How does a fan of Bridget Jones switch gears to Molly Bloom? Apocryphal as it sounds, it’s actually fine to skip some chapters — specifically the first three, and return to them later, says David Butler, education officer of the James Joyce Centre, in Dublin. He recommends starting at the easier-to-read fourth chapter, “where you’ll meet one of the greatest characters of all time, Leopold Bloom, and gain significant momentum into the story.” Speaking of which, what is the story? Ulysses, which takes place in a single day — June 16, 1904 — follows Leopold Bloom, who doesn’t want to go home because he knows his wife is having an affair, as he finds a new friend in Stephen Dedalus. If 783 pages seems a bit long for that little action, the novel is fashioned (and named) after Homer’s Odyssey.

Beyond the plot, the book is about symbolism, language, and experimental writing, Butler notes (for instance, the entire last chapter is just one long sentence building to a re-created orgasm). Don’t feel defeated if you can get through only a chapter or two. Butler suggests listening to recordings of the book, in which actors and sound effects make things easier to grasp. However you do it, says Butler, “don’t be intimidated by it. It really is a humorous, tongue-in-cheek book.”