Bloomsday

[altariel]

Today is the 100th anniversary of 'Bloomsday', the day on which all the action of Ulysses takes place.

As ever, the BBC has come up trumps, and here is a Cheat's Guide to Joyce's Ulysses.

That, my friends, is a proper use of the licence fee. The BBC - reading books so that you don't have to.

Edited to add: There are some great comments at the bottom of that page now, although my favourite has to be: "Perhaps one day I shall read it, just out of spite."

Comments

[applegnat.livejournal.com]

Ahaha, thank you, thank you! We've just started our BritMod class in college and everyone was griping about why they couldn't finish the darn book. This is so much funnier in context. :)

[altariel.livejournal.com]

:-D A very timely link!

[applegnat.livejournal.com]

Haply I think on thee... *hearts*

[communicator.livejournal.com]

I'm about a third of the way through it, with the help of 'The Bloomsday Guide', there is some fantastic writing in there, but I don't get what's going on most of the time

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I decided to start with something a bit more accessible, and am reading Dubliners.

[kathyh]

As I never even made it through Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man that link was hugely useful. I think I second one of the commenters who asked them to do Remembrance of Things Past next. As you say this is excellent use of the licence fee.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I really enjoyed Portrait, although it's a very long time since I've read it, and I don't know what I'd make of it now. Lots of bits of it reminded me of the older members of my family.

[katlinel.livejournal.com]

[smug] Read it, 17 years ago, and without the aid of notes.[/smug] But that was because I hadn't realised that the difference between the cheap paperback and the expensive paperback was the notes.

Don't remember that much, apart from Stephen on the beach, and Molly's stream-of-consciousness. Both those passages, I loved at the time of reading. Don't know if they made up for having to read the book in the first week of my first term for my first seminar at university.

I've often wondered if Mortmain's writing in 'I Capture the Castle' was based on Joyce, or if Joyce was one of the writers that Simon was referring to when he talked about othere writers having taken the next step, that may have contributed to Mortmain's block. (And that statement was brought to you by the 'Nearly All I Needed To Know I Learnt From Children's Books' party.)

[communicator.livejournal.com]

Stephen on the beach

This stood out for me too, I want to quote it at people.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

[smug] Read it, 17 years ago, and without the aid of notes.[/smug]

*bows to the Empress of Books*

Oh yes! I remember now you telling me this was the first thing they threw at you at Uni! What a way to start a literature course.

I like the idea of Joyce being influenced by Mortmain.


'Nearly All I Needed To Know I Learnt From Children's Books'

Is there anything else worth knowing?

[trixieleitz]

Have you been to google today?

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I just caught it in time last night!

[katlinel.livejournal.com]

I love your angelic icon, btw.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

;-) I pinched the quote from the list on the INFJ site. We had a much tackier picture for the angel originally, but couldn't get it to work at such a small size.

[communicator.livejournal.com]

There are some great comments at the bottom of that page now

My favourite is Tim from Wales who reports 'I'd never heared of this book until today'

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Do you think that's actually Stephen Fry who has posted there now?

[communicator.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes, it sounds just like him

[altariel.livejournal.com]

And I gather he hangs round the internet a lot. Like all the best people.

[the-wild-iris.livejournal.com]

I've only read a few chapters of Ulysses, but have read a bunch of James Joyce's unpublished correspondence about its serialization in the Egoist (you can see his handwriting get worse in response to his eye troubles). So a philistine, but a philistine with purpose!

I'm breaking out my Bloomsday icon a day too late...

[altariel.livejournal.com]

So a philistine, but a philistine with purpose!

It's all a matter of perspective - I bet most of those Joyceans are philistines when it comes to Egoism! ;-)

Did you see Troy? Enjoy it?

[the-wild-iris.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen it yet. Slipping. The last film I saw was The Day After Tomorrow (surprisingly good); maybe I'll catch up with Troy in Boston...

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I have to go and see 'The Day After Tomorrow'.

A very safe trip over the Pond and I hope you have a brilliant time.