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Ulysses by James Joyce Readalong & Re-Readalongs (2014, 2016); Audio Listen-Along (2017)
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Gill
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Jun 21, 2015 11:28AM
To be honest, it's not in my nature to lead something like this, but I realised by suggesting a new readalong I might have to. What I do think it would be great to use were the beginning sections for each of the chapters that you provided, Petra. Like you said plenty of time!
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Yeah, I think links to the first posting to each chapter is a good idea (stops us from repeating info we've already included and allows us to remember and add to that information).
I may be rereading it, Cosmic. I can't promise right now (December being as busy as it usually is). I may read it in November.
I forgot to mention that I'd ordered an older book, Re Joyce a couple of weeks back. I'm a fan of Anthony Burgess....well, I really enjoyed A Clockwork Orange. I'm looking forward to his thoughts on Joyce. Sounds like he was quite the fan.
It's not long since I read The Odyssey, Cosmic, so I don't think I'll be re-reading it.
I haven't read the Odyssey either, but it's also on my shelf. I plan on reading it during August, or September, but I don't know whether I should read The Iliad first! Mind you if I keep thinking like this I'll just keep tracking back and back through the ages.
I would like to try to read The Odyssey before January. Just not sure when .
Pink, earlier this year I read The Song of Achilles. That covers the same story as the Iliad but from a slightly different point of view. For the first time ever I felt that I had a handle on what was going on in Greek myths, stories, whatever you want to call them. It gave the characters real personalities. I am so glad that I read it, and when I eventually came to read the Odyssey, I felt I had a picture of some of the characters from having read the Song of Achilles earlier.
I could potentially join in on The Oydessy nearer the time
I doff my hat and bow down to all you re-readers! I loved the readalong last fall, and may pop into the thread now and again next spring, but will not be ready to re-read Ulysses myself yet. I am on a mission to read all my unread books and get control of my shelves.
Evelyn wrote: "I doff my hat and bow down to all you re-readers! I loved the readalong last fall, and may pop into the thread now and again next spring, but will not be ready to re-read Ulysses myself yet. I am..."So am I, Evelyn. I guess I'm more easily diverted than you are!
The other one I'm intending to read some time, by the way, is The Penelopiad. They have it in large print in my local library.
I enjoyed The Penelopiad, Gill. That was a long time ago....a re-read would be in order before I could discuss it. Too many books!Evelyn, I hear you.I'm not a re-reader myself but always knew that Ulysses would be the exception.
Gill, The Penelopiad is another book I'd like to read too. I've read a few Greek and Roman classics, but only know a little about characters from The Odyssey and The Iliad. I like retellings of these stories, as long as they're done well.
I thoroughly enjoyed The Penelopiad as well. It's really tough to stay the course and not get diverted, I have limited myself to two group reads per month, and I also have a local book club with a monthly book, so I am not just plugging away at my own shelf. I love the interaction with other readers.
Petra do you think it would be a good idea to add 2014 to the title of this discussion? It might start getting confusing at some stage otherwise.
Would that make this thread seem old, Gill? I've been thinking of a new title, too. How about something like:
Ulysses Readalong & Re-Readalongs (2014-15, 2016) ...add years as Readalongs occur?
I could add a prominent note in the first posting stating that Posts 2-XX are from 2014-15 and XX+1 onwards are from 2016?
Petra wrote: "Would that make this thread seem old, Gill? I've been thinking of a new title, too. How about something like:
Ulysses Readalong & Re-Readalongs (2014-15, 2016) ...add years as Readalongs occur?
..."
Sounds good to me, Petra. Great idea. I like the plural for re-readalongs
Gill , are you still wondering if we can keep the conversation going until January? Lol
Angela M wrote: "Gill , are you still wondering if we can keep the conversation going until January? Lol"Maybe we will, maybe we won't!
I've updated Post 1. Please have a look and let me know if it would be helpful in future to anyone joining in future readalongs. Thanks!
(I've also updated the Title of this thread. If anyone has more ideas on this, please note them here.)
Angela M wrote: "Gill , are you still wondering if we can keep the conversation going until January? Lol"I think we're doing well so far :)
Petra, that's great you've updated the thread, as I know I'll be looking back at past comments when I read, as well as joining in with new ones.
Me too , Pink ! Great to keep the interest up !
I am excited. I almost want to start now!
I'm looking forward to your thoughts on this, Gill. I remember thinking it was entertaining but don't remember much more than that.
A bit of a delayed reply, Petra! Yes, I liked The Penelopiad a lot. It was interesting looking at Odysseus and his journeys, via the perspective of Penelope, and also of her 12 maids. It places more importance on how it was considered 'ok' by Odysseus, Homer etc etc for men to have affairs but not for women.I think it gets quite complicated to know which is the best order to read books in. Maybe they build on each other, whichever order you do it. I know this has added a bit to my understanding of The Odyssey.
It's also raised some questions for me about Ulysses, mainly around Bloom suspecting/knowing Molly is having an affair (similar to Odysseus suspecting Penelope); yet I can't see where the analogy is for all of Odysseus's affairs.
Plenty of time to think about that in 2016!
Thanks, Gill! The book is so vague in my mind. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I remember liking it myself (but I'm a big Atwood fan).
