“But with this month marking the centenary of Ulysses and 140 years since Joyce’s birth, perhaps now really is the time to familiarise or re-familiarise yourself with the influential modernist writer.”
-Justin Jordan, “Where to start with: James Joyce.” theguardian.com. February 18, 2022.
The only Joyce I have read was Ulysses in tandem with Stuart Gilbert’s James Joyce’s Ulysses. The second is designed so that you could read a chapter to either explain what you are about to read or what you just read, and it will give you a much greater appreciation of why Ulysses is a great book. Without the explanation, many people might find Ulysses unreadable. It also helps to be familiar with the transcribed text of Homer – almost went with the original text there but it seemed wrong to say it that way. Anyway, worth a try. I decided to read the book based on the Joyce entry in Clifton Fadiman’s The New Lifetime Reading Plan, which I also recommend.