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Ulysses by James Joyce Readalong & Re-Readalongs (2014, 2016); Audio Listen-Along (2017)
Oh yes, I forgot already.....looking up Aphrodite's dress....that was funny! I got a chuckle out of that. This is one of the things I'm really enjoying with this reading.....finding the jokes and funny, everyday situations throughout this book. Joyce is a humorous fellow. He saw the fun side of people's everyday motions. Angela, that's true.....Stephen would be an outsider as he was trying so hard. I hadn't thought of that. Thanks!
I've been away. But am back now. Just need to catch up.
In the beginning of chapter 9 Joyce mentions Goethe workWilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship.I read this in August when I was reading this chapter.
Here is a quote from it that starts Wilhelm's take on the Shakespeare play Hamlet:
"SEEING the company so favourably disposed, Wilhelm snow hoped he might farther have it in his power to converse with them on the poetic merit of the pieces which might come before them. “It is not enough,” said he next day, when they were all again assembled, “for the actor merely to glance over a dramatic work, to judge of it by his first impression, and thus, without investigation, to declare his satisfaction or dissatisfaction with it. Such things may be allowed in a spectator, whose purpose it is rather to be entertained and moved than formally to criticise. But the actor, on the other hand, should be prepared to give a reason for his praise or censure: and how shall he do this, if he have not taught himself to penetrate the sense, the views and feelings of his author? A common error is, to form a judgment of a drama from a single part in it; and to look upon this part itself in an isolated point of view, not in its connexion with the whole. I have noticed this, within a few days, so clearly in my own conduct, that I will give you the account as an example, if you please to hear me patiently. 1
“You all know Shakspeare’s incomparable Hamlet: our public reading of it at the Castle yielded every one of us the greatest satisfaction."
I like this because he is going to show the troupe that there is a difference between just reading a book and "understanding" what the author was trying to say...to make it your own. I think that this is something that Joyce wants us to do this with Ulysses. It is easy just to mention the different parts without fitting the together.
You might like to read this chapter about Goethe view of Hamlet and compare it to Joyce's. Maybe even re-read the play yourself.
Here are some quotes taken from the book that I had made note of:J.W. von Goethe (1749–1832). Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship.
The Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction. 1917.
Book II
Chapter IX
But,” said Wilhelm, “will not genius save itself, not heal the wounds which itself has inflicted?” 24
“Only to a very small extent, and with great difficulty,” said the other, “or perhaps not at all. Let no one think that he can conquer the first impressions of his youth. If he has grown up in enviable freedom, surrounded with beautiful and noble objects, in constant intercourse with worthy men; if his masters have taught him what he needed first to know, for comprehending more easily what followed; if he has never learned anything which he requires to unlearn; if his first operations have been so guided, that without altering any of his habits, he can more easily produce what is excellent in future; then such a one will lead a purer, more perfect and happier life, than another man who has wasted the force of his youth in opposition and error. A great deal is said and written about education; yet I meet with very few who can comprehend, and transfer to practice, this simple yet vast idea, which includes within itself all others connected with the subject.”
http://www.bartleby.com/314/209.html
What touching examples of faithful servants giving themselves up to danger and death for their masters! How finely has Shakspeare painted out such things to us! Fidelity, in this case, is the effort of a noble soul struggling to become equal with one exalted above it. By stedfast attachment and love, the servant is made equal to his lord, who but for this is justified in looking on him as a hired slave. Yes, these virtues belong to the lower class of men alone; that class cannot do without them, and with them it has a beauty of its own. Whoever is enabled to require all favours easily, will likewise easily be tempted to raise himself above the habit of acknowledgment. Nay, in this sense, I am of opinion, it might almost be maintained, that a great man may possess friends, but cannot be one.”
“It may be so,” replied one of the party: “we do not need their friendship, and do not ask it. But it were well if they understood a little more about the arts which they affect to patronise. When we played in the best style, there was none to mind us: it was all sheer partiality. Any one they chose to favour pleased; and they did not choose to favour those that merited to please. It was intolerable to observe how often silliness and mere stupidity attracted notice and applause.”
