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Stephen M's Reviews > Ulysses
Ulysses
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Quotes Stephen M Liked
Reading Progress
September 24, 2011
– Shelved
April 8, 2012
– Shelved as:
save-me-from-what-i-want
July 17, 2012
– Shelved as:
everything-everything-everything
July 28, 2012
– Shelved as:
tears-of-beautiful-laughter
July 28, 2012
– Shelved as:
milk-for-the-pussens
July 29, 2012
–
78.29%
"Part 3.Part 3.Part 3.Part 3.Part 3.Part 3.Part 3.Part 3.Part 3.Part 3.Part 3.SwagSwagSwagSwagSwag"
page
613
August 6, 2012
–
89.4%
"Each page is its own compendium of specialized knowledge through which Joyce teases out some nuanced philosophical issue for the characters to debate in a tangential fashion, typically missing the point of what the other has said, in favor of some other avenue of thought, coming from a much different frame of reference and set of existential assumptions. In short: reading has been slow."
page
700
August 6, 2012
–
94.25%
"Doing stretches and jumping jacks. C'mon Molly BRING IT OOOOOOONNNN!"
page
738
Started Reading
August 7, 2012
– Shelved as:
3-cheers-4-complex-characters
August 7, 2012
– Shelved as:
metafictive-madness
August 7, 2012
– Shelved as:
mind-expanding
August 7, 2012
– Shelved as:
obras-maestras
August 7, 2012
–
Finished Reading
February 17, 2013
– Shelved as:
mentions-mitchell
February 17, 2013
– Shelved as:
the-megha-novel
Comments Showing 1-50 of 71 (71 new)
message 1:
by
s.penkevich
(new)
-
rated it 5 stars
Jul 31, 2012 01:00PM
Yes please!
reply
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It's Stephen and BloomIt's Stephen and Bloom
Just two guys, who don't know what to do
Stephen and Bloom, hey!
Stephen and Bloom, yeah!
Wandering through Dublin, toolarooaroom!
It's not easy, living in the city,
But with friends like this life sure is pretty.
Stephen and Bloooooooooooooooooom! Yeah!
Toolarooaroom! Yes! haha that just made my dayU.P. up up up up! That character will have to be replaced with Kramer.
Stephen M wrote: "It's Stephen and BloomIt's Stephen and Bloom
Just two guys, who don't know what to do
Stephen and Bloom, hey!
Stephen and Bloom, yeah!
Wandering through Dublin, toolarooaroom!
It's not easy, livi..."
This is awesome. :)
(The door of the pub bursts open, and a disheveled man comes flying through, head twitching slightly