Ulysses (1922)

[Benny B]

Don't be silly of course he is

 

[Benny B]

I wasn't pissed off at Joyce for it, but some of the stuff in 'Cyclops' really makes you feel for Bloom. The Citizen starts talking shit behind his back, making fun of him and saying antisemitic crap. One of the nastiest characters in the book, maybe the nastiest.

I'm onto Cyclops now - LOLing at the theosophical seance for Paddy Dignam parody. Quite surprised by how funny the book is in general actually.

Sirens was AMAZING, probably my favourite section so far.

 

[luka]

i hated sirens. gave up for a few years after that hitting that bit.

 

[luka]

there's even worse and more annoying bits ahead tho

 

[Benny B]

No way, the bit where blooms listening to them singing and playing the piano from the other room was stunning.

 

[luka]

i hated it wound me up so badly so twee and irritating

 

[Benny B]

I used to get irritated by that side of joyce too but I'm loving it this time round, I don't think I was reading it properly before

 

[luka]

its probably just that the alcohol has destroyed your critical faculties

 

[luka]

that and the heat. its only going to frazzle your brain pan living there.

 

[Benny B]

Tiddly bum tap tap tap, fff, prrrhhph!

🤪

 

[Benny B]

Done Cyclops now,
poor old Bloom

Don't get the whingeing about the parodies and lists in this episode, they're mostly really funny (especially the seance and the boxing match ones) and you can just skim through them if you can't be arsed. In fact I don't imagine even Joyce himself really expected anyone to actually read every word, it's not at all necessary.

 

[Clinamenic]

Done Cyclops now,
poor old Bloom

Don't get the whingeing about the parodies and lists in this episode, they're mostly really funny (especially the seance and the boxing match ones) and you can just skim through them if you can't be arsed. In fact I don't imagine even Joyce himself really expected anyone to actually read every word, it's not at all necessary.

Yeah personally I got the impression that sections like that just sorta glided across all that dense logos, almost like a map that could be folded up like an accordion and traversed easily. But I do think those sections also convey that, should Joyce have wanted to and should he have spent more time, he could added another 10 pages of elaboration.

 

[Benny B]

Yeah, like not many people are gonna read a near pageful of priests names in a list, but it's good that they're there, it's just Joyce taking the writing style he's parodying to its full conclusion, foregrounding the form. And each parody is perfectly done

Anyway, I thought they were really funny - exaggerating banal things like someone standing a drink or entering the bar to absurdly mythical proportions. Made me laugh anyway.

The parallel with the corresponding Odyssey episode is brilliantly done in this one too, especially at the end when the citizen throws the biscuit tin at Bloom (the Cyclops throwing the rocks at Odysseus's crew as they escape from the island on their ship)

 

[version]

Skimming or skipping bits of a book doesn't feel right to me, I either read the thing cover to cover or I don't read it. If I'm really not bothered I'll drop it, but I usually push through the bits I don't like.

 

[Benny B]

Me neither, but if it's literally just a list of common names you can just cast your eye over it and move on.

 

[Benny B]

Or that bit where it's just a legal document that takes up an entire page, you can just read the first few lines to get the idea and skip on a paragraph if you find it boring - in fact it's supposed to be boring, that's almost the point.

I thought most of the parodies were worth reading though cos they're funny, the Irish legend ones and the sports writer parody especially, and the biblical one right at the end was genius.

 

[woops]

Or that bit where it's just a legal document that takes up an entire page, you can just read the first few lines to get the idea and skip on a paragraph if you find it boring - in fact it's supposed to be boring, that's almost the point.

I thought most of the parodies were worth reading though cos they're funny, the Irish legend ones and the sports writer parody especially, and the biblical one right at the end was genius.

I've got this far before and not finished it

 

[woops]

I've got this far before and not finished it

about 500 pages

 

[Benny B]

It's about 330 pages in, nearly halfway.

I think I got to about the same point first time I read it before giving up, about 20 years ago now (!) - probably didn't understand any of it back then

 

[Benny B]

Probably the key to enjoying it is reading it as primarily a comic novel, rather than some super serious, monumental, experimental modernist mountain that you have to conquer.