Book IV chapter II
"In Hamlet we are taught another lesson: the hero is without a plan, but the piece is full of plan. Here we have no villain punished on some self-conceived and rigidly-accomplished scheme of vengeance: a horrid deed occurs; it rolls itself along with all its consequences, dragging guiltless persons also in its course; the perpetrator seems as if he would evade the abyss which is made ready for him; yet he plunges in, at the very point by which he thinks he shall escape and happily complete his course. 24
“For it is the property of crime to extend its mischief over innocence, as it is of virtue to extend its blessings over many that deserve them not; while frequently the author of the one or of the other is not punished or rewarded at all. Here is this play of ours, how strange! The Pit of darkness sends its spirit and demands revenge; in vain! All circumstances tend one way, and hurry to revenge; in vain! Neither earthly nor infernal thing may bring about what is reserved for Fate alone. The hour of judgment comes: the wicked falls with the good: one race is mowed away, that another may spring up.” book IV chapter XV
"In any tavern, any room, or any garden, he would accordingly at once set up his theatre: with a roguish seriousness and a show of enthusiasm, he would contrive to gain the imaginations of his audience; to deceive their senses, and before their eyes to make an old press into a tower, or a fan into a dagger. His youthful warmth supplied the place of deep feeling; his vehemence seemed strength, and his flattery tenderness. Such of the spectators as already knew a theatre, he put in mind of all that they had seen and heard; in the rest he awakened a presentiment of something wonderful, and a wish to be more acquainted with it. What produced an effect in one place he did not fail to repeat in others; and his mind overflowed with a wicked pleasure when, by the same means, on the spur of the moment, he could make gulls of all the world." Book IV CHAPTER XVIII
Wow, Cosmic! You've really studied this. I'm not nearly as deep into Ulysses that I can do more than see wide parallels between it and The Odyssey. I haven't read Hamlet either. :-(
From above:
"If he has grown up in enviable freedom, surrounded with beautiful and noble objects, in constant intercourse with worthy men; if his masters have taught him what he needed first to know, for comprehending more easily what followed; if his first operations have been so guided, that without altering any of his habits, he can more easily produce what is excellent in future; then such a one will lead a purer, more perfect and happier life, than another man who has wasted the force of his youth in opposition and error."
Ummm.... "without altering any of his habits"..... wouldn't any of us "more easily produce a purer, more perfect and happier life" if we easily got what we wanted "without altering any habits"?
And, would we be happy if we "easily" got whatever we wanted? The things that take effort and hard work are often the things we value most IF we get them in the end.
Petra wrote: "Ummm.... "without altering any of his habits"..... wouldn't any of us "more easily produce a purer, more perfect and happier life" if we easily got what we wanted "without altering any habits"? And, would we be happy if we "easily" got whatever we wanted? The things that take effort and hard work are often the things we value most IF we get them in the end.
..."
Well I think if you had read it in context it was talking about the differences in classes. I think the classic movie "My Fair Lady" comes to mind. She had to break a lot of habits and acquire a lot of new ones, but I am not sure that you can maintain that level. It is easier if you were raised in that atmosphere to act the part with ease.
As a statement of the classes, I find it a bit disturbing if its saying that only one born & bred in an educated, cultured manner can live a pure, perfect, happy life. Those in the lower classes live in opposition and error? The higher classes don't live with error?I haven't read any of that in Ulysses, I must say.
Petra wrote: "Wow, Cosmic! You've really studied this. I'm not nearly as deep into Ulysses that I can do more than see wide parallels between it and The Odyssey. I haven't read Hamlet either. :-(
From above:
..."
I have to admit that I haven't read The Odyssey yet. I have it and I have the professor on audible to explain it but I haven't made the time to focus on that. I know that Joyce loved The Adventures of Ulysses when he was a boy. I have that to read on my kindle.
I figured I would share what I have learned by reading Ulysses and others would share what they are getting out of it; then we might figure out this elephant that we are trying to understand. If we are all looking at the same piece we might not see the whole.
