All the action of Ulysses takes place in and immediately around Dublin on a single day (June 16, 1904). The three central characters—Stephen Dedalus (the hero of Joyce’s earlier Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man); Leopold Bloom, a Jewish advertising canvasser; and his wife, Molly—are intended to be modern counterparts of Telemachus, Ulysses (Odysseus), and Penelope, respectively, and the events of the novel loosely parallel the major events in Odysseus’s journey home after the Trojan War.
The book begins at 8:00 in the morning in a Martello tower (a Napoleonic-era defensive structure), where Stephen lives with medical student Buck Mulligan and his English friend Haines. They prepare for the day and head out. After teaching at a boys’ school, Stephen receives his pay from the ignorant and anti-Semitic headmaster, Mr. Deasy, and takes a letter from Deasy that he wants to have published in two newspapers. Afterward Stephen wanders along a beach, lost in thought.
Also that morning, Bloom brings breakfast and the mail to Molly, who remains in bed; her concert tour manager, Blazes Boylan, is to see her at 4:00 that afternoon. Bloom goes to the post office to pick up a letter from a woman with whom he has an illicit correspondence and then to the pharmacist to order lotion for Molly. At 11:00 AM Bloom attends the funeral of Paddy Dignam with Simon Dedalus, Martin Cunningham, and Jack Power.
Bloom goes to a newspaper office to negotiate the placement of an advertisement, which the foreman agrees to as long as it is to run for three months. Bloom leaves to talk with the merchant placing the ad. Stephen arrives with Deasy’s letter, and the editor agrees to publish it. When Bloom returns with an agreement to place the ad for two months, the editor rejects it. Bloom walks through Dublin for a while, stopping to chat with Mrs. Breen, who mentions that Mina Purefoy is in labour. He later has a cheese sandwich and a glass of wine at a pub. On his way to the National Library afterward, he spots Boylan and ducks into the National Museum.
In the National Library, Stephen discusses his theories about Shakespeare and Hamlet with the poet AE, the essayist and librarian John Eglinton, and the librarians Richard Best and Thomas Lyster. Bloom arrives, looking for a copy of an advertisement he had placed, and Buck shows up. Stephen and Buck leave to go to a pub as Bloom also departs.
Simon and Matt Lenehan meet in the bar of the Ormond Hotel, and later Boylan arrives. Leopold had earlier seen Boylan’s car and followed it to the hotel, where he then dines with Richie Goulding. Boylan leaves with Lenehan, on his way to his assignation with Molly. Later, Bloom goes to Barney Kiernan’s boisterous pub, where he is to meet Cunningham in order to help with the Dignam family’s finances. Bloom finds himself being cruelly mocked, largely for his Jewishness. He defends himself, and Cunningham rushes him out of the bar.
After the visit to the Dignam family, Bloom, after a brief dalliance at the beach, goes to the National Maternity Hospital to check in on Mina. He finds Stephen and several of his friends, all somewhat drunk. He joins them, accompanying them when they repair to Burke’s pub. After the bar closes, Stephen and a friend head to Bella Cohen’s brothel. Bloom later finds him there. Stephen, very drunk by now, breaks a chandelier, and, while Bella threatens to call the police, he rushes out and gets into an altercation with a British soldier, who knocks him to the ground. Bloom takes Stephen to a cabman’s shelter for food and talk, and then, long after midnight, the two head for Bloom’s home. There Bloom makes hot cocoa, and they talk. When Bloom suggests that Stephen stay the night, Stephen declines, and Bloom sees him out. Bloom then goes to bed with Molly; he describes his day to her and requests breakfast in bed.
Legacy
While the allusions to the ancient work that provides the scaffolding for Ulysses are occasionally illuminating, at other times they seem designed ironically to offset the often petty and sordid concerns that take up much of Stephen’s and Bloom’s time and continually distract them from their ambitions and aims. The book also conjures up a densely realized Dublin, full of details, many of which are—presumably deliberately—either wrong or at least questionable. But all this merely forms a backdrop to an exploration of the inner workings of the mind, which refuses to acquiesce in the neatness and certainties of classical philosophy
I gave Ulysses a try during my college years, in what I called my "existentialism" phase. After devouring some of the literary work of Camus and Sartre, I thought I was ready for the masterpieces of Dostoevsky, Proust and Joyce. It was devastating to experience how unprepared I was. A nice edition of Ulysses is still waiting to be read past the first few chapters. Some day, my dear! Some day! Lol
I would not put Dostoevsky in that category. Once you get over the names his work is actually funny and the narratives work out. One of his influences was Dickens so he has a lot of odd characters and extravagance crowd scenes. I feel like you about Proust but if you like long, the English Proust Anthony Powell's Dance to the Music of Time...
