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Ulysses by James Joyce Readalong & Re-Readalongs (2014, 2016); Audio Listen-Along (2017)
Nice!!! I love finding connections in this book. That's a great find, Gill.
Did you get to the part where it's confirmed that Bloom worked for Hely's? He started in the year he married (around 1889, I think) and worked there for a few years (there's a mention of Milly being a young child and Rudy not yet being born).
I'm past the part where Bloom was at the Liddy River and missed the newspaper floating by. However, Bloom did scrunch up "the paper" into a ball and through it into the river. Could that maybe have been the newspaper? It was a vague reference and Bloom has other papers in his pockets.
I had a look back into Lotus Eaters to find out what happened to the newspaper:-- I say you can keep it, Mr Bloom answered. I was going to throw it away that moment.
Bantam Lyons doubted an instant, leering: then thrust the outspread sheets back on Mr Bloom's arms.
-- I'Il risk it, he said. Here, thanks.
He sped off towards Conway's corner. God speed scut.
Mr Bloom folded the sheets again to a neat square and lodged the soap in it, smiling.
Joyce is great at making us interested in such mundane things as what happened to his newspaper. LOL.
I've still been thinking over the paper. I found this post about the reprocessing of trash in Ulysses, which also has a paragraph about the timeline of the newspaper. http://hjs.ff.cuni.cz/archives/v3/ben...
Pink wrote: "I've still been thinking over the paper. I found this post about the reprocessing of trash in Ulysses, which also has a paragraph about the timeline of the newspaper. http://hjs.ff.cuni.cz/archiv..."
Wow! Thanks, Pink. Sometimes I think the Internet is so great. To think that we've been discussing this and then you can find an article like that. I got a bit lost with the middle of the article, but there is an interesting bit near the end about how Joyce recycles what can be considered trash i.e. trashy novels et cetera to add to his story here in Ulysses.
Who knew that recycling could be so interesting?!
What an interesting article, Pink! Thanks for posting that. Do you think that Joyce put that much time into thinking about recycling? It's an amazing article, yet I kept thinking that if these thoughts were in Joyce's head and he truly recycled as stated, that this was a bit obsessive and focussed.
However, the newspaper issue was awesome. The newspaper starts as an idea in Bloom's head, then magically appears (we don't see him buying it), it's uses are recycled to meet specific needs, then the newspaper magically disappears. It's there when needed, then it goes.
I have to read over the Liffy part again. I missed that the paper that Bloom wadded up and threw into the river was an Elijah leaflet given to him just before. I thought it might be the newspaper. :D
Oh....I'm glad that the racing tip to Bantam Lyons was explained. I didn't get that tip at all. Now it seems rather ingenious of Joyce to have written that.
I also liked that the article mentions the recycling of the work "it" in "throw it away" to "throwaway" and how Lyons then states that he will risk "it". Nice playing around with words, Mr. Joyce.
Also, some random facts:- Hubby's birthday is on Bloomsday and I realized today that my Mom's birthday is the day before Molly's.
- I've finished Lestrygonians, which ended at the end of Disc 10 of the recording. I'm already 25% through the book. That's record time for reading this story. LOL!
Petra, I'm not so sure about the ideas of recycling throughout the whole book, but it was an interesting theory. The timeline about the newspaper helped me a lot though! I'm also getting through it a lot quicker on audiobook :)
Pink, it's just the article that not only mentions recycling in Ulysses but recycling from Ulysses to Finnegan's Wake. Meaning, I think, that Joyce recycled throughout his writing, which I find rather hard to believe that anyone would be so focussed on the words being used (or not used) at every moment. It's an astounding concept, if true.
I've just finished Lestrygonians. The very strange thing is, apart from a little part mentioning how many children Stephen's mother had, I don't remember/recognise any of it from my previous reads.
Petra wrote: "Also, some random facts:- Hubby's birthday is on Bloomsday and I realized today that my Mom's birthday is the day before Molly's.
- I've finished Lestrygonians, which ended at the end of Disc 1..."
I bet your husband is excited about that then, Petra!!!
I started listening to Scylla & Charybdis (episode 9) this morning. I'm finding all that chatter about Shakespeare much easier to follow. When reading this section, my eyes tend to glaze over. Gill, it is surprising how some portions seem new. There are some interesting details that I'm picking up that I don't remember at all.
About hubby: he's not excited to be sharing his birthday at all. Bummer! That's going to make a trip to Dublin on Bloomsday a bit tricky to arrange. :D
A shame your husband can't be persuaded to take a Bloomsday birthday trip! I've finished episode 11, Sirens. Whoah, I found that tricky to follow along with, especially the second half. I kept getting lost and confused. I enjoyed hearing the play on language, with repetitive phrases and the passionate singing took me by surprise! I'm going to listen to it again this morning.
Re Lestrygonians, in fact when I started listening to the start of S and C, I somehow rewound to the start of L. It took me several minutes to realise I was listening to the episode yet again!I've finished S and C. I agree with you both. There is so much more I can follow whilst listening.
I'm looking forward to Episode 10. It was my favourite episode whilst reading the book.