I told you that I came to Ulysses because I was studying The Catcher in the Rye. Part of what I wanted to see with Ulysses is something that I saw Salinger use in the Catcher and that is the creation of more meaning by association than what is actually written. Message 405 goes into the different levels of meaning.
There is a book from the 1800's that kinda explaned my thinking about this called Decadence: And Other Essays on the Culture of Ideas.
I read Hamlet and Juliet this past summer for the first time. I am really very Jew to Ulysses but very interested in understanding it up to the level that I can and then some. I think he had a very enviable education and I am trying to be his student, taking what I like and leaving the rest.
The Sorrows of Satan or The Strange Experience of One Geoffrey Tempest, MillionaireThis is mentioned at the beginning of chapter 9 of Ulysses.
I have a book shelf that I named Ulysses that I will add this one to.
Here is a wiki.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_So...
The Sorrows of Satan or The Strange Experience of One Geoffrey Tempest, MillionaireThis is mentioned in the beginning of chapter 9 of Ulysses. I haven't read it but have it on my Ulysses bookshelf. Here are some quotes from the Goodreads side bar:
The finest actor is he who play the comedy of life perfectly, as i aspire to do. To walk well, talk well, weep well, laugh well and die well, it is all pure acting, because in every man there is the dumb dreadful immortal spirit who is real- who cannot act, who-is and who steadily maintains an infinite though speechless protest against the body's lies” — 1 likes
“I am going to make you what you may perhaps consider rather a singular proposition. It is this, that if you don’t like me, say so at once, and we will part now, before we have time to know anything more of each other, and I will endeavour not to cross your path again unless you seek me out. But if on the contrary, you do like me,—if you find something in my humour or turn of mind congenial to your own disposition, give me your promise that you will be my friend and comrade for a while, say for a few months at any rate. I can take you into the best society, and introduce you to the prettiest women in Europe as well as the most brilliant men. I know them all, and I believe I can be useful to you. But if there is the smallest aversion to me lurking in the depths of your nature”—here he paused,—then resumed with extraordinary solemnity—“in God’s name give it full way and let me go,—because I swear to you in all sober earnest that I am not what I seem!”
Here is wiki:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_So...
Petra wrote: "As a statement of the classes, I find it a bit disturbing if its saying that only one born & bred in an educated, cultured manner can live a pure, perfect, happy life. Those in the lower classes l..."I take it that we are talking about class distinction. Does Ulysses mention anything about this? I think it does.
One that comes to mind is in the first chapter of Ulysses:
"—Tell me, Mulligan, Stephen said quietly.
—Yes, my love?
How long is Haines going to stay in this tower?
Buck Mulligan showed a shaven cheek over his right shoulder.God, isn't he dreadful? he said frankly. A ponderous Saxon. He thinks you're not a gentleman. God, these bloody English! Bursting with money and indigestion. Because he comes from Oxford. You know, Dedalus, you have the real Oxford manner. He can't make you out. O, my name for you is the best: Kinch, the knife-blade."
When you say, "I find it a bit disturbing if its saying that only one born & bred in an educated, cultured manner can live a pure, perfect, happy life."
All I can say is that we spend a lot of money here in the USA trying to create these advantages for the lower classes because we believe it will give them a "happier life". Pure and perfect are kinda subjective because I doubt that the real "Pure and Perfect" would be reading Ulysses.
In the above paragraph quoted Stephen may have had some manners that Haines found to be cultured he did not respect him because he didn't have the money. So Stephen is an outsider. Stephen is not particularly happy because Haines has become the "usurper".
Another one that comes to mind, in talking about "pure and perfect" is when Mulligan tells Stephen that he killed his mother because he wouldn't pray on her death bed. These are cultural manners. Is Stephen happier because he didn't do his "duty?" He is conflicted. He is troubled about this. I am not saying whether he is right or wrong. It is about culture. When we go against it it becomes a conflict. Culture is there to create oneness. Regardless if your culture is from Oxford or from West Oakland, California you become part of your environment.
There was a saying,
"You can take the boy out of the country but you can't take the country out of the boy."
And another:
"The fruit doesn't fall far from the tree."