This looks like a pretty awesome edition. I always think people focus too much in the famed difficulty of the text so it was nice to read something that didn't dwell there.
The book isn't exactly easy bit it's also not made for someone to catch every possible allusion or catch every every stylistic parody. Like most books, it's meant to be read and enjoyed.
I have an edition of ULIYSSES that is quite readable, good sized type and good paper, a hard bound book, And yet..... It is simply unimaginably difficult. The entire first chapter is a walk down a flight of stairs each step detailing the exact view of the narrator and a page full of thoughts taking place in that one step. The term 'daunting' comes to mind and is immediately rejected as inadequate.
No, I did not reach the bottom of the stairs with the narrator. Anyone who can actually read this book is a better man than I.
I would like an explanation of what it is about. I presume it is an account of an allegorical juxtaposition of the real Ulysses story of returning home from the war at Troy taking place as a tour of Dublin.
Stephen Meyer on Intelligent Design and The Return of the God Hypothesis
Apr 6, 2021
Dr. Stephen Meyer directs the Center for Science and Culture at the Discovery Institute in Seattle. He returns to Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson to discuss his newest book, Return of the God Hypothesis: Three Scientific Discoveries That Reveal the Mind Behind the Universe. In this wide-ranging and often mind-bending interview, Dr. Meyer explains the God Hypothesis; makes his continuing and evolving case for intelligent design; describes how Judeo-Christian theology gave rise to science; discusses why the discovery of DNA is actually an enigma, as its existence cannot be explained by natural selection; and more.
This looks like a good way to start: BLOOMSYEAR CENTENNIAL READING — This Virtual Yearlong reading presents the entire novel through a series of hundreds of video clips that unite readers—actors, singers, writers, collectors, and more—across the world in a tapestry of recordings that will be free and accessible to all.
"I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together"
Summary
All the action of Ulysses takes place in and immediately around Dublin on a single day (June 16, 1904). The three central characters—Stephen Dedalus (the hero of Joyce’s earlier Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man); Leopold Bloom, a Jewish advertising canvasser; and his wife, Molly—are intended to be modern counterparts of Telemachus, Ulysses (Odysseus), and Penelope, respectively, and the events of the novel loosely parallel the major events in Odysseus’s journey home after the Trojan War.
The book begins at 8:00 in the morning in a Martello tower (a Napoleonic-era defensive structure), where Stephen lives with medical student Buck Mulligan and his English friend Haines. They prepare for the day and head out. After teaching at a boys’ school, Stephen receives his pay from the ignorant and anti-Semitic headmaster, Mr. Deasy, and takes a letter from Deasy that he wants to have published in two newspapers. Afterward Stephen wanders along a beach, lost in thought.
Also that morning, Bloom brings breakfast and the mail to Molly, who remains in bed; her concert tour manager, Blazes Boylan, is to see her at 4:00 that afternoon. Bloom goes to the post office to pick up a letter from a woman with whom he has an illicit correspondence and then to the pharmacist to order lotion for Molly. At 11:00 AM Bloom attends the funeral of Paddy Dignam with Simon Dedalus, Martin Cunningham, and Jack Power.
Bloom goes to a newspaper office to negotiate the placement of an advertisement, which the foreman agrees to as long as it is to run for three months. Bloom leaves to talk with the merchant placing the ad. Stephen arrives with Deasy’s letter, and the editor agrees to publish it. When Bloom returns with an agreement to place the ad for two months, the editor rejects it. Bloom walks through Dublin for a while, stopping to chat with Mrs. Breen, who mentions that Mina Purefoy is in labour. He later has a cheese sandwich and a glass of wine at a pub. On his way to the National Library afterward, he spots Boylan and ducks into the National Museum.
In the National Library, Stephen discusses his theories about Shakespeare and Hamlet with the poet AE, the essayist and librarian John Eglinton, and the librarians Richard Best and Thomas Lyster. Bloom arrives, looking for a copy of an advertisement he had placed, and Buck shows up. Stephen and Buck leave to go to a pub as Bloom also departs.
Simon and Matt Lenehan meet in the bar of the Ormond Hotel, and later Boylan arrives. Leopold had earlier seen Boylan’s car and followed it to the hotel, where he then dines with Richie Goulding. Boylan leaves with Lenehan, on his way to his assignation with Molly. Later, Bloom goes to Barney Kiernan’s boisterous pub, where he is to meet Cunningham in order to help with the Dignam family’s finances. Bloom finds himself being cruelly mocked, largely for his Jewishness. He defends himself, and Cunningham rushes him out of the bar.
