religion
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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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Ep. 115 – AND IT WAS THE FEAST OF THE PASSOVER
Why is this Bloomsday different from all other Bloomsdays? Topics in this episode include orthography, Dermot’s recollections of working in graphic design, the saving grace of calligraphy, spellingbee conundrums, dayfathers, nightfathers, Old Monks, unions, an obituary surprise, Passover and how it shows up in Ulysses, Rudolph Bloom’s Haggadah, how Charlton Heston traumatized us as children,…
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Ep. 114 – HOUSE OF KEY(E)S
We finally unlock the secrets of Ulysses! Topics in this episode include Joseph Nannetti Sr. and Jr., the debts of Joe Hynes, Bloom’s passivity, the real Alexander Keyes, his struggle to advertise in print in Dublin, advertising in late Victorian Ireland, an innuendo of Home Rule and the Manx Parliament, heraldic imagery in Bloom’s ad,…
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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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Elijah is coming! Is Coming!! IS COMING!!!
“This is the age of patent medicine.” – Stephen Dedalus As “Lestrygonians,” the eighth episode of Ulysses opens, Leopold Bloom’s tummy is rumbly. He’s on his way to a late lunch as the sights and sounds of Dublin stir his appetite either directly or symbolically. This foody-focus in James Joyce’s mind is a characteristic of…
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A Pisgah Sight of Palestine or the Parable of the Plums
“But though the Irish are eloquent, a revolution is not made of human breath and compromises.” – James Joyce, 1907, “Ireland, Island of Saints and Sages” In the final sequence in Ulysses’ seventh episode, “Aeolus”, Stephen Dedalus and the men from the Evening Telegraph office, having exhausted themselves with lofty rhetoric, set out to wet…
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Ep. 85 – One Old Booser Worse than Another
Why can’t we use Guinness instead of wine at Mass? Topics include Leopold Bloom’s thoughts on Communion wine, lots of lotuses, why wine must be used in the Mass instead of Guinness, temperance, transubstantiation, shew wine, cadging wine at Mass, Old Glynn, sacred music, Rossini’s Stabat Mater, footdrill, sacred music as a lotus, how sacred…
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Ep. 83 – Eating Bits of a Corpse (w/ Russell Raphael)
Is the Eucharist tantamount to cannibalism? Let’s ask Thomas Aquinas. Topics in this episode include: Fr. Conmee, Martin Cunningham, why Molly wasn’t admitted to the choir, bluey specs, Jesuit rock stars, Bloom’s skepticism of priests, a story from James Joyce’s 50th birthday party, the Eucharist, transubstantiation, the romantic possibilities of Mass, scapulars, nuns, everything Leopold…
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AND IT WAS THE FEAST OF THE PASSOVER
Why is this Bloomsday different from all other Bloomsdays? To listen to a discussion of this topic, check out the podcast episode here. We continue our occasional investigation of all the things Leopold Bloom misunderstands about religion. We’ve already covered his unique views on Catholicism and Buddhism in “Lotus Eaters”, so today we’ll tackle Judaism,…
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Ep. 78 – An Abode of Bliss
The Blooms’ household is anything but an abode of bliss. In this episode, topics include: Plumtree’s Potted Meat, Joyce’s love for advertising, the narcotic effect of adspeak, why Plumtree’s Potted Meat is the perfect metaphor for a modern Odysseus, M’Coy’s various scams, Boylan’s metaphorically significant gifts to Molly, Bloom’s missing hour and how his cat…