Even though we provide school or "education" it isn't enough to create a culture of Oxford trust fund babies. You will always tell the difference just like:
"Birds of a feather flock together."
I think you're reading way more into this than I am. Sayings such as "birds of a feather...", "the fruit doesn't fall...." or "you can take the boy...." may or may not refer to "class". I personally don't see the "class" part of it; I see these sayings as realisms of upbringing....nurture & nature.
One acts & believes as one is raised and as one interprets the world around oneself. That's not really "class" but circumstances/situation.
The exchanges between Stephen & Mulligan are opinions...again, probably upbringing and interpretation....not "class". Stephen & Mulligan belong to the same "class" = normal, ordinary working people. Their opinions & ideas are their personal characteristics; not their "class".
Cosmic wrote: "Petra wrote: "I think you're reading way more into this than I am. Sayings such as "birds of a feather...", "the fruit doesn't fall...." or "you can take the boy...." may or may not refer to "cla..."
I hope you don't mind me saying, Cosmic, but I'm finding you a bit confrontational. We all have our own opinions and that's one of the nice things about All About Books. I find now that this discussion is getting a long way away from chatting about Ulysses, which is what the readalong is about. Maybe you could start a separate discussion to look in depth at the issues that interest you!
Petra wrote: "I think you're reading way more into this than I am. Sayings such as "birds of a feather...", "the fruit doesn't fall...." or "you can take the boy...." may or may not refer to "class". I persona..."
But,” said Wilhelm, “will not genius save itself, not heal the wounds which itself has inflicted?” 24
“Only to a very small extent, and with great difficulty,” said the other, “or perhaps not at all. Let no one think that he can conquer the first impressions of his youth. If he has grown up in enviable freedom, surrounded with beautiful and noble objects, in constant intercourse with worthy men; if his masters have taught him what he needed first to know, for comprehending more easily what followed; if he has never learned anything which he requires to unlearn; if his first operations have been so guided, that without altering any of his habits, he can more easily produce what is excellent in future; then such a one will lead a purer, more perfect and happier life, than another man who has wasted the force of his youth in opposition and error. A great deal is said and written about education; yet I meet with very few who can comprehend, and transfer to practice, this simple yet vast idea, which includes within itself all others connected with the subject.”
Here is the quote again. He is talking about raising a child. A proverb to this might be "Raise up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not part from it." Well wonder if he wants to part from "it". What if he sees a set of people enjoying a lifestyle that he wishes he could have? Most likely be will have to change those things that makes him different. But social standing isn't just a matter of form it is a matter of atmosphere. That is something that one does not control and if it is not the air that he is used to breathing he will stick out. So the "gentleman" as Mulligan calls Haines, distinguishes between the "commoner".
There are lots of class and racial themes running through Ulysses. "I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you."
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social...
Gill ,I agree . This was a discussion that mostly considered all our sort of gut , immediate reactions with a little bit if analysis and some interesting links. I'm not interested in this kind of in depth analysis - I want it to be fun!
Angela wrote: "Gill ,I agree . This was a discussion that mostly considered all our sort of gut , immediate reactions with a little bit if analysis and some interesting links. I'm not interested in this kind of ..."
I think maybe this is the vein we should carry on in then, Angela. I'm certainly happy to carry on with a gut reaction sort of discussion.
Gill wrote: "hope you don't mind me saying, Cosmic, but I'm finding you a bit confrontational. We all have our own opinions and that's one of the nice things about All About Books. I find now that this discussion is getting a long way away from chatting about Ulysses, which is what the readalong is about. Maybe you could start a separate discussion to look in depth at the issues that interest you! ..."I am also here to talk about Ulysses. We are discussing chapter 9. The first thing mentioned in this chapter is
J.W. von Goethe (1749–1832). Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship.
Have you read this book? Why do you think that he mentioned it? Might it shed some light on the rest of the chapter that might be lost if you didn't read it? I believe Joyce put it in the text to create context for what is going to go on in chapter 9 and also what has been hinted to in chapter 8. If you have not read it then perhaps you should, before confronting me about the irrelevance of my bring up a book mentioned in Ulysses.
