Ulysses by James Joyce

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moderntimes
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Re: Ulysses by James Joyce

Post by moderntimes »

Probably not. The errors and omissions aren't very noticeable to the reader, only if compared with the original intent of the author.

Most are very small. For example, Stephen's walking stick traces the dirt behind him as he strolls on the beach, "hssssssssss" and the number of "s"es is thirteen in the corrected text. No biggie.

More interesting might be the telegram which Stephen receives from his father while he's sojourning on the Continent. Stephen calls it a blue curiosity to show friends. Now telegrams in France were on blue paper, that much you can understand. But why the "curiosity"?

In the error typeset editions, it says:

Mother dying. Come home. Father.

But why is this a curiosity? Well, many of the unintended errors were "corrections" which Joyce originally meant to be deliberate mistakes. In the corrected text, it says, per Joyce's original manuscript:

Nother dying. Come home. Father.

Which is the typo Joyce intended, making the telegram so very more sad and poignant, meaning of course "another dying".

Little things like this. You can refer to your Penguin and it will show "Mother" which is an error. Joyce knew precisely what he was doing here. That's chapter 3, "Proteus".

All sorts of little treasures to discover anew. Ulysses is definitely not something which can be consumed whole. It needs to be savored like a good single malt Scotch or a fine Bordeaux red.
"Ineluctable modality of the visible..."
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Post by MsMartha »

moderntimes wrote: Ulysses is definitely not something which can be consumed whole. It needs to be savored like a good single malt Scotch or a fine Bordeaux red.
Well, then I was on the right track the first time--definitely tried to savor it (but no Scotch!). Thank you so much for your suggestions!
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Post by moderntimes »

Happy to help. I'd first strongly recommend the Joseph Campbell book -- he was such an iconic figure in modern psychology and sociology that to read of his love for Joyce is a different side of him. And the book is an entertaining and intriguing work.

And be sure to file a report back here when you embark upon the Bloomsday journey.
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Post by MsMartha »

I've been checking the local library, and not finding much so far--so I guess this means I get to go to some used book stores!
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Post by moderntimes »

Check used book stores, of course. And if necessary, there's always Amazon. Most of these books are in paperback. The Joseph Campbell book however is in a handsome hardcover -- the entire extent of Campbell's writing has newly been republished by the Campbell Society and all these repubs are in hardcover.
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Post by MsMartha »

moderntimes wrote:Check used book stores, of course. And if necessary, there's always Amazon. Most of these books are in paperback. The Joseph Campbell book however is in a handsome hardcover -- the entire extent of Campbell's writing has newly been republished by the Campbell Society and all these repubs are in hardcover.
Yes, I checked Amazon yesterday--I'm hoping for really inexpensive options, but that isn't necessarily what I'll find ;-)
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Post by moderntimes »

No Half-Price Book stores nearby?
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Post by MsMartha »

No--but this is a not-too-big city in western NY, and we do have several local used book stores.
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Post by mark andre »

moderntimes wrote:Who here has read (or tried to read) the greatest of all modern novels, "Ulysses" by James Joyce.

Not an easy read, for certain. Joyce himself said that he gave the scholars something to fight about for the next century, and he was darn right.

For those who are totally void on this wonderful masterpiece, a brief intro:

Ulysses takes place on one day, 16 June 1904 in Dublin. It covers three main characters: A young "hippie" schoolteacher and semi-failed poet, Stephen Dedalus. A middle aged advertising agent, Leopold Bloom. And Molly, Bloom's wife. And it's a parallel tale of Homer's Odyssey, where Leopold Bloom is Ulysses, Stephen Dedalus is his "mystical" son Telemachus, and Molly of course is Ulysses' wife Penelope.

Each chapter in the novel parallels a chapter from Homer's "Odyssey" -- the journey of Ulysses to return home. For example, when Ulysses (or Odysseus) and his shipmates meet the huge one-eyed cyclops, he attacks them, as we all know from the movies. Well, in Joyce's novel, Leopold Bloom (a Jew) goes to a tavern to meet an attorney who's handling the insurance from a friend who recently died. And being outspoken, Bloom gets into a confrontation with a huge, drunken Irish loyalist who apparently hates everyone, especially Jews. And the man has one eye, wears a patch. And he threatens Bloom and chases him out of the tavern.

