I tried reading it once for pleasure (didn't get far) and then had to read it two years running for entirely different university modules.
The refreshing way it was taught was that it skipped around from chapter to chapter, and was read out of order. Because really the plot such as it is doesn't have much bearing on it. But I wouldn't say it made it more enjoyable to read just easier to understand. And, honestly, it just let you skip out the really boring bits.
Martin Amis made a very good point about Ulysses - it's read and analysed and dissected by academics but who actually just curls up and relaxes with it for fun? The answer is not many. If you're looking for something which doesn't need a lot of footnotes to understand don't feel guilty about dropping it!
RECOMMENDATION: Flann O'Brien's The Third Policeman. An Irish near contemporary of Joyce's, with a similar love of messing around with language but who is actually readable and very funny in an absurd way!