Gill, I thought The Wandering Rocks worked really well on audio, so I hope you enjoy it just as much as before :)
Ever wonder how many words are contained in Ulysses and how this number compares to other books?:https://electricliterature.com/infogr...
I finished Wandering Rocks and thoroughly enjoyed it.
I didn't remember that Gertie MacDowell (sp?) made an appearance in this episode. I only remember her from the later episode on the beach, with the fireworks.
Episode 11 (Sirens) is very musical. I like Simon Dedalus' singing throughout. It's much nicer on audio than reading the lyrics in the book.
I feel so bad for Bloom; sitting having his dinner and thinking about Molly & Boylan. i always feel bad for him at this point.
I felt very sorry for Bloom throughout Sirens as well. The more I hear about him, the more I sympathise. The singing was great wasn't it, though it was a surprise to hear such a passionate rendition!
And then there's the fact that he's writing a letter to a woman that it appears he may be moving closer to having an affair with.....after he's neglected his wife for 11 years (since Rudy's death). That's not a side of him I like to see. I could just shake him and say "talk with Molly! She wants you, too! Talk!!"
I don't like that aspect either, but it seems to be a rare book that I read from this period where the male characters aren't having affairs or visiting brothels, so I suppose I've become hardened to it.
I've also finished Wandering Rocks, so good! Stephen's family are so poor aren't they? I'm surprised he managed to become a teacher.I think we commented on a previous reading- I like how the episode is framed with Church for the first section and State for the final section.
My copy has been requested by someone else!
Maybe it will be like last time, Gill, and it becomes available again soon. I'm taking a short break, too. A Carol Burnett audio has come available from my queue. Listening to it this morning was rather boring, so we'll see how it continues.
No matter what, I'll be back to Ulysses in a week.
Gill, yes hopefully they'll return it soon again. I've been listening to episode 12, Cyclops, with the unnamed narrator and citizen. I'm loving the narration so much, but I still feel bad for Bloom!
I'm hopelessly behind. I've been down with the flu for the past week, and I had long stretches of febrile time listening to Joyce in a kind of daze. I'm going back to Lestrygonians tonight, which is where I remember leaving off.
Terri, I hope you're feeling better. Rest up and take things easy.There's no getting behind because there's no schedule or expectation. It's just nice to hear everyone's thoughts. The audio is really wonderful, I'm finding.
I finished Sirens, which confused me at first because I was expecting to go from Wandering Rocks to the episode with The Citizen. But once I caught on, I really enjoyed Sirens.
Terri, I'm taking a break for about a week because another audio became available through the library and your updates will give me my Ulysses "fixes". LOL!
Petra, my deadlines are totally self-induced. I just "feel" behind. :)
Terri, I hope you're feeling better now. I think it's nice that we're all listening at our own pace :)
(sort of) Ulysses reference from Archeology magazine (Nov/Dec 2016):"Only 30 miles north of Dublin, the Boyne Valley is the location of one of the world's most important arrays of prehistoric sites.......The Hill of Tara, the traditional seat of the ancient High Kings of Ireland, is also nearby."
The article goes on to describe an ancient ceremony where a sacred fire is lit on a nearby hill (Hill of Ward), torches lit from the fire and carried to seven nearby hills, including Hill of Tara, where the 8 flames burned throughout the year and lit up the whole country.
This ceremony is performed on October 31st and the ancient ritual is thought to be the beginning of our Halloween. The concept is that all the souls who died in the year can now go to the next life because this is the night when the veil between the two worlds is lifted.
Okay...it's only a mention of the Hill of Tara but that reminded me of Ulysses. :D
I finished the article last night. Interesting stuff. Seems that the hills (there are 7 in total) were used for ritualistic sacrifices (not human) and not for habitation (no archaeological evidence).
Very few human remains have been found. There are passage tombs in them but they don't seem to have been used as regular burial sites. A baby skeleton was found on each of the Hill of Tara & the Hill of Ward (also called Tlachtga; pronounced Clackda). They may be the remains of a high family associated with each hill.
There are all sorts of myths associated with the 7 hills, including the ritual of lighting the fires on Hill of Ward on the autumn solstice. The passage tomb entry of Hill of Ward is facing the sun at the autumn solstice and is considered a sacred site.
One legend surrounding Hill of Ward has it as a place of pilgrimage for childless women. They supposedly brought their slaves' children there for sacrifice in hopes of being able to have a child of their own (there is so far lack of evidence that this happened).
The legend that started this pilgrimage, if you're interested: (view spoiler)
The Hill of Tara passage tomb entry faces the spring solstice. It is located 12 miles from Hill of Ward.
(of course, Joyce would have known all the legends surrounding these hills)
I've started listening to Cyclops (Episode 12) and am loving it. It's much more light hearted than I realized when reading. I laughed out loud at the response of someone's disbelief that Paddy Dignam was dead:
"Well, perhaps not but they did him the dignity of burying him anyway."
I have missed listening to this and am glad to be back.
