Dublin

  • Who was the Real Mr. Deasy?

    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 characters in Ulysses. For all posts on Mr. Deasy, click here. “You will see at the next outbreak they will put an embargo on Irish cattle.…

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  • The Pre-Decimal Money System

    As I start digging deeper into “Nestor” and beyond in Ulysses, I thought it might be handy to have a quick reference for the pre-decimal British currency amounts found in the novel. I have concluded this is world’s most confusing system of currency (prove me wrong, Internet!), but this chart should take some of the…

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  • Poetry in Ulysses: The Ballad of Joking Jesus

    -We oughtn’t to laugh, I suppose. He’s rather blasphemous. I’m not a believer myself, that is to say. Still his gaiety takes the harm out of it somehow, doesn’t it? For all posts on music and poetry in Ulysses, visit this page. In “Telemachus,” Stephen Dedalus and the boys head down to the sea beside…

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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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  • Who Was the Real Haines?

    “God, isn’t he dreadful? he said frankly. A ponderous Saxon. He thinks you’re not a gentleman. God, these bloody English! Bursting with money and indigestion. Because he comes from Oxford. You know, Dedalus, you have the real Oxford manner. He can’t make you out.” To listen to a discussion of this topic, check out the…

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  • Say ‘Hello’ to Martello Towers

    –Rather bleak in wintertime, I should say. Martello you call it? — Billy Pitt had them built, Buck Mulligan said, when the French were on the sea. But ours is the omphalos. To listen to a discussion of this topic, check out the podcast episode here.  Ulysses opens with a scene familiar to anyone who…

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  • Bloomsday Reading Recommendations

    Want to read a selection from Ulysses on Bloomsday, but not sure what to read? Here are some suggestions.

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