From Ulysses Bores Me So: First Reactions to Joyce's Masterpiece:As Joyce was writing Ulysses, Einstein was bending light rays, Freud was articulating a new language of the unconscious mind, Schoenberg was creating atonal harmonic sequences, and the Cubists were fracturing the two-dimensional picture plane with geometric abstraction. The first reactions to each of these occurrences were, at best, conflicted.
When everything is listed like that, it pinpoints how turbulent the world was at that time. Changes were happening everywhere.
I looked up that book, Petra. It's only got 1 review, which gave it 1 star. Is it more interesting than that suggests?In the meanwhile, I have a quote from H G Wells "Who the hell is this Joyce, who demands so many waking hours of the few thousand I have still to live, for proper appreciation of his quirks and fantasies and flashes of rendering?"
I'm feeling pretty happy about the idea of spending some more of my waking hours on Joyce!
Hahaha.....love HG Wells!It was an interesting book....only 37 pages long so not long enough to get tedious. I've got a few other quotes to share from it, which I'll do over the next week or two.
Basically, it's a few pages of the history of publishing Ulysses, a few pages of quotes from famous people and a few pages of the Supreme Court decision that Ulysses was not pornographic.
I'd recommend it for a quick read. It's fun but not insightful. Maybe Jim (the 1-star rater with no review) was expecting insightful?
From Ulysses Bores Me So: First Reactions to Joyce's Masterpiece:On February 2, 1922, the date that Ulysses was first published in its entirety, the course of English literature changed forever. A select few saw the genius in it. The critic Edmund Wilson said of Ulysses (The New Republic, 1922) that, in addition to diverging from traditional literary forms, and, most importantly, raising the standard of the novel, "It is, in short, perhaps the most faithful X-ray ever taken of the ordinary human consciousness."
We are doing well for quotes here! William Faulkner says "You should approach Joyce's Ulysses as the illiterate Baptist preacher approaches the Old Testament: with faith".
Mod
That's great Gill! :)
That's another good quote, Gill. At publication of Ulysses, Malcolm Cowley (writer & literary critic) described the response to the book by using the metaphor of a stone dropped into water: "there was a moment of silence, the stone was dropped, then all the frogs who inhabited the pool began to talk at once".
Petra wrote: "That's another good quote, Gill. At publication of Ulysses, Malcolm Cowley (writer & literary critic) described the response to the book by using the metaphor of a stone dropped into water: "ther..."
That's great, also, Petra!
Mod
LOL!!!!
I started Re Joyce over the weekend and think that I'm really going to enjoy it. I don't know much (anything, really) about Joyce's life other than he left Ireland with Nora and lived in poverty for most of his life.
Burgess seems to be looking at how Joyce's life in Ireland formed him and how he was always true to himself in his writings. He doesn't paint a perfect person but the real person, I think. I'm only about 30 pages into the book. The most interesting idea written so far is that Joyce was very much like his father and that his brother, John, was the stabilizer in Joyce's chaotic life.
There are references to a lot of Joyce's works throughout and this book is making me braver in my wishes of reading Finnegans Wake one day...... maybe after our next reading and a bit of a break. Finnegan's Wake is a book I find daunting to even think about reading (but hope to read one day).
Petra, that book looks interesting. I wish I could get it on kindle, I wouldn't manage with a print copy.
It's almost time to start our read of Ulysses.....only about 9 weeks left before we crack the spine on this one!Who's thinking about joining in? Is this your first time reading the book or is it a reread?
If anyone is interested in some pre-reading, some suggestions are:
The Odyssey
The Penelopiad
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
The Lost Books of The Odyssey
The Song of Achilles
If anyone has any other suggestions, let me know and I'll add them to this list.
Just a word of caution, this is a reread for many of us. Some spoilers may occur during the discussions....however, perhaps knowing the upcoming story is a good thing when reading this for the first time. :D
So, who's in? This work is more daunting by reputation than it is in reality and you'll never find a better group of people to read it with than those who will join in here. We had a great time last year. :D
I'm in for a reread! Don't want to miss the fun and I'm anxious to see what my reactions will be the second time around.
Not completely related, but it gets you in the Greek spirit and makes you realise the issues and feelings are universal, is The Song of Achilles.
Added it. Thanks, Gill!Angela, I'm looking forward to another reread as well. I think it'll be a lot of fun. I hope we get a few Newbies as well.
When are you starting the reread. I will join you. It is like a marathon. I didn't finish last year but maybe i will this year. I have noticed that sometimes rereading a book is much better the second time around.
Cosmic, we're starting on January 1st and finishing on Bloomsday, June 16th. It's our own little tribute to Joyce.
I'm still in and still planning to read The Odyssey this year, though I'm fast running out of time!
Mod
I was thinking about it for 2016 ...
Pink, I'm glad that you'll be joining us!Laura, can I hope that you mean to join us as well? Or did you mean to read The Odyssey only in 2016?
I'm starting to look at my copy of the book and making up a reading schedule. I'm leaning towards 23 weeks to read (Jan 1-June 9) and 1 week (June 10-16) to just discuss the entire book and our thoughts on it.
Of course, the discussion will and can go on longer....as long as we keep talking. :D
Once I finalize the schedule, I'll post it here.
It looks like the reading will be manageable (not too many pages per week to digest), leaving us with lots of time to question, ponder, research, discuss, scratch our heads, jump up & down, curse........ you know, all the emotions and actions that are a part of reading Ulysses. :D
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