Ulysses

I am about 1/4 of the way through Ulysses by James Joyce. First, I must praise Joyce. This is perhaps the finest book ever written, and certainly one of the finest of all modern novels.

Second, the obvious influence of this novel is astounding. It's clear to me that Tolkien was influenced by it, as were many other famous 20th-century writers. One might go so far as to say that all of the Sartre-Camus-school existentialist writing is essentially one absurdly thorough interpretation of Leopold Bloom's character, taken to certain logically extreme conclusions.