On Not Finishing: What I Learned From Giving Up On Ulysses

I have started James Joyce's Ulysses three times. The first time, I was seventeen and wanted to prove I could. The second time, I was nineteen and wanted to understand what all the fuss was about. The third time, I was twenty-one and wanted to finally conquer it.

I stopped at page 198. And I did not feel like a failure. I felt relieved.

Here is what I have learned: reading is not a competition. There is no finish line. There is no scoreboard. The books we put down are just as important as the books we finish. They teach us about our limits, our tastes, our attention spans. They teach us that not every book is written for every reader.

I may come back to Ulysses someday. Or I may not. Either way, I am okay with that.