Sunday, January 18, 2009

* Stately, plump Buck Mulligan came from the stairhead

Part I, Chapter 1.
read by 1/26.
Discuss.
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9 comments:

  1. zacharyJanuary 22, 2009 at 12:39 PM

    I guess rough waters are coming ahead, but this first chapter was easy enough to follow. I feel a little dense that I didn't get the Hamlet is the ghost of his own father joke until I looked at my SparkNotes. I guess I didn't spend enough much time with mean-spirited intellectuals when I was in college.

    Are you guys pausing to look up all the made-up words? My instinct is to plow through them and not worry about it. My patience for multi-level reading is low.

    I'm pressing on.

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  2. SJanuary 23, 2009 at 12:40 PM

    I did a plowing read and was thinking of going back and making a vocab list for myself. I'll put it here if do. I agree, this was easy enough to follow so far, though I bet this is eased by having read authors copying this style for the subsequent 90 years. You know, the way Velvet Underground doesn't sound so shocking nowadays.

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  3. zacharyJanuary 23, 2009 at 2:58 PM

    It's the same style as Portrait of an Artist... I did some poking around online and found that Joyce did that on purpose. The second section is the same.

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  4. ShellyJanuary 23, 2009 at 9:22 PM

    from Latin mass: Introibo ad Altare Dei - I will go in to the Altar of God.

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  5. UnknownJanuary 26, 2009 at 3:07 PM

    I really enjoyed this chapter, and it certainly wasn't what I was expecting.

    This chapter reminds me of the beginning of another super-long experimental work: Gravity's Rainbow. Both novels begin with an accessible chapter, where a charming rogue (who ends up not being the protagonist of the book.) Actually, if you want to get really specific, both books begin with the rogue involved in preparing breakfast. Hmm.

    One thing that's really haunted me about Gravity's Rainbow that's really haunted me since I've read it is that it contained some of the most beautiful writing I'd ever read, but I was so focused on just trying to get through it that I didn't write any of the parts down. But now, despite good intentions, I have to admit that I'll probably never read Gravity's Rainbow ever again, and all that gorgeous prose is just lost to me. I hope I don't make that mistake with this book.

    In that spirit, one of my favorite lines from this chapter was this description of Stephen's mom: "Her shapely fingernails reddened by the blood of squashed lice from the children's shirts."

    *

    Zach mentioned the SparkNotes. Maybe Shelly has already posted this, but you can access the SparkNotes online:

    http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/ulysses/

    There's also this online annotated version of the book, which I've been reading when I'm at my computer:

    http://www.columbia.edu/~fms5/ulys.htm

    It seems kind of plain and janky--and the multi-colored text make is seem like a crazy person's website about mind control rays--but it's actually really well done and fascinating. The two-letter links aren't actually links...they're annotations; instead of clicking on them, hover your cursor over them and they'll give a bit of background to the word. Also, hover over the line numbers and it'll give you a short summary of the last ten lines.

    Also helpful: it looks like a Microsoft Word document, so it's perfect for reading Joyce at the Office. (Future formatting idea for The Darling Budds???)

    *

    Do you guys use RSS feeds? If so, you can subscribe to just the feed of this particular entry, and all future comments will show up in your feed reader. Just email me if you want to know more.

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  6. AnonymousJanuary 26, 2009 at 4:22 PM

    I've decided to read the book with as little annotation as possible. I have a pretty good classical background, but I know that also means I'll miss some of the subtext and references, but I think I'll enjoy the language more. I think this book needs to wash over me in waves and the finger gymnastics of trying to keep place in several versions is mentally distracting. I initially thought of reading each chapter twice. Once through letting the language flow, then a second time checking definitions and references. One chapter of this has cured me of this notion; however, I've been setting the literary criticism aside to read afterward, and I've been pursuing each chapter pencil in hand, underlining anything (unknown words, references, or beautiful language) I'd like to visit on a return.

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  7. AnonymousJanuary 26, 2009 at 4:51 PM

    The scrotumtightening sea. Epi oinopa ponton.
    Can't deny that is somehow more descriptive as a compound word.

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  8. zacharyJanuary 27, 2009 at 7:46 AM

    I've been reading the chapter straight through without notes. Then after I've been checking Sparknotes and stuff to see what I missed. This works okay, but I'm thinking it might be better in some places to read the summary first. The third chapter, for instance.

    There's a super stiff Ulysses film on YouTube. This first section is interesting to watch. I think the actors are about 35.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WN321y5KMzc

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  9. UnknownJanuary 27, 2009 at 12:44 PM

    I've been trying to read Shakespeare's plays in between other books (5 down, 31 to go!) and I always struggle with that question: should I read the summary before or after the scene?

    If I read it first, I won't be surprised by any of the plot developments. (I know it sounds a bit twee, but I really do want to be unspoiled when I'm reading these.)

    But if I read the summary afterwards, I'll waste my original reading of the text just skimming lines I don't understand.

    It's a pickle!

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