Each chapter is also written in a different style. One chapter deals with the parallel in the Odyssey of the nymph, and so the narration is written in a very exaggerated and "soapy" style common to teenage romance books of that era, and deals with a young woman who sees Bloom and fantasizes about marrying this elegant and fairly successful-looking man.

The first 2 chapters are written in a very "standard" style, without much difficult composition -- fairly straightforward to read, and then oh, boy, chapter 3, "Proteus" is written in a stream-of-consciousness style and is quite difficult.

But Joyce wasn't writing a book for the casual reader. He deliberately created this great novel as a "study" or "puzzle" to the readers. It's like solving a mystery novel with 4000 interwoven clues. Something in chapter 4 will re-appear in chapter 8 and they are dependent upon one another.

For those who've maybe tried to read the book and have simply thrown their hands up, I have some recommendations. First, there are 2 excellent films, both available easily, which are depictions of the novel. There's "Ulysses" by Joseph Strick, a fine 60s movie which is entertaining, fun to watch, and tells the story of the book very nicely. Then a newer film, "Bloom" -- an all Irish movie made recently. Just be careful if you order "Ulysses" you don't get the old Kirk Douglas movie, ha ha.

There are also many excellent guidebooks to the novel, taking the book one chapter at a time, explaining the symbolism, the meanings behind the story, and all the goodies.

One superb book on James Joyce's writing overall is "Mythic Worlds, Modern Words" by the great ethnologist Joseph Campbell (author of "Hero with a Thousand Faces" and many other great books). He was a huge Joyce fan.

I've made a personal study of the novel, and have dozens of books about it, both movies of course, and several editions of the book.

Anyone interested, let's chat. And I'll tell you this: Any studious reader and a fan of modern literature who's not read Ulysses is like a drama fan who's never read Shakespeare.
-- 20 Jul 2016, 16:09 --

ok. finally. this is the most difficult site i've ever been to. anyway. i have six copies of Ulysses on my shelf today. i have 5 '61 random houses and
the 2009 dover reprint of the '22 shakespeare & co. i also have a couple of copies of dubliners, a portrait or two and a finnegans wake. i also own a vhs copy of the strick movie (i like it but the music is hideous). i've been studying joyce and ulysses for some 30 years now, and have tried over the years to come in contact with the major lines of criticism. it (the criticism) is almost all garbage. the only decent book i've ever come across is stanley sultan's 1964 the argument of Ulysses. but, i don't agree with his conclusions about the final disposition of the heros. anyway, i reason i am writing are two: one, Ulysses is my favorite book too. and two i believe that the best way to approach Ulysses for the first time is the colder you are the better. no knowledge of joyce, his other books, homer, ireland, shakespeare, you don't even have to be able to find dublin on a map. i hate all the self-help books. i just finished Blamire's bloomsday recently and i don't understand who would ever read it. why not just re-read Ulysses, hmmm? ( i will say in defense of blamires book that his treatment of the scene in "rocks" (#13, i think) with stephen and his sister at the book stall is more accurate and intelligent than anything else i've ever seen: most critics don't even mention it. from my own study i find three key phrases at the begin of the book as a signature as to what the whole novel is about. From stephen we get, the yeats poem with the line: "love's bitter mystery". then Molly asks, "who's he when he's at home." and of course Bloom and his musings on, "those lovely seaside girls". (have you ever noticed how much "seaside girls" are like "sirens"?) for me these are the three major clues to the whole book. anyway sorry for rambling, using the computer is not necessarily my strong suit. anyway i felt like talking about joyce today and through a number of convoluted websites i ended up here. peace.

-- 22 Jul 2016, 12:32 --

ok. message for moderntimes. regarding post #29, 4.12.16 as a long time Ulysses enthusiast, i have to strenuously disagree with your recommendation of the Gabler text.(nothing personal). the best reading copy of Ulysses is now and will be forever the '61 random house paperback. the size, the weight, the font, the ink, the paper, and most importantly, the exquisite, sympathetic, and loving type set.(i carry 5 of these right now). as a second choice i strongly recommend the Dover books '09 reprint of the original '22 shakespeare & co.
again, nothing personal, but the whole gabler project, and the slavish love the critics fawn upon is a disgrace to art.
peace,
mark.
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