“Ulysses” by James Joyce– yes, THAT “Ulysses.” I was drawn into the idea just in time for Bloomsday by Wandering Rox http://wanderingrox.wordpress.com/
Now I’ve covered two sections for the collective, and we’re making slow but steady progress through one of the most infamous novels in English.
We ain’t afraid of no seminal Modernist text!
Well, that’s it for the moment, but I’m sure there will be more in the future (especially now that I’ve discovered some great new book blogs through BBAW.)
Back again, bouyed by breezy comments from Aeolus’s margins, we fly. If you missed the previous flight, catch it here. This may be a bumpy ride, so please stow your luggage securely and put your trays in the upright positions.
“Practice dwindling. A mighthavebeen. Losing heart.”– such a sad fellow.
“Weathercocks. Hot and cold in the same breath.”– are they Mary Poppins then?
“Is he taking anything for it?”– a good question.
“shite and onions”– such a disgusting phrase! What did onions ever do to you?
onions are lovely. leave them alone.
“Get a grip of them by the stomach.”– I agree. good advice. hopefully not using the shite and onions, though. eww.
“The editor’s blue eyes roved towards Mr Bloom’s face, shadowed by a smile.”– Why, what does Secret Squirrel here know?
Is this really a picture of the Editor and Leopold Bloom?
“My Ohio.”– ooooooo ooo hio– where North Cork won every time [sung to tune of “Oklahoma”]
“He took a reel of dental floss…”– ok, nice to see him flossing, but such poor manners!
“Who wants a dead cert for the God cup? he asked”– how are the odds on the choirboys handicap? Bertie Wooster wants to place a bet with Pongo.
“There’s a hurricane blowing.”– listen, bub. You don’t know nothin’ ’bout no hurricanes.
“We are the boys of Wexford…”– I’d rather have David from “Newsies” singing here: “Open the gates and seize the day…”
give me David anyday over random Ulysses urchins
“He’ll get that advertisement”– why is Leo so motivated here? does he work on commission?
“Lenehan promptly struck a match for them and lit their cigarettes in turn.”– according to Hanff, the English would light cigs only off of other peoples. they would never ask for a match.
“Thanky vous”– well, aren’t we just too Gallic for words!
“Silence for my brandnew riddle”– booooogus!
“We mustn’t be led away by words, by sounds of words.”– Pah-lease! That is all that J.J. does!
“The Roman, like the Englishman who follows in his footsteps, brought to every new shore on which he set his food… only his cloacal obsession”– Do you have a flag?
“First my riddle, Lenehan said. Are you ready?”– Poor guy can’t get a word in edgewise.
“Youth led by Experience visits Notoriety”– sounds like a naughty poem by Blake.
“Lenehan said to all:”– Why is a raven like a writing desk?
“He comes, pale vampire”– is he sparkly?
“The bloodiest old tartar God ever made.”– Ah, She Who Must Be Obeyed.
“O’Rourke, prince of Breffni”– yes, yes, we’ve had all of this already. get on with it!
“We were always loyal to lost causes.”– ah, like Evan Tanner.
“But the Greek!”– For all our faults, we loooove our Greeks. [sung to a tune from Pirates of Penzance]
“Pyrrhus”– without Thisbe?
“LENEHAN’S LIMERICK”– I like Carl Kasell’s better.
“Myles Crawford crammed the sheets into a sidepocket.”– Those Blasted Sheets and Tissues!
“The Rose of Castille”– groan. awful. though, better than Stevie’s from earlier.
“YOU CAN DO IT!”– why does this remind me of those Python letters to the editor?
And I shall leave you, dears, with one of my favorite bits of flying humor. Enjoy.
Why, hello. Did you do your homework? Have you listened to or read Aeolus?
Good, good.
So, let’s review: Aeolus is the section of Ulysses that is roughly set as a newspaper, complete with bold titles and (mostly) uninterested reporting of events.
this chapter is full of wind bags.
The wind bags in this section have blown in these random bits of marginalia.
“The hoarse Dublin United Tramway Company’s timekeeper bawled them off”– Reminds me of Cosby’s subway routine called “Incoherency.”
is the porter a Sontarian in disguise?
“All his brains are in the nape of his neck, Simon Dedalus says. Welts of flesh behind him.”– Is that a probic vent I see?
“But will he save the circulation?”– He needs Jack, David and the Newsies (Let’s be honest– every one needs Newsies!)
“HOW A GREAT DAILY ORGAN IS TURNED OUT”– ok, that’s dirty. Even for you, J.J!
“Monkeydoodle the whole thing.”– another excellent phrase that I wish to incorporate into my everyday vocabulary.
“his spellingbee conundrum…”– a cute puzzle. He should send it to Click & Clack for the Car Talk puzzler.
“Time to get out.”– he knows a lambasting is coming.
“ONLY ONCE MORE THAT SOAP”– I’d forgotten about the soap.
“Wouldn’t it give you heartburn on your arse?”– Um… no?
“The pensive bosom and the overarsing leafage…”– I have to agree with them here; this is ridiculous doggeral.
“The right honorable Hedges Eyre Chatterton”– is he involved in the Eyre Affair?
“SHORT BUT TO THE POINT”– but what was the point?
“The doorknob hit Mr Bloom in the small of the back as the door was pushed in.”– Ouch!
not recommended by your chiropractor
I’ll leave you today with that painful memory. Tomorrow– more hot air.
As you all know, I’ve been reading James Joyce’s “Ulysses” along with the Wandering Rocks team.
Well, we have a new section this week– “Aeolus” [yup, it is full of wind bags]– and a new contributor– Brendan. With all of this novelty floating about, I figured I would try reading this chapter in a retro way…
“You can read along with me in your book. You will know it is time to turn the page when you hear the chimes ring, like this.*Ping* Let’s begin now.”
{ye olde Disney read-along books on records– anyone? John–enough with the cricket noises already. You just don’t know the glory of 45’s.}
a disney record player-- I totally had one of these. wonder what happened to it.
Our Brendan doesn’t have any chimes, but he has read aloud “Ulysses” and made his recordings available as podcasts: the Joycecast. Please go and have a listen.
Brendan’s voice is lovely {I have a thing for men with great reading voices. Yum.} His accents are generally quite good (and, as far as I know, he comes by them legitimately), and my favorite bit is that he keeps his little mistakes of pronunciation or inflection in. Thus, his readings feel comfortable and friendly, instead of formal or stiff. I put his “Aeolus” on my pretty purple ipod & read along with him in my book. I managed to figure out when to turn the page all by myself. I know you are proud. I also made silly notes in the margins– you have come to expect nothing less, I know.
So, my darlings, go and have a listen; then come back tomorrow, when I will post my first batch of marginalia for this chapter.
my choice of reading material have grown up a bit, but being read to still rocks!
p.s. CeCe, my playmate, if you want to come out and play with me at Wandering Rocks, we’ll be jolly friends forever more. Or, follow the page-by-page shenanigans on Twitter: WanderingRox
We ain’t afraid of no seminal Modernist text!
Words All Day Thru 