Ulysses read in a day

James Joyce’s Ulysses – set in one day – is recognised as one of the most challenging books to read, due to its complex language and structure as well as its length, and on the day it took place, 16 June, an English lecturer challenged himself to read it in just one day.

The University of Buckingham’s Pete Orford raised more than £200 for the National Literary Trust by doing the gruelling readathon. He started at 6am and finished all 933 pages by 18:00, reading in such a way that he understood the book.

He said: “I haven’t read it before. Knowing that the entire story is set in one day – a day which has been celebrated every year by fans as ‘Bloomsday’, I decided to go for the ultimate realtime reading experience by trying to read it in just one day.

“Students have taken a go-slow approach to the book by breaking the story down into chunks to make sense of it, but this can add to the idea of it being overwhelming. I decided to do the opposite and see if reading it in one go would help get a better sense of what it was all about, which it did. I wanted to show that we need not be put off by difficult books, and I wanted to encourage others to read that book that they keep postponing.”

Author Harry Blamires, who wrote what is considered to be the definitive guide to Ulysses – The New Bloomsday Book, added: “This is quite some feat. Pete Orford should be proud to have shown that a really challenging book can be brought to life by being determined to devote the necessary time to such an important pastime – reading.”

It’s not too late to donate to the National Literary Trust – for more details –https://www.justgiving.com/Pete-Orford1/