Stately, plump Buck Mulligan came from the stairhead, bearing a bowl of lather on which a mirror and a razor lay crossed.
And so it begins…..
Am I mad? I don’t know. Why I’ve not challenged myself to read it yet, again I don’t know. Many great Dublin characters are reflected in the work, and I’ve always enjoyed Bloomsday. I’ve read some of Joyce’s works already, but always shied away from Ulysses. Today, I’m 40-something pages in and greatly enjoying the work.
My version is “the 1922 text”. The explanatory notes at the back are longer than some books I have read. Everyday I pass a Ulysses plaque in the city centre, be it at the Ballast Office, the Thomas Moore statue, O’Connell Bridge or elsewhere, and I feel a tiny bit embarrassed not to have read the work so many enquire about when visiting the city.
I’ve visited the Jewish Museum in the past and learned of Dublin’s most famous (and fictional) Jewish figure. I’m fascinated by the books international appeal considering its specific geographic setting. Reading should never be a chore and I intend to visit sights from the book as I try to get to grips with it.
Bloomsday is on the sixteenth of June. Let’s see how far I can get by then, and more importantly: how much I can understand. Reports on my progress will appear on the site.
Click on the book for more.
Click on the book for more.
Donal
Ciarán
Sam
Come Here To Me! 
I’m 62 and have never read it either. You have inspired me to give it a try. I look forward to your comments as you go.
I have to admit, getting through it is a labour of love, but once you get to the last page, you’ll realise it was all worth it. You can find the schema (which you may or may not find it useful) here:
http://www.phespirit.info/places/2004_11_dublin_1.htm
Ooh good for you, loving the Marilyn pic
I see Marilyn made it to the bitter end. Fair play! I’ve started it half a dozen times and the furthest I got was about 3/4 through it. That dream sequence seems to go on forever. I recommend a few drinks every night for a fortnight as you plough through it (the dream bit, not the whole book).
The first 300 pages are immensely readable, after that it becomes a bit like hard work.
My summer projects include:
Gravity’s Rainbow (started three times but lost interest)
In remembrance of things past (Which semi-ironically I’m leaving on top of the jacks…)
“Love loves to love love. Nurse loves the new chemist. Constable 14A loves Mary Kelly. Gerty MacDowell loves the boy that has the bicycle. M.B. loves a fair genteman. Li Chi Han lovey up kissy Cha Pu Chow. Jumbo, the elephant, loves Alive, the elephant. Old Mr. Verschoyle with the ear trumpet loves old Mrs. Verschoyle with the turnedin eye. The man in the brown macintosh loves a lady who is dead. His Majesty the King loves her Majesty the Queen. Mrs. Norman W. Tupper loves officer Taylor. You love a certain person. And this person loves that other person because everybody loves somebody but God loves everybody”.
Ould Mr and Mrs Verschoyle, where my Great, Great, Grandparents!