J.W. von Goethe (1749–1832). Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship.
Is another view of Hamlet.
I have found, speaking for myself that Ulysses is incomprehensible except that you understand the allusions and associations. Some classics don't require as much back story as Ulysses and I think this is why it is hard to get through it. Pretty soon it starts to feel more like a list words rather than something coherent. But we all believe that their is something of value here and we are willing to mine it's veins of gold.
J.W. von Goethe (1749–1832). Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship is one of its veins. If you don't wish to explore it don't read my posts. But to accuse me of not staying on subject of Ulysses, well I don't know what you mean.
Angela, how are you finding the speed we are reading at. Does it suit you?
Hey, I hate to rain on your parade so I will just read your comments and leave off adding mine. I will still be reading Ulysses with you however. Have fun!
Cosmic wrote: "He is talking about raising a child..."But we're just talking about reading a book.
Cosmic wrote: "Ulysses is incomprehensible except that you understand the allusions and associations. "
Disagree. I understand Ulysses at the level that I'm understanding it. I'm not lost in the thread of the story.
Is there more to it than I'm getting? Yes, and I may/may not see that in my next reading. That's the beauty of books like this: you can read them over & over through a lifetime and always find something more.
Gill wrote: "Angela, how are you finding the speed we are reading at. Does it suit you?"Gill,
At first I was tempted to read ahead of the schedule, but then I decided I liked the pace because it gave me a chance to read other things in between the episodes . I also like having the discussion right after I have read it, so it's been fine for me. Very different for me as I tend to read straight through one at a time and I know you read pretty fast , too. Have you read ahead>
Finally finished my first read through this episode, in my version of the book, the notes for this episode were more pages than the episode itself. For this reason, flipping back and forth from episode to notes, and spending more time in the notes, I found this section bewildering. I can't say I followed it at all, but I sure learned a lot about Hamlet! I am going to do a straight read through of the episode without notes tomorrow and hope I can follow it. Wish me luck!
I'm enjoying the pace as well. In the beginning, when the episodes were shorter, I was tempted to read ahead but now I'm very happy with the pace. Robin, Stephen does seem a bit more self-assured (pompous? arrogant?) in his discussion but I think he's just trying to show off a little bit to prove that he belongs with this snooty group of students. He just wants to be included. He's not doing it in a very good manner since he's pretending to be something he isn't but he's still young and that's what young folks do when they're insecure.
I feel sorry for him (again) and hope he learns to fit into his own skin soon.
Evelyn, this section is pretty turbulent. It bounces us back and forth with seemingly endless debate. But, we kind of do that everyday, too, with everyday chit-chat and discussion. Whatever we speak about today is not relevant tomorrow. What's important right now, is forgotten tomorrow. That's kind of how I see the discussion in the library. It's only important during the discussion; forgotten right afterwards.
Petra, I kept your comment about the relevancy of conversations in mind on my re-read - thank you for talking me back from the edge!Hands down my favourite line in this episode - if others have their will Ann hath a way. Loved the play on names and double meaning.
I also was intrigued by the father/son discussion. The son unborn mars beauty - kind of harsh to a pregnant woman I think.
Born he brings pain, divides affection, increases care - I think that is as true of daughters as it is of sons.
He is a male, his growth is his father's decline, his youth his father's envy, his friend his father's enemy... Ok, so I am obviously not a father, but I am a mother of two sons. I think that if this is how a father feels, then that father is seriously intimidated by his son, is selfish and lacks maturity, etc, etc, etc.
This part is a bit of a tongue twister, but it also made me think. If the father who has not a son be not a father can the son who has not a father be a son? It made me think of families who have lost their sons or fathers. Several years ago, my aunt lost her mother, and had previously lost her father. She was in her 60's and she told me she felt like an orphan. I had always previously thought orphans were children and adults were adults. We lost my dad a few years ago. This makes me wonder - is my brother still a son? Of course he is, as our mom is still with us, but..... Of course we could be talking about mothers and daughters here just as easily.
And then again at the end of the chapter, my new favourite word, ineluctably.
