/lit/ reads Ulysses

[Anonymous No.20770873]

It's been a good ride.

Eumæus: 22647 words; 4 days
Ithaca: 22403 words; 6 days
Penelope: 24059 words; 6 days

[Anonymous No.20770946]

[Anonymous No.20771063]

>>20770873
Link to the previous thread, for those interested.
>>>20662208

[Anonymous No.20771081]

>>20770657
Thanks for organizing this OP! I know it hasn’t been as popular as we might’ve hoped, but I think the discussions we have had have been excellent (I don’t think any of us would’ve bothered with Gogarty we’re it not for that one anon). Thanks to you, I’ve re-read Dubliners and read Portrait for the first time. I can really appreciate how brilliant Joyce is now.

[Anonymous No.20771344]

>>20770324
>He means Stephen is the mind and Bloom is the body, sort of like how the Karamazov Brothers are the animal, the intellectual, and the spiritual sides of man.

Yes, very observant. The sacred and the propane.

It was just a joke though,
>the scientific. The artistic.
>the scientific. The autistic.

[Anonymous No.20771924]

bump

[Anonymous No.20772126]

>>20771344
>the autistic
I read your post as artistic

[Anonymous No.20772129]

After the Ulysses is over, anyone want to read Finnegans Wake?

[Anonymous No.20772281]

>>20772129
i would love to, but i plan to read fins wake only after re-reading ulysses. good luck, though!

[Anonymous No.20772599]

i was wondering why the style in eumaeus seemed a little cheap and plasticky, considering that it's joyce, and when i was skimming through the Ulysses Guide website (www.ulyssesguide.com/16-eumaeus), i found this:

>The style of the “Eumaeus” episode, identified by Joyce in his schemas as “narrative (old),” has been met with divergent critical opinions. Richard Ellmann claims that the episode “struggles clumsily for the right expression” (Ellmann 151), while Stanley Sultan describes it as “the attempt of a poorly-educated man to impress by discoursing with sophisticated eloquence” (Sultan 364). David Hayman calls the episode “a tired, threadbare, flatulent narrative larded with commonplaces” whereby “the arranger conveys with surprising accuracy the drink and fatigue-dulled sentiments of both protagonists” (Hayman 102-03). Maybe.

>In my opinion, the most useful understanding of the style of this episode relies on the Uncle Charles Principle. In short, “the Uncle Charles Principle entails writing about someone much as that someone would choose to be written about” (Kenner 21). Applying this concept to the current episode, “Eumaeus” is written in the style that Bloom would have employed if he himself had written the episode; indeed, Bloom later announces his intention to compose exactly this piece of literature: “suppose he were to pen something out of the common groove (as he fully intended doing) at the rate of one guinea per column. My experiences, let us say, in a Cabman’s Shelter” (16.1229-31). So, rather than condemning “Eumaeus” as stilted, over-ornamented prose with garbled syntax and imprecise diction, we might instead consider the episode’s use of Bloom’s own literary style (flawed as it may be) as the ultimate celebration of Bloom himself (flawed as he may be). By ceding such control to Mr. Bloom, Joyce offers “the book’s most profound tribute to its hero” (Kenner 38). With this gesture in mind, the episode’s flabby sentences and cringe-worthy cliches become endearing a la Bloom himself. The episode’s inferior style, though, is also a demonstration of Joyce’s extreme facility with language. Just as it takes a very good piano player to play a song really poorly (you have to know the exact wrong notes to play to make it sound truly awful), it takes an immensely talented writer to intentionally write this badly. Bearing this in mind, the reader can appreciate the humour embedded in the style of this particular episode.

what are your thoughts, anons?

[Anonymous No.20772821]

>>20772599
Kek when I read this I thought of the beat writers and really liked it, still like it. It also reminded me of Bukowskis poetry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aq36NX6TIJs&list=PLxlGs_Xj2HYA8P6E2Jy6Ub9m7eqs-9lcU&index=24

[Anonymous No.20773039]

>>20772599
My thoughts are I hadn't noticed it at all but I probably would have on my second read through. It felt like I was always reading Bloom's thoughts or perspective. But that is a seriously interesting analysis. The cliches I thought were really funny. By the by, cooked his proverbial goose, so to speak, etc. They all felt like funny asides used by someone rambling and searching for the correct, perfect word or phrase, and instead falling to a familiar cliche so they can keep talking.

[Anonymous No.20773377]

can the anon who was posting panels from the ulysses manga classics post some more? shit fascinates me for whatever reason

>>20772599
had a prof who described the uncertainty and over-explanation of the episode as the book trying to re-establish a sense of reality after circe. Its clunkiness is the narration shaking itself off of all the hallucinations...was one of his favorite episodes, weirdly enough.

I think the awkwardness of the narration is funny to a point, though the interactions between bloom and stephen break my heart a little. Kind of anti-climactic...it's not exactly the father-son sort of connection that the rest of the book primes us for. It gets a little better in ithaca.

> Stephen, patently crosstempered, repeated and shoved aside his mug of coffee or whatever you like to call it none too politely, adding:
>—We can’t change the country. Let us change the subject.

[Anonymous No.20773876]

Finishing Eumæus tomorrow at work, lads. See if I can't also work my way into Ithaca next. I know that's the Sinbad the Sailor chapter.

[Anonymous No.20774248]

>>20772129
I’d love to as well but I just don’t have the time right now, sorry anon. I want to give it the full attention it deserves.
>>20772599
I didn’t think the chapter was bad myself, but this elevates it to a whole new friggin level. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was what Joyce was doing at all, thanks for sharing anon.

[Anonymous No.20774286]

Same time next year? I missed out on the start by a few months but reading the recent threads was nice anons. What joyce is essential pre-reading for ulysses?
t. 2014-2016 litanon recently returned

[Anonymous No.20774859]

Since Ulysses reading is ending soon. Are we starting another book or something?

[Anonymous No.20774954]

>>20774286
we finished dubliners and a portrait of the artist as a young man in may, before we began ulysses

[Anonymous No.20775227]

6 days for Ithaca and 70 pages equals 12 pages per day. Should be easy enough considering there are a lot of line breaks.
>>20774859
I think it's up to anon. The reading threads, if they stay active, are very high quality. Did anyone do the Don Quixote read? How did that go?
To get book suggestions I thought it might be wise to simply make threads asking for general interest before saying "Hey we're reading XYZ".

[Anonymous No.20775309]

are you guys doing Finnegan's Wake or nah

[Anonymous No.20775408]

Started reading this a few weeks ago after a failed attempt last year, on Aeolus rn and I have to ask - how the fuck is an unread American youth supposed to read this? I haven’t read any of the works that get referenced except for the Odyssey, so I get some stuff is going to fly over my head, but just the verbage is absolutely insane. I have no idea what’s happening or what’s being talked about half the time. I understand what’s happening like 60% of the time but there are times where they are so many characters having such weird conversations that I can’t tell who’s talking to who even, least of all what the fuck they’re talking about, is this normal??
Rant post over sorry

[Anonymous No.20775439]

>>20775408
i'll be honest, it's been a confusing read for me, but i take it easy and use ulyssesguide.com when things get too hard for me.

[Anonymous No.20775470]

>>20775439
That’s what I’ve been trying to do as well, I get the vibe that it’s just a tough read that confuses a lot of people, I just wanna know that I’m not so completely lost that I’m missing all the points. This Aeolus episode has been particularly hard with so many moving parts, focusing on what characters are talking and where they are in relation to each other is so challenging that I’m worried I’m missing the point of the chapter. I guess that’s why they say this is such a good book for rereads though

[Anonymous No.20775738]

>>20775470
i loved aeolus. maybe try to think of it as a silent film! that might help.

[Anonymous No.20775821]

>However reverting to friend Sinbad . . .
i wonder if the sinbad the sailor passage at the end of ithaca has something to do with this. maybe each of the "inbads" represents a certain character in ulysses?

[Anonymous No.20775903]

>>20775408
>unread
>American
>youth
read more
move to Europe
grow up

[Anonymous No.20775909]

>>20775821

[Anonymous No.20775973]

>>20775909
i have this image saved. it's one of my favourite 4chan posts ever

[Anonymous No.20776339]

can't wait for ithaca. i've read excerpts of both ithaca and penelope before, and i loved both of them! i feel like ithaca might be my favourite chapter just for its narrative technique (catechism)

[Anonymous No.20777075]

bump

[Anonymous No.20777719]

gonna start ithaca in half an hour!

[Anonymous No.20777725]

>>20775821
I doubt it, in my opinion it's just a portrait of one's thoughts immediately before falling asleep

[Anonymous No.20778876]

>>20775408
I didn’t get a lot of it my first time through. You could consider an audiobook which makes it easier, or you could look at a guide for some help. I know it might not give you as authentic an experience but it’s probably not a bad idea if you don’t have a ton of time to spend figuring out each chapter on your own.
Also, you can check on here.
>>20776339
>catechism
Interesting, didn’t even know there was a name for this. Thanks anon, hope you enjoy it. Agree with you too, Penelope is beautiful. It was actually seeing the final line of the book that got me to read Ulysses in the first place.
>>20775821
That’s a good call, but it may be more likely just his kind wandering at the end of the day like that other anon said.

[Anonymous No.20778914]

>>20775309
I’m going to read it in a few months, mid November prob. Def at the start of December.

[Anonymous No.20779522]

Oh, man. I hated Eumaeus. I get it that "the style is the message" or whatever, but I've really struggled to keep going. Oxen was pure bliss in comparison. Joyce is a stingy fucker. He keeps us hungry for that kinovision of his.

>>20760780
So far, I don't really get it with Bloom. Why is he Ulysses, "the most complete character in Western literature" as Joyce called him somewhere. To me he seems rather generic or abstract, but maybe that's the point. The fact that he's not technically, nor considers himself to be a Jew was a big epiphany for me, because it makes him even more dissociated. He seems to be the embodiment of modernity. His materialist philosophy espoused in Eumaeus strengthens this point. So does his rationalism, not to mention his perversions. Even his often mentioned care is a care for the essentials: death, birth, great talent, in contrast with what others care for: religion, nation, history, status, etc.

>>20775408
>I have no idea what’s happening or what’s being talked about half the time.

Completely normal phenomenon. I found Aeolus the most confusing chapter so far.

[Anonymous No.20779678]

>Of others elsewhere in other times who, kneeling on one knee or on two, had kindled fires for him,
this made me a bit emotional.

[Anonymous No.20779708]

>>20774954
thanks anon, until next year

[Anonymous No.20779725]

Sorry I didn't join you all on this journey - Ulysses is one of my favourite books but missed the boat to start the reading with everyone. However would love a Finnegans Wake read at some point - I've read it just once and I think I definitely need to tackle it again

[Anonymous No.20780159]

The fact that Bloom didn't finish writing music for a local play because he couldn't find the right jokes from a joke book is really laughable. I ought to make a REG for Ulysses with a picture for nearly every chapter.

[Anonymous No.20780420]

>>20780159
what's an REG?

i was wondering whether we could make this a yearly thing. an annual ulysses read along starting every bloomsday.

[Anonymous No.20780794]

>>20780420
read, expected, got

[Anonymous No.20780938]

>>20780794
oh, sweet! i'll be looking forward to your REG

[Anonymous No.20782002]

bump

[Anonymous No.20782863]

Anons final thoughts on eum?

I liked the chapter, I thought it was, uhm what do you call it? Entertaining, different from the other chapters and what not.
As some anon pointed out >>20772599. I shared a link >>20772821.

[Anonymous No.20783473]

>>20782863
very nice image of the duo from the driver's perspective at the end.

[Anonymous No.20783848]

>>20780938
Thanks. I'm trying to decide if I want to do actually a few pictures per chapter or just notable scenes. I'm only on Calypso and it's quite big.

[Anonymous No.20784559]

Bumping coz Ithaca is my favourite chapter and I’d like to hear anons thoughts. It’s a thing of crystalline beauty after the madness of the preceding chapters.

[Anonymous No.20784629]

>>20784559
It's the Wittgenstein of book chapters. Beautiful piece of work, maths by words.

[Anonymous No.20785130]

>>20784559
I love that Ithaca has all the payoff of one reading Portrait and Dubliners beforehand. I had no idea Bloom and Stephen both knew Dante.

[Anonymous No.20785190]

>>20785130
dante's been mentioned in bloom's internal monologue before this too, no?

[Anonymous No.20785209]

>>20785190
I vaguely remember this. Something about the brushes showed up earlier. I must not have made the connection.

[Anonymous No.20786203]

Don't crawl into bed with Molly yet bros we have 10 days of reading left!

[Anonymous No.20786249]

>>20784559
Agree with you about it feeling like a break from the madness. Really shows how good an influence Bloom is on Stephen compared to the rest of his friends. It’s a bit of a shame he didn’t decide to stay.

[Anonymous No.20787047]

No more sleepy Jesuits! Get to reading!

[Anonymous No.20787158]

The section where Bloom tells Stephen about how he tried to entertain Molly and show her his intellectual pursuits only for her to take a fake interest or forget them completely is kind of heartbreaking. I know what's it's like to be with a girl who isn't on the same plane as you intellectually. It's very lonely. They can't get excitement from what you like, but you can bend yourself down to enjoy what they like.

[Anonymous No.20787844]

>>20787158
>They can't get excitement from what you like, but you can bend yourself down to enjoy what they like.
I don’t know if it’s worth it to bend down, why not just tell them you don’t like whatever they want to discuss/watch/hear.
Get an eng major gf.

[Anonymous No.20788501]

>What was Stephen's auditive sensation?
>He heard in a profound ancient male unfamiliar melody the accumulation of the past.
>What was Bloom's visual sensation?
>He saw in a quick young male familiar form the predestination of a future.
What an insanely good set of lines, God damn.

[Anonymous No.20789387]

Of the last 12 messages I have posted 7 of them. If I finish this alone I'll declare myself to have won at /lit/, and subsequently become a tripfag to celebrate

[Anonymous No.20789397]

>>20789387
>that moment when you realize a decent amount of /lit/ “reads” for credit

[Anonymous No.20789836]

>>20779522
>I don't really get it with Bloom
I don’t think he’s considered a complete character because he’s anyone particularly special. What really makes him so complete is that Joyce writes him in such a way you get a full picture not just of his outer thoughts but his inner feelings. You follow Bloom as he takes a shit, masturbates, reminisces about his wife, eats his lunch, and a hundred other everyday things but Joyce does such a brilliant job writing them you feel like you’re actually with Bloom when they’re happening; there are whole sections where it seems like we going along with his every conscious thought. I have other characters I like more in lit but I don’t think any one of them feels quite as real as Bloom.

[Anonymous No.20790322]

this chapter is so fucking good.

[Anonymous No.20790707]

>>20790322
Right? The whole part about him remembering Milly was really good. Here are some of my favorites from this morning's breakfast table read.

>Why might these several provisional contingencies between a guest and a hostess not necessarily preclude or be precluded by a permanent eventuality of reconciliatory union between a schoolfellow and a jew's daughter?
>Because the way to daughter led through mother, the way to mother through daughter.
First I thought this was Bloom trying to hook Stephen up with his daughter. Then I reread it and realized it's Bloom cooling his jets about the boy Milly mentioned in her letter by realizing she isn't going to date anyone as long as Molly has a say.

>What spectacle confronted them when they, first the host, then the guest, emerged silently, doubly dark, from obscurity by a passage from the rere of the house into the penumbra of the garden?
>The heaventree of stars hung with humid nightblue fruit.
I almost want to call it overwritten but the metaphor of fruit and the night sky just works so vividly in the imagination.

>With what meditations did Bloom accompany his demonstration to his companion of various constellations?
>Meditations of evolution increasingly vaster: of the moon invisible in incipient lunation, approaching perigee: of the infinite lattiginous scintillating uncondensed milky way, discernible by daylight by an observer placed at the lower end of a cylindrical vertical shaft 5000 ft deep sunk from the surface towards the centre of the earth: of Sirius (alpha in Canis Maior) 10 lightyears (57,000,000,000,000 miles) distant and in volume 900 times the dimension of our planet: of Arcturus: of the precession of equinoxes: of Orion with belt and sextuple sun theta and nebula in which 100 of our solar systems could be contained: of moribund and of nascent new stars such as Nova in 1901: of our system plunging towards the constellation of Hercules: of the parallax or parallactic drift of socalled fixed stars, in reality evermoving wanderers from immeasurably remote eons to infinitely remote futures in comparison with which the years, threescore and ten, of allotted human life formed a parenthesis of infinitesimal brevity.
It is still crazy to me that back then people could just look up and see the Milky Way. Electric light really hadn't permeated the area to such a point where that kind of sight was impossible to behold.

[Anonymous No.20791744]

you know, the back-and-forth quality of this chapter sort of feels like i'm being rocked to sleep.

[Anonymous No.20791981]

>>20789387
i will attempt to challenge your victory by default

[Anonymous No.20792769]

>>20791981
You are far behind, pal. I've caught up with the current reading page for Ithaca. Where are you? Proteus?

[Anonymous No.20793003]

Where do you think Stephen goes after leaving the Bloom household?
Will Stephen and Bloom ever meet again?