and yes I said yes I will Yes
Happy Bloomsday!
Today is the 100th anniversary of the day Leopold Bloom meandered pointlessly around Dublin, June 16 1904. Joyce, of course, was very scornful of Dublin, a point Dubliners are conveniently overlooking as they celebrate the day with Guinness and kidneys. As with Sinclair and Algren in Chicago, we city-dwellers are inordinately fond of books that show our worst sides to the world. We're rude! and loud! We eat bad food and drink too much! So there!

Anyway, I read Ulysses a few years ago, part of a list of things I wanted to do before the 20th century ended. It was thick and slow and made my eyes cross in places. I remember really hating the chapter that was laid out as catechism, and really liking the final chapter. I don't pretend to understand even a fraction of what the whole book was about, and admit to using on-line guides so I could answer that age-old question: "Um...what??"

My first introduction to Ulysses was this: Ulysses for Dummies
I especially like the peeing chapter. And I don't know if this link will persist, but it's a good summary: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3810193.stm

Enough!!
- posted by Diane @ 10:14 AM