Ulysses
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6 Reading Guides for James Joyce’s Ulysses
*To hear a discussion of some Ulysses reading guides, check out my interview with Tom O’Leary here. I love Ulysses, but it can be a beast to get through. It’s a rewarding beast, but it’s nice to have a companion by your side while facing such a beast. It’s not necessary to have a reading…
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Ep. 3 – Joyce v. Gogarty
In this episode we tackle the falling out between James Joyce and Oliver St John Gogarty, the origins of the character Buck Mulligan, what really happened in the Martello tower, blasphemous poetry and how Joyce found his sense of humor. On the Blog: Say ‘Hello’ to Martello Towers Who was the Real Buck Mulligan? Poetry…
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Ep. 2 – Ulysses & The Odyssey: Telemachus!
Dermot and Kelly discuss the connections between Ulysses and The Odyssey. We take on the Gilbert schema, how to market a book like Ulysses, what exactly happens in the opening chapters of The Odyssey, and how it corresponds to the “Telemachus” episode of Ulysses. On the Blog: Ulysses & The Odyssey: Telemachus Social Media: Facebook|Twitter…
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Ep. 1 – Tom O’Leary
Tom O’Leary is an Irish-born actor and pub owner living in Portland, OR. He and Blooms and Barnacles host Kelly started the Ulysses Support Group (aka Book Club) together in 2017, and it is still going strong today! Kelly and Tom talk about why they love Ulysses, how to start your own Ulysses book club,…
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Decoding Dedalus: A Dedalus Never Pays His Debts
—I will tell you, he said solemnly, what is his proudest boast. I paid my way. … I never borrowed a shilling in my life. Can you feel that? I owe nothing. Can you? This is a post in a series called Decoding Dedalus where I take a paragraph of Ulysses and break it down…
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Stephen’s Riddle
I’ve put in so many enigmas and puzzles that it will keep the professors busy for centuries arguing over what I meant, and that’s the only way of insuring one’s immortality. – James Joyce To listen to a discussion of this topic, check out the podcast episode here. At the close of his lesson in…
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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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The Women of Ulysses: Mr. Deasy’s Perfidious Women
Part of an occasional series on the women of Ulysses. For all posts on Mr. Deasy, click here. To listen to a discussion of this topic, check out the podcast episode here. In “Nestor,” the second episode of Ulysses, Stephen Dedalus finds himself in a discussion with his employer, Mr. Deasy. They have reached a…
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James Joyce’s Poetic Rage
To put it nicely, James Joyce was a prickly pear. It’s well known that he left Dublin for continental Europe in 1904, never to return. His exile was self-imposed, but that didn’t stop him from metaphorically backing out of the room with two middle fingers raised. This reaction was simultaneously over-the-top and kind of justified.…