Lestrygonians

  • Was Leopold Bloom a Freemason?

    — “He doesn’t buy cream on the ads he picks up. You can make bacon of that.” After Leopold Bloom finishes his lunch at Davy Byrne’s moral pub in “Lestrygonians,” Ulysses’ eighth episode, he steps away from the bar. The only other two people in the pub, patron Nosey Flynn and proprietor Davy Byrne, strike…

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  • Leopold Bloom’s Gorgonzola

    “He entered Davy Byrne’s. Moral pub. He doesn’t chat. Stands a drink now and then. But in leapyear once in four. Cashed a cheque for me once.”  Following a long, restless journey across Dublin’s city centre in “Lestrygonians”, Ulysses’ eighth episode, Leopold Bloom finally sits down to his lunch. After a close encounter in the…

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  • Rawhead and Bloody Bones in the Burton

    “Although Joyce’s parallel reduces Homer’s ‘murderous reception’ to the farce of teeth chomping, a similar violence does exist here, if only in the poverty that has produced this scene…” – Trevor L. Williams  After passing through Grafton St. on the way to lunch in “Lestrygonians”, Ulysses’ eighth episode, Leopold Bloom must pass through one more…

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  • Weggebobbles and Fruit: Vegetarianism in Ulysses

    “Joyce pretended to take an interest in fine dishes, but food meant nothing to him, unless it was something to do with his art…. He himself scarcely ate anything.” – Sylvia Beach As Leopold Bloom approaches Nassau St. on his journey to lunch in “Lestrygonians”, Ulysses’ eighth episode, he is passed from behind by two…

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  • Decoding Bloom: John Howard Parnell

    This is a post in a series called Decoding Bloom where I take a paragraph of Ulysses and  break it down line by line.  The passage below comes from “The Lestrygonians”, the eighth episode of Ulysses. It appears on page 164-165 in my copy (1990 Vintage International). It begins “Provost’s house” and ends “house of…

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  • Up the Boers!

    As Leopold Bloom passes beneath Tommy Moore’s roguish finger on his long walk to lunch in “Lestrygonians”, Ulysses’ eighth episode, a flock of cops catches his attention: “A squad of constables debouched from College street, marching in Indian file. Goosestep. Foodheated faces, sweating helmets, patting their truncheons. After their feed with a good load of…

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  • The Women of Ulysses: Lizzie Twigg

    “Everybody who met her liked her – because she was warm and outgoing. Here I am saying good things about Lizzie. Poor Liz – nobody remembers her now.” – Padraic Colum, 1969 As Leopold Bloom passes the offices of the Irish Times in “Lestrygonians”, Ulysses’ eighth episode, he can’t help but think about all the…

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  • Who was the real Cashel Boyle O’Connor Fitzmaurice Tisdall Farrell?

    “Dubliners were proud of Endymion. They were proud that they tolerated Endymion, but also that he tolerated them. Most people watched him and remembered him with affection, and only a few were aware of the darker side to some of his mutterings.” – John Simpson This post is a part of an occasional series on…

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  • U.P: Up

    “Of course, there is the possibility that it means nothing whatever; then Denis Breen is projecting his own mental disturbances on an essential blank.” – Robert Adams, Surface and Symbol Bloom’s route to lunch in Ulysses’ eighth episode, “Lestrygonians”, is littered with obstacles. After dodging the Hely’s sandwichmen and crossing Westmoreland St., Bloom bumps into…

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  • Kino’s & Hely’s: Two Ads in Lestrygonians

    “In using advertisements to represent Ulysses, then, Joyce is intentionally degrading the novel, drawing it into the muck of popular culture for comic effect. A trouser advertisement in a rowboat: This is the language of Ulysses!” – Daniel Gunn Leopold Bloom, adman extraordinaire, can’t help but notice the dozens of ads he passes throughout the…

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