James Joyce
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Form of Forms
“It follows that the soul is analogous to the hand; for as the hand is a tool of tools, so the mind is the form of forms and sense the form of sensible things.” – Aristotle, De Anima I am absolutely indebted to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy and the book Allwisest Stagyrite: Joyce’s Quotations…
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Ep. 19 – Fogey and Tory
A character study of the infamous Mr. Deasy, the headmaster of Stephen’s school in “Nestor,” the second episode of Ulysses. We discuss how Mr. Deasy is a stereotypical Dubliner of his day, as well as his defining characteristics (including his impressive mustache!) Mr. Deasy has a lot to teach us, though he is an old…
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The Women of Ulysses: Maud Gonne
Maud Gonne, beautiful woman, La Patrie, M. Millevoye, Felix Faure, know how he died? Maud Gonne’s name appears in Ulysses’ third episode, “Proteus”, as Stephen rummages through his recollections of his brief sojourn in Paris. Though Gonne did reside in Paris in the early 1900’s, she never met James Joyce (or Stephen Dedalus), but their non-meeting…
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Ep. 17 – Averroes and Moses Maimonides
Kelly and Dermot tackle the reference to Averroes and Maimonides in “Nestor.” Not only does this episode cover these two philosophers and their connection to Aristotle, there’s also plenty of discussion on Morris dance, Giordano Bruno and the thematic importance of goth kids.
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Decoding Dedalus: Latin Quarter Hat
He dressed in black, a Hamlet without a wicked uncle…. – Richard Ellmann 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 41-42 in my copy…
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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,…