Evelyn wrote: "Petra, I kept your comment about the relevancy of conversations in mind on my re-read - thank you for talking me back from the edge!Hands down my favourite line in this episode - if others have t..."
Evelyn, yes ineluctably! I thought it sounded familiar and that I had seen it here earlier. Episode 3 begins with "Ineluctable modality of the visible". One of the things I like about reading on my kindle is that I can instantly get a definition of a word. That was one that I had to look up.
I love the way it sounds - lol.
Great observations.
Yes, I like looking up words directly on my Kindle also. It's a bit of a disappointment (and surprise!) when I can't do it with paper books.
Evelyn, my second parent died when I was in my 40s. I was doing ok until someone at work said 'Oh, now you're an orphan.' I just howled and howled. I think it's odd how it's possible to feel like a child and parent at the same time.
I find both Stephen and Bloom quite insecure and hesitant. They are both looking for something. Btw, I have a great need to call Bloom by his first name, so will be calling him Leopold from now, probably. It's easier for me to sympathise with him that way, I feel more comfortable with it.
Interesting observations, Evelyn.When my second parent passed away, I was in my late 40s. At the time, I remember looking into the mirror and thinking "I'm an orphan" but the word seemed all wrong and didn't fit right.
I think that, perhaps, I'm not an orphan because my life was established, my own and a separate entity from my parents at the time of either of their deaths. I mourned, still miss them, and they will always be a part of me but I was myself, in a secure, individual way, by the time of their deaths (as it should be with children's lives) so I was Me, the person, as opposed to Me, The Child, the orphan.
I'm not sure if that makes any sense.
In this sense, I can see Leopold (thanks, Gill) thinking about sons, fathers and orphans since he's quite unsure and insecure about himself, his surroundings and his past. In his own way, with his loss of child and perhaps Molly and his only living child away from him, as well as his insecurity, he's floundering and alone.....an orphan, in his way.
Gill I think then the reaction my aunt had was very similar to yours, and Petra, I completely understand your thought process as well. I hope that it will be many more years before I will test the theory. My mom was much younger than my dad.To continue your thought Petra, perhaps what Leopold and Steven are both missing is a sense that someone loves them unconditionally and will be there to provide guidance when needed?
I think I've asked this before, but have any of us read Portrait of the artist as a young man?
Gill ,I read it many , many years ago in college and I don't remember much more about it than it was about Stephen Dedalus and was supposed to be based on Joyce himself .
Evelyn, that is very likely. They both seem so alone. They need someone to love them unconditionally. Gill, I haven't read any other book by Joyce. I keep meaning to but haven't gotten around to it.
Gill wrote: "I think I've asked this before, but have any of us read Portrait of the artist as a young man?"I haven't. You?
Evelyn wrote: "Gill wrote: "I think I've asked this before, but have any of us read Portrait of the artist as a young man?"I haven't. You?"
No, but I certainly intend to soon. Also I want to read Ulysses.
Re-read Ulysses (so soon), Gill?One day, I hope to tackle Finnegans Wake. I've been daunted after hearing that it's pretty much incomprehensible.
I read that too , Petra , about Finnegan's Wake . Don't think I'll go there for now .
Mod
I fond myself more and more wanting to look up for the meaning of words also on my "paper books"!!!
Mod
One day, I hope to tackle Finnegans Wake. I've been daunted after hearing that it's pretty much incomprehensible."
No way Petra!!!! I think that with Ulysses I've done my utmost! Finnegans Wake will be one of the books, to say as Eco in the last book I've read by him, I talk without having actually read it!!!
Petra wrote: "Re-read Ulysses (so soon), Gill?One day, I hope to tackle Finnegans Wake. I've been daunted after hearing that it's pretty much incomprehensible."
Oops no, I meant the Odyssey!
LOL! Finnegan's Wake may be a book I never get to either...but I am curious about it...just not enough to rush out and try to read it.Gill, I really enjoyed The Odyssey. I compared a few translations on-line before purchasing a book. There are plenty of "read me" samples. The flow of the words makes a big difference, I found.
