Ireland
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Decoding Dedalus: Wild Geese
In gay Paree he hides, Egan of Paris, unsought by any save by me. 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 below comes from “Proteus,” the third episode of Ulysses. It appears on pages 42 44…
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La Vie de Léo Taxil
—Qui vous a mis dans cette fichue position? —C’est le pigeon, Joseph. To listen to a discussion of this topic, check out the podcast episode here. Midway though “Proteus,” Stephen reminisces on his time as a medical student in Paris. Amongst those reminiscences, two names are nestled. First, on page 41 (Vintage International Edition): But…
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Ep. 15 – Begrudgery
While begrudge as a verb exists throughout the English speaking world, begrudgery as a noun is peculiar to Ireland. Dermot and Kelly discuss what makes Irish begrudgery a unique phenomena, how it affected Dermot growing up in Ireland, and, of course, how begrudgery influenced James Joyce’s life and writing. Sweny’s Patreon helps keep this marvelous Dublin…
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Mahamanvantara
“I wouldn’t be [Joyce’s] Messiah for a thousand million pounds. He would always be criticising the bad taste of his deity.” – AE Russell To listen to a discussion of this topic, check out the podcast episode here. Hello, dear readers. Let’s have some fun with Sanskrit today. We’re in the thick of it now,…
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Ep. 14 – A Fox Burying His Grandmother
Dermot and Kelly take on a point of vexation and consternation for any Ulysses fan: what the actual heck does Stephen’s riddle mean? What symbolism lies within? Does he just like torturing children? We throw in some extra John Milton for good measure. Sweny’s Patreon helps keep this marvelous Dublin landmark alive. Please subscribe! On the…
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Houses of Decay
The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the deadly light into the peace and…
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Ep. 13 – The Nostalgia Trap (w/ Tom O’Leary)
Kelly and Dermot welcome Tom O’Leary back to the podcast to talk about the allure of nostalgia. Tom and Dermot talk about what it’s actually like to be an Irish person who left their home country to seek their fortune abroad, nostalgia for their past, Americans’ nostalgia for an Ireland that never was, and how…
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Ep. 12 – Wings of Excess
Sweny’s Patreon helps keep this marvelous Dublin landmark alive. Please subscribe! On the Blog: Pyrrhus: A Disappointed Bridge Social Media: Facebook|Twitter Subscribe to Blooms & Barnacles: iTunes| Google Play Music| Stitcher Further Reading: Birmingham, K. (2014, June 7). As the world went to war, James Joyce plotted his own revolution. The Irish Times. Retrieved from https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/as-the-world-went-to-war-james-joyce-plotted-his-own-revolution-1.1820543 Gifford,…
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Ep. 11 – Kelly Bryan
On a Very Special Episode of the Blooms & Barnacles podcast – it’s Dermot’s first time leading an episode. He chose to interview his co-host and founder of the podcast, Kelly. He talks to her about why she’s the one to teach the world about Ulysses, her insane dream to stage “Circe,” how to make…