[Zutroy]

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I've been meaning to ask this same question for a long time. I've not found anyone I know personally who had any lasting impression of the book, or could tell me why it's widely considered the greatest american novel of the 20th century.

I made it through about 150 pages before giving up. I can't say I enjoyed any of it, and have no idea what was going on. Can someone who appreciates the book point me to a small section in there that they think is particularly amazing, and maybe why?

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"Then he slit open his letter, glancing down the page over and over. Thanks: new team: Mr Coghlan: lough Owel picnic: young student: Blazes Boylan's seaside girls."

I just randomly opened to a page I had read and took that passage. When I first read it, it made little sense to me. However, if you keep reading, you see he is briefly skimming his daughter's letter and, when he reads the letter in length later on, you get one of those "Oh [censored]!" moments, where everything clicks.
That is why I am enjoying this so far. There are plenty of little details that are left in and, while I know they are important, I can't for the life of me figure out what Joyce is getting at (like the man in the macintosh at the funeral). But then I do occasionally stumble upon some hidden piece of meaning or some previous passage becomes more coherent and it is rewarding.