Ulysses
-
Ulysses & The Odyssey: Telemachus
I am now writing a book based on the wanderings of Ulysses. ‘The Odyssey,’ that is to say, serves me as a ground plan. Only my time is recent and all my hero’s wanderings take no more than 18 hours. – James Joyce, 1918 For a discussion of this topic, check out our podcast episode…
-
Ulysses CCD: Mulligan Mocks Mass
To hear a discussion of this topic, check out the podcast episode here. Part of an occasional series on Catholism in Ulysses. In 2017, I was a founding member of the Ulysses Support Group at T.C. O’Leary’s pub in Portland, Oregon. Our goal was to read the entirety of Ulysses aloud between two Bloomsdays. On…
-
Poetry in Ulysses: The Ballad of Joking Jesus
-We oughtn’t to laugh, I suppose. He’s rather blasphemous. I’m not a believer myself, that is to say. Still his gaiety takes the harm out of it somehow, doesn’t it? For all posts on music and poetry in Ulysses, visit this page. In “Telemachus,” Stephen Dedalus and the boys head down to the sea beside…
-
Decoding Dedalus: Heresies in “Telemachus”
This is a post in a series called Decoding Dedalus where I take a paragraph of Ulysses and give it the ol’ Frank Delaney treatment – that is, break it down line by line. As an aside, if you haven’t listened to Frank Delaney’s excellent podcast, Re:Joyce, go treat yourself. His page by page analysis…
-
The Women of Ulysses: Mother Grogan and the Milk Woman
To hear a discussion of this topic, check out the podcast episode here. Part of an occasional series on the women of Ulysses. Mother Grogan pops up a couple times throughout Ulysses. She is a reference to an anonymous folk song called Ned Grogan. I couldn’t find a recording of it, so I suppose it’s…
-
Who Was the Real Buck Mulligan?
—He’s in with a lowdown crowd, Mr Dedalus snarled. That Mulligan is a contaminated bloody doubledyed ruffian by all accounts. His name stinks all over Dublin. 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…
-
Who Was the Real Haines?
“God, isn’t he dreadful? he said frankly. A ponderous Saxon. He thinks you’re not a gentleman. God, these bloody English! Bursting with money and indigestion. Because he comes from Oxford. You know, Dedalus, you have the real Oxford manner. He can’t make you out.” To listen to a discussion of this topic, check out the…
-
Say ‘Hello’ to Martello Towers
–Rather bleak in wintertime, I should say. Martello you call it? — Billy Pitt had them built, Buck Mulligan said, when the French were on the sea. But ours is the omphalos. To listen to a discussion of this topic, check out the podcast episode here. Ulysses opens with a scene familiar to anyone who…
-
Bloomsday Reading Recommendations
Want to read a selection from Ulysses on Bloomsday, but not sure what to read? Here are some suggestions.