I loved Cyclops as well, so far I think it's been the best episode on audiobook, it really worked well listening to it. When I read it last year, this part didn't make such an impression on me, so I'm glad to have experienced it in a different format. Again, poor Bloom! I've taken a mini break too, reading and listening to other things, but I'll be back for episode 13, Nausicaa, in a few days. This was one of the most memorable episodes from my first reading, so it will be interesting to see how the audiobook compares.
My library loan is back for me again. Whoever had it either listened to it very fast, or realised it wasn't for them!Time for Episode 11. I'm feeling good!
Another quick return, good news for you! Episode 11, where you get to enjoy Simon Dedalus's singing!
Gill, you're having luck in getting the audio back quickly! Episode 11 is fun. Simon Dedalus' singing is wonderful throughout.
I've a sneaky feeling it's more that people realise that the book isn't for them, rather than them listening to it superfast because they're so fascinated!
I think you're probably correct. Perhaps they start listening and think what is this?! I don't think I'd get as much out of the audio version without having read the text first.
I spent last night listening to Cyclops and laughed out loud several times. It's my favorite episode as well. I love the lists--the narrator did so well reciting them. A much needed break from reality last night.
Yes those lists! That must have taken some practice!
I liked the legend of how St. Paddy's Day became to be celebrated on March 17th. I haven't reached the lists yet.
I hadn't realized what a nasty cur Gary Owens was. Bad dog! :D
Finished Episode 11. Yes, I enjoyed this. The two barmaids were extremely Sirenlike, I thought. The only slightly disconcerting thing was that I thought one of them sounded just like Graham Norton (a tv show presenter/ comic over here Terri/ Petra)
I'm starting Cyclops tomorrow.
I didn't pick up on the Graham Norton similarity!
I'm partway through Cyclops, and getting much more out of it from listening than I did when I read it. I thought the whole discussion re Paddy Dignam was immensely funny, and believable. I'm going out this evening (unusual!) and almost wish I could cancel it so that I could listen to the rest of the episode.
That's always a good sign of enjoyment, have fun out :)
I've finished Cyclops now.I think the whole section about 'home', and Bloom's comments around the topic, is brilliant. I think these parts are timeless.
I also finished Cyclops today while running errands. There's so much in this episode that I liked. The audio really is wonderful. I'm thinking about how quickly you two are going through the episodes and then remembered that we're listening to different recordings. It would be interesting to hear these side-by-side. It took about 3 hours for the Cyclops episode. My recording is 40 hours long. What was yours again? Is the reading quick?
I'm on vacation this week, so won't be listening too much. I do have errands every day until Thursday, so will listen a little bit.
Yes the narration is quite quick, overall it's 27 hours 20 mins and Cyclops was just under 2 hours. I've finished listening to my other audiobook now, so I'll return to Ulysses tomorrow.
I'm going to be going a bit slower this week. A bit of a Ulysses overload!Petra, your narrator must be reading at a completely different speed from ours!
Forgot to say, I enjoyed hearing about the bet or nonbet on Throwaway in the Cyclops episode. So have I got this correct - people are saying Bloom bet on the horse, but he didn't. And the person who thought Bloom had recommended Throwaway didn't bet on him either, because someone else persuaded him not to?
I think so. Bloom definitely didn't bet on the horse. It was Bantam Lyons who thinks Bloom recommends Throwaway, but I think he was persuaded not to. I certainly don't remember him celebrating any winnings, or being pleased with Bloom for the tip. In the pub they're all sour that their own bets have lost and think Bloom is being tight with his winnings. Boylan's horse lost too, so I'm thinking that maybe nobody won any money on Throwaway.
Good morning! That's a lot of difference in hours of reading. My recording is a regular speaking tempo, I think. It doesn't seem fast or slow.
Gill, it's nice to take a break occasionally. I've done it twice now. I always look forward to getting back to Ulysses.
Yes, when Bloom left to go to the Court House, someone (The Citizen? or was it the Narrator?) said that he had lied and was going to pick up his winnings from the Throwaway race; it paid 20:1 (if I remember correctly). Speculation seems to have been that he won 5 quid. There seemed to be anger at his winning so much.
The same person (?) had also bumped into Lyons and has dissuaded him from betting on Throwaway, so he didn't.
Bloom didn't bet on Throwaway and knows nothing of the anger around this when he returns from the Court House.
Just goes to show how perception can be so far from reality. Bloom was doing a nice thing by tracking Martin (?) down to sort out the issues with Dignam's mortgage. Bloom is trying to help the family out.
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In Gone with the Wind, Tara was founded by Irish immigrant Gerald O'Hara after he won 640 acres (2.6 km2) or one square mile of land from its absentee owner during an all-night poker game. An Irish peasant farmer rather than the merchant his elder brothers (whose emigrations to Savannah had brought him to Georgia) wanted him to be, Gerald relished the thought of becoming a planter and gave his mostly wilderness and uncultivated new lands the grandiose name of Tara after the Hill of Tara, once the capital of the High King of ancient Ireland. He borrowed money from his brothers and bankers to buy slaves and turned the farm into a very successful cotton plantation.