Ulysses
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Decoding Bloom: The Opiate of the Mass
“Look at all my trials and tribulations/ Sinking in a gentle pool of wine/ What’s that in the bread? It’s gone to my head/ ‘Till this morning is this evening, life is fine.” – “The Last Supper,” Jesus Christ Superstar This is a post in a series called Decoding Bloom where I take a paragraph…
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Ep. 59 – Rere Regardant
This episode’s passage comes from p. 50-51 in my edition of Ulysses (1990 Vintage International), and covers the passage beginning “Come. I thirst.” and ending “…a silent ship.” We did it!!! We finally finished “Proteus”! We’re covering the last page of Ulysses’ third episode this week. Topics include Dermot’s love of tall ships and the…
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Decoding Bloom: The Lotus Eaters Sutra
“Buddha their god lying on his side in the museum. Taking it easy with hand under his cheek.” — Ulysses, p. 80 This is a post in a series called Decoding Bloom where I take a paragraph of Ulysses and break it down line by line. The passage below comes from “Lotus Eaters,” the fifth…
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The Language of Flowers
“P. S. Do tell me what kind of perfume does your wife use. I want to know.” – Ulysses, p. 78 To listen to a discussion of this topic, check out the podcast episode here. Mr. Leopold Bloom is predisposed to skulk. “Lotus Eaters” is a particularly skulky episode, during which Bloom kills an hour…
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Ep. 57 – Full fathom five thy father lies.
The end is nigh. Kelly and Dermot discuss in the depth the drowning motif of “Proteus”. Other topics include The Tempest and Ariel’s Song, the wily nature of the sea, Stephen’s estrangement from his father Simon, the role of alcohol in the lives of Ulysses characters, quitting alcohol, rising corpses, sea change, porpoises, the ancient…
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Ep. 56 – Fourworded Wavespeech
**If you’re unfamiliar with the peeing Calvin decal (or if you are), here’s the story. The divine and the profane live side by side in Ulysses. In this episode, we discuss what the heck Cock Lake is, why Stephen pees on the strand at the end of “Proteus”, the themes of generation and corruption in…
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Ep. 55 – Cranly’s Arm
Who wore it better – Carrie Bradshaw or Stephen Dedalus? Kelly helps Dermot remember why he drew James Joyce wearing red, killer heels. Topics include subtle Homeric correspondences, Dermot’s allegiance to Mr. Kipling’s cakes, Stéphane Mallarmé’s ‘L’après-midi d’un faune’ (The afternoon of a faun), more ire directed at that mocker Buck Mulligan, Stephen’s tiny feet,…
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Ep. 54 – What is that word known to all men?
Kelly and Dermot take on a deceptively simple passage in “Proteus” as they attempt to answer that ultimate question – what is the word known to all men? Topics covered in this episode include Stephen’s loneliness and why Joyce felt it was necessary for him to be totally alone, a mysterious discrepancy in Ulysses’ various…