior!