Aeolus

  • A POLISHED PERIOD

    “—He spoke on the law of evidence, J. J. O’Molloy said, of Roman justice as contrasted with the earlier Mosaic code, the lex talionis. And he cited the Moses of Michelangelo in the vatican.” To listen to a discussion of this topic, check out the podcast episode here. In Ulysses’ seventh episode, “Aeolus”, Evening Telegraph…

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  • Decoding Dedalus: RHYMES AND REASONS

    “That is how poets write, the similar sounds. But then Shakespeare has no rhymes: blank verse. The flow of the language it is. The thoughts. Solemn.” – Leopold Bloom This is a post in a series called Decoding Dedalus where I take a passage of Ulysses and  break it down line by line. The passage…

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  • The Invincible Ignatius Gallaher

    “And yet it was in some way if not as memory fabled it.” – Stephen Dedalus To listen to a discussion of this topic, check out the podcast episode here. It seems that poor Stephen Dedalus can’t catch a break from the nightmare of history anywhere in this bloody city.  While Stephen’s presence in “Aeolus”…

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  • Leopold Bloom in the House of Habsburg

    “That archduke Leopold was it no yes or was it Otto one of those Habsburgs? – Leopold Bloom” To listen to a discussion of this topic, check out the podcast episode here. Midway through “Aeolus,” Ulysses’ seventh episode, Stephen Dedalus re-enters the story just as Leopold Bloom steps out, like two ships passing in the…

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  • A Cloacal Obsession

    “Mr. James Joyce is apparently afflicted with a shameful mania, but, as his works are but little read by sane folk, we say nothing of him.”  – Eoin Ua Mathghamhna, 1924 To listen to a discussion of this topic, check out the podcast episode here. About midway through “Aeolus,” Ulysses’ seventh episode, Leopold Bloom has…

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  • MEMORABLE BATTLES RECALLED: The Sham Squire and the Boys of Wexford

    “… it would be a shrewd dialectician indeed who would make much sense out of the editor’s crowings about North Cork militia with Spanish officers in Ohio.” – Robert M. Adams To listen to a discussion of this topic, check out the podcast episodes here and here. The nightmare of history is woven throughout “Aeolus,”…

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  • Rhetoric and the Enthymeme in Aeolus

    “All very fine to jeer at it now in cold print but it goes down like hot cake that stuff.” To listen to a discussion of this topic, check out the podcast episode here. If you’ve ever picked up a reading guide or annotation for Ulysses, you’re likely familiar with the lists of correspondences arranged…

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  • AND IT WAS THE FEAST OF THE PASSOVER

    Why is this Bloomsday different from all other Bloomsdays? To listen to a discussion of this topic, check out the podcast episode here. We continue our occasional investigation of all the things Leopold Bloom misunderstands about religion. We’ve already covered his unique views on Catholicism and Buddhism in “Lotus Eaters”, so today we’ll tackle Judaism,…

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  • The House of Keyes

    “Love laughs at locksmiths.” -Gerty MacDowell  To listen to a discussion of this topic, check out the podcast episode here. There’s a parallel universe where, rather than becoming one of the great novelists, James Joyce became a master advertiser and propagandist on par with Edward Bernays. Consider the following tableau: “– a colored picture… representing…

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  • Who Were the Real Men in Aeolus’ Newsroom?

    This post is a part of an occasional series on the real people behind the characters in Ulysses. Myles Crawford During a 1909 visit to Dublin, James Joyce made several visits to the office of the Evening Telegraph where he became acquainted with its then editor Patrick Meade, Lord of the Wind Bags. Meade was…

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