There's no question Ulysses is a difficult book, but it's not impossible. For me, Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow is impenetrable. I've tried reading it half a dozen times, and can never get past the first few pages without having to suppress the desire to throw it out a window. Joyce's follow-up, Finnegans Wake, is another one which is beyond me.
In college, I took a course dedicated exclusively to Ulysses. It was a very small class, with just 2-3 more people than there are chapters in the book (18). The professor had us, then, teach it to each other. It was the perfect way to force you to get through it, while also learning a lot about it.
Ironically, we began the semester by reading what felt like everything but the book, with the professor practically begging us not to begin it. Instead we read things which heavily influenced Joyce, namely Homer's The Odyssey (which serves as the underlying structure), Hamlet, Irish folk songs, and lastly Joyce's warm-up exercise to Ulysses, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.
If you're ever interested in giving Ulysses a serious go, I suggest beginning by reading The Odyssey, since Ulysses is a kind of 20th century version of it, and Portrait, which will get you familiar with the style of writing Joyce is developing. Also, the main character in Portrait, Stephen Dedalus, is one of the key characters in Ulysses, so it's more than just the previous book. They're linked.
Lastly, I'll make what might at first seem like an odd suggestion: Read it out loud. The rhythms and poetry of the text come alive. You may be familiar with the tradition of groups of people reading it out loud on June 16th -- Bloomsday -- which is the day the entire book takes place (it was the day Joyce met his wife, Nora). It's not a coincidence that it's performed like this. It makes perfect sense, when you experience it.
The wonderful Irish actress Fionnula Flanagan often reads the famous final chapter at an event in New York. Here's a brief excerpt from YouTube:
[video=youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vq5hnnDI0qk[/video]
I think you;d like The Dubliners, Shawn, it's quite lyrical and straight in the way he tells the story.
