Scylla & Charybdis

  • Decoding Dedalus: A Dedalus Never Pays His Debts

    —I will tell you, he said solemnly, what is his proudest boast. I paid my way. … I never borrowed a shilling in my life. Can you feel that? I owe nothing. Can you? This is a post in a series called Decoding Dedalus where I take a paragraph of Ulysses and  break it down…

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  • Decoding Dedalus: Heresies in “Telemachus”

    This is a post in a series called Decoding Dedalus where I take a paragraph of Ulysses and give it the ol’ Frank Delaney treatment – that is, break it down line by line. As an aside, if you haven’t listened to Frank Delaney’s excellent podcast, Re:Joyce, go treat yourself. His page by page analysis…

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  • Who Was the Real Buck Mulligan?

    —He’s in with a lowdown crowd, Mr Dedalus snarled. That Mulligan is a contaminated bloody doubledyed ruffian by all accounts. His name stinks all over Dublin. To listen to a discussion of this topic, check out the podcast episode here.  This post is a part of an occasional series on the real people behind the…

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