Wednesday 16 June 2004 marks the 100th anniversary of "Bloomsday", the day celebrated by Irish author James Joyce in his controversial Dublin-set novel Ulysses.
The book has fascinated scholars and baffled readers for decades with its dense prose, obscure puns and allusions to the characters and events of Homer's epic Greek poem The Odyssey.
It has also outraged censors with its choice language and graphic descriptions of basic bodily functions.
However, for all its renown and notoriety, it is a book that few have read and even fewer comprehend.
To rectify this, BBC News Online presents an irreverent simple chapter-by-chapter guide to the key events, characters and Homeric parallels.
Source & chapter-by-chapter guide
Bookmarks