I proudly announce that today is Bloomsday!
Have you ever tried to read Ulysses, or why do you shy away from it? Any hardcore James Joyce enjoyer in this community?
I’ll share my story with Ulysses: I have to shamefully admit I never read the original, but only the German translation, which is of course not the Irish experience that Ulysses should be. The next cardinal sin I must confess is that I did not quite read Ulysses but listened to the audiobook. The narrators were great and carried me through without getting bored. I want to read some parts in the original language, and can’t quite decide which ones. I have an e-book version from gutenberg, but the quotation marks are missing, which makes me wish that standard ebooks would make an edition.
What are your favorite chapters? I quite like the part with the news articles. It’s funny, different, and the narrators of my audiobook did an especially good job with that chapter.
I love Bloomsday! But I must admit I still haven’t finished Ulysses. I’ve heard its best read with a companion book. Once I finish Dubliners I might try tackling it again.
What I love about Joyce in general is the geographical accuracy of his portrayal of Dublin. It’s mad that it has hardly changed over the hundred years since Ulysses and Dubliners were written.
A good memory I have from last year’s Bloomsday was walking past a crowd of people in period dress holding pints of plain and talking loudly over a guy reading out a chapter of Ulysses on a podium outside Davy Byrne’s. It’s not just about the literature, Dublin is all about the atmosphere. It’s a pity the weather isn’t great for it this year.
the quotation marks are missing
I’m pretty sure that’s a stylistic choice by the author himself. All the dialogue is mixed in with the stream of consciousness. A delicious mess.
The atmosphere really sounds amazing. I’ve never been to Ireland, but if get the opertinity it would be cool to walk through the city on Bloomsday.
I read Ulysses once and not even scratched the surface, but the geography sounds like a interesting topic to dive into. A companion book could be useful, but I guess it would also take a lot more time to get through the read.
If the quotation marks are a stylistic choice than so be it. Makes it harder to read though. The last chapter is missing any kind of punctuation as far as I know, so that has to be a wild ride
Update: I’m one page in to the final chapter and you’re right. It is a wild ride. But it’s so DUBLIN. It reads like I’m overhearing one half of a phone conversation with loads of gossip.
All right, you got me. I’m gonna have a look at the chapter myself
Update 3: Jaysis this is a dirty aul book wha, people padding up their arses to excite men and confessing to the priest about where the boys touched them. One of them even wants to embrace the priest. Fleabag vibes.
Update 5: the book fell off my lap and startled me awake. It’s been a long night! This was fun and hopefully educational x
Update 4: my eyes are drooping now and finding it hard to keep up with the sheer pace of conversation here!! I’m going to put it down for now, but my biggest takeaway from this part so far is, despite the lack of punctuation and paragraphs, how accessible it is! It sounds like a gang of women gossiping!
Yeah, it certainly has the flow of stream of consciousness. After a while I got used to it and then, it indeed becomes quite accessible
I would not have picked up that book if it weren’t for seeing this thread so thank you! We should make this a Bloomsday tradition. A different chapter every year.
The last chapter is missing any kind of punctuation as far as I know, so that has to be a wild ride
Just got in from some pints in town myself, I’ve decided this is the perfect time to take a look at this mythical beast of a chapter. It’s what Joyce would have wanted. Will report back!
Yes, that is exactly what Joyce would’ve wanted!
Update 2: it mentions “Dignam’s death” being in a newspaper of some sort. Oddly poignant, as Christy Dignam, a famous Dublin singer, passed away during the week.
I read Ulysses last year and it was a great experience. I tried to use the audiobook podcast and notes and different sources to get all the references down but it was all so overwhelming I just said screw it and read the text as is. Will definitely do it again in a few years. Now the only Joyce I haven’t read yet are Dubliners and Finnegans Wake.