I ended up getting this version: The Odyssey. I was really happy with it.
Episode 10: The Wandering RocksSummary:
http://www.shmoop.com/ulysses-joyce/e...
Poster:
http://bluebed.tumblr.com/post/320036...
10. WANDERING ROCKS
TIME: 3.00 pm.
SCENE: The streets of Dublin
ORGAN: Blood
ART: Mechanics
COLOURS:
SYMBOL: Citizens
TECHNIQUE: Labyrinth
I'm just reading the Introduction in The Novel: A Biography and Ulysses gets quite a bit of mention:"Roddy Doyle told a pre-Bloomsday audience in New York in 2004, 'You know people are always putting Ulysses in the top ten books ever written but I doubt that any of those people were really moved by it.' Discredit not only the work, but also those who purport to enjoy it."
Then, a half page later:
"Between 2002 and 2012, Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha sold 26,824, Ulysses 190,694."
The "ha ha ha" seems to be Joyce laughing at Doyle. LOL!
And guess what? On the centenary of Bloomsday, the Irish government supported a half year of festivities! That's a lot of time devoted to Ulysses.
There was also a Bloom's Breakfast at which 10,000 people "were to convene in O'Connell Street to consume 'fried offal and mutton kidneys washed down with Guinness.' Another sponsor of the feast was Denny Sausages, advertised by Joyce in his book."
It would have been fun to be at that breakfast.
I read his portrait, was a bit more assessable, easier to read. Stephen was very arrogant in that book, he is much more humble in Ulysses. Seems he has learned more about life and it has changed him.
I think episode 10 is fabulous. I read somewhere that someone had tried walking round Dublin, as if with one leg, and that the timing is perfect.I read If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things when it came out. I thought it was a lovely book, but having read this episode, I wonder whether Jon McGregor had it in the back of his mind.
I liked this Episode a lot too, even though I kept thinking " who are all these people?"The narrative was different - not so much stream of consciousness in the beginning of the episode .
Then we see the longest paragraphs of thought towards the end then we have see earlier.
I was sad that the Dedalus family is going hungry .
Molly , Molly , Molly - Linehan too !
Making fun of Bloom - I feel badly for him here too . "Sweets of Sin" , the book Bloom picks out for Molly - seems appropriate . Am I going to like her later on ???
I love that Stephen wonders who has read the books before him . I remember in high school for an essay I wrote in an English exam , I imagined I was a book and talked about the people who had read me . That was a long , long time ago but this actually made me remember that .
My last thought: I want to take a walk through the streets of Dublin!
I really liked this episode as well. All the people intersecting in a normal day.
I feel sorry for the Dedalus family, too. It helps explain some of Stephen's insecurities, too. Everyone, including his family, wants something from him. That's a lot of stress on a young person and would create guilt and insecurities.
I think my favorite mentions in this episode are the two ladies (one a possible mid-wife) that Stephen saw on the beach in the Telemachus section. They appeared in two of these vignettes. I got a kick out of that.
Also, Patrick Digman and his grief. Joyce wrote the boy's confusion and loneliness so well.
Anglela, thanks for sharing that story with us. What a great essay that must have been.
Angela wrote: "My last thought: I want to take a walk through the streets of Dublin! ..."Angela, I'd love to participate in a Bloomsday walk and the other activities of Bloomsday.
I wonder if one would have to know the book intimately in order to get the entire Bloomsday walk experience?
We should all meet in Dublin one year and participate together. That would be great fun!!
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I haven't read Shakespeare since college and that was a VERY long time ago, but I did find the discussion somewhat interesting. Stephen was trying so hard to impress Russell and Eglinton and even though he was kind of arrogant, I felt a little sorry for him that he wasn't invited to the poetry reading that evening.
Just as you thought of Bloom being an outsider, I felt like Stephen was too.
I agree, I still think that Mulligan is pretty pompous as he mocks Stephen.
Had to laugh when someone says they saw Bloom looking under Aphrodite's dress - he did say he was going to do this in the last episode.
Yes, Petra, I agree - lot of thought on father-son theme.