For most of my life, I focused on the logical, external, left-brain side of life. I saw little value in art (and even spurned it as something pretentious people did to seem more cultured). And so, I defined myself as “logical”, “left-brain”, “scientist”, etc and rejected the tags: “right-brain”, “artist”, etc.
Leading up to reading Ulysses, I had been growing in artistic appreciation, but Ulysses really pushed me over the edge. Prior to Ulysses, I felt I could only admire art as an outsider (because again, I was a “left-brainer” - I felt that I didn’t belong). Ulysses helped me change my very self-image. I am not a “left-brainer”; I am a human, and art is how we can express and share ourselves with each other.
I really enjoyed Ulysses also. The book has a reputation for being a little opaque, but I read it lightly (i.e., just enjoyed the words going by and didn't worry if I didn't understand everything).
If you enjoyed that you really need to give A la recherche de temps perdu a go. Another challenge.
I wasn't a massive fan of either in terms of readability though - would much prefer to read Moby Dick, Don Quioxte or a good translation of the Odyssey. All felt more rewarding but more readable to me.
For most of my life, I focused on the logical, external, left-brain side of life. I saw little value in art (and even spurned it as something pretentious people did to seem more cultured). And so, I defined myself as “logical”, “left-brain”, “scientist”, etc and rejected the tags: “right-brain”, “artist”, etc.
Leading up to reading Ulysses, I had been growing in artistic appreciation, but Ulysses really pushed me over the edge. Prior to Ulysses, I felt I could only admire art as an outsider (because again, I was a “left-brainer” - I felt that I didn’t belong). Ulysses helped me change my very self-image. I am not a “left-brainer”; I am a human, and art is how we can express and share ourselves with each other.