After the visit to the Dignam family, Bloom, after a brief dalliance at the beach, goes to the National Maternity Hospital to check in on Mina. He finds Stephen and several of his friends, all somewhat drunk. He joins them, accompanying them when they repair to Burke’s pub. After the bar closes, Stephen and a friend head to Bella Cohen’s brothel. Bloom later finds him there. Stephen, very drunk by now, breaks a chandelier, and, while Bella threatens to call the police, he rushes out and gets into an altercation with a British soldier, who knocks him to the ground. Bloom takes Stephen to a cabman’s shelter for food and talk, and then, long after midnight, the two head for Bloom’s home. There Bloom makes hot cocoa, and they talk. When Bloom suggests that Stephen stay the night, Stephen declines, and Bloom sees him out. Bloom then goes to bed with Molly; he describes his day to her and requests breakfast in bed.
Legacy
While the allusions to the ancient work that provides the scaffolding for Ulysses are occasionally illuminating, at other times they seem designed ironically to offset the often petty and sordid concerns that take up much of Stephen’s and Bloom’s time and continually distract them from their ambitions and aims. The book also conjures up a densely realized Dublin, full of details, many of which are—presumably deliberately—either wrong or at least questionable. But all this merely forms a backdrop to an exploration of the inner workings of the mind, which refuses to acquiesce in the neatness and certainties of classical philosophy
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ulysses-novel-by-Joyce
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I gave Ulysses a try during my college years, in what I called my "existentialism" phase. After devouring some of the literary work of Camus and Sartre, I thought I was ready for the masterpieces of Dostoevsky, Proust and Joyce. It was devastating to experience how unprepared I was. A nice edition of Ulysses is still waiting to be read past the first few chapters. Some day, my dear! Some day! Lol
I would not put Dostoevsky in that category. Once you get over the names his work is actually funny and the narratives work out. One of his influences was Dickens so he has a lot of odd characters and extravagance crowd scenes. I feel like you about Proust but if you like long, the English Proust Anthony Powell's Dance to the Music of Time...
This looks like a pretty awesome edition. I always think people focus too much in the famed difficulty of the text so it was nice to read something that didn't dwell there.
The book isn't exactly easy bit it's also not made for someone to catch every possible allusion or catch every every stylistic parody. Like most books, it's meant to be read and enjoyed.
I like the spirit of this press.
I have an edition of ULIYSSES that is quite readable, good sized type and good paper, a hard bound book, And yet..... It is simply unimaginably difficult. The entire first chapter is a walk down a flight of stairs each step detailing the exact view of the narrator and a page full of thoughts taking place in that one step. The term 'daunting' comes to mind and is immediately rejected as inadequate.
No, I did not reach the bottom of the stairs with the narrator. Anyone who can actually read this book is a better man than I.
I would like an explanation of what it is about. I presume it is an account of an allegorical juxtaposition of the real Ulysses story of returning home from the war at Troy taking place as a tour of Dublin.
Do you know Kathleen?
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Right on Troy. Think it helps to have Catholic background esp Jesuitical. But nope. Read Dubliners and Portraut and never finished U. .
Kathleen, I think you would greatly enjoy this awesome theological discussion:
https://youtu.be/z_8PPO-cAlA?t=31
Stephen Meyer on Intelligent Design and The Return of the God Hypothesis
Apr 6, 2021
Dr. Stephen Meyer directs the Center for Science and Culture at the Discovery Institute in Seattle. He returns to Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson to discuss his newest book, Return of the God Hypothesis: Three Scientific Discoveries That Reveal the Mind Behind the Universe. In this wide-ranging and often mind-bending interview, Dr. Meyer explains the God Hypothesis; makes his continuing and evolving case for intelligent design; describes how Judeo-Christian theology gave rise to science; discusses why the discovery of DNA is actually an enigma, as its existence cannot be explained by natural selection; and more.
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This book is on my list of one-day-I'll-get-around-to-reading-it books. Maybe it's centennial will be the impetus to finally get around to it.
This looks like a good way to start: BLOOMSYEAR CENTENNIAL READING — This Virtual Yearlong reading presents the entire novel through a series of hundreds of video clips that unite readers—actors, singers, writers, collectors, and more—across the world in a tapestry of recordings that will be free and accessible to all.