Hatrack River Forum: Happy Bloomsday

This is topic Happy Bloomsday in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.

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Posted by Ela (Member # 1365) on :

Check out google today.

Special for us James Joyce fans, and the 100th anniversary of Bloomsday. [Smile]

Posted by Phanto (Member # 5897) on :

[Frown]

Posted by Zalmoxis (Member # 2327) on :

Mmmm. Bloomsday makes me want to fry up a pan of kidneys.

Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :

With chianti?

I'm sorry. I don't why certain body parts sound more human than others.

Posted by pH (Member # 1350) on :

*twitch* *flashbacks to H. Modern Epic class...twitch*

Posted by Ela (Member # 1365) on :

With chianti? I should think not! [Eek!]

Leopold Bloom ate pork kidneys fried in butter, with a cup of tea. [Smile]

Posted by porcelain girl (Member # 1080) on :

so that's is where they got the name for The Producers!

i've never read any james joyce. educate me.

Posted by Zalmoxis (Member # 2327) on :

Of that house A. Horne is lord. Seventy beds keeps he there teeming mothers are wont that they lie for to thole and bring forth bairns hale so God's angel to Mary quoth. Watchers they there walk, white sisters in ward sleepless. Smarts they still sickness soothing: in twelve moons thrice an hundred. Truest bedthanes they twain are, for Horne holding wariest ward.

Posted by Book (Member # 5500) on :

Yes.

EDIT: or, more accurately

yes

[ June 16, 2004, 04:03 PM: Message edited by: Book ]

Posted by Zalmoxis (Member # 2327) on :

Porce:

Joyce is not for everybody. People like to be pretentious about Ulysses -- it's a difficult read.

I like the novel. I like the language of it and the play with interior monologue. But it's not one of my favorites.

The best place to start with James Joyce -- and for many readers the place to stop -- is his short story collection The Dubliners.

In particular, the story that ends the collection -- The Dead -- is one of my favorite short stories ever and one of the best pieces of literature ever written, imo.

If you really want to get into Ulysses, I suggest reading a commentary or reading guide along with it.

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is somewhat of a prelude to Ulysses and a more approachable novel so some suggest starting with it, but it doesn't do much for me now that I'm no longer a brooding 17-year-old.

Posted by Zalmoxis (Member # 2327) on :

Hale Bairns would be a great name for a an alt-country band or a mystery novel detective.

Posted by Ela (Member # 1365) on :

I agree that Dubliners is a good place to start reading James Joyce.

I have to admit that I enjoyed A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man from the first time I read it, while I was in college, and have re-read it many times, and still love it. It was the first Joyce writing that I read.

I guess it's true that some people are pretentious about Joyce, but certainly not all. Some people are put off by the perceived pretentious, and never try Joyce at all. I happen to like the way he uses language, and many people I know share that enjoyment of his writing.

Ulysses, the book from which Bloomsday derives, is not as accessible as Joyce's earlier books. Most people find it easier to understand Ulysses with the help of one or more companion books, which explain many of Joyce's references, jokes, and allusions. The two that I have used are Ulysses, by Stuart Gilbert, and Ulysses Annotated by Gifford.

The entire book of Ulysses takes place on June 16, and Leopold Bloom is a main character of the book, hence the day has been designated "Bloomsday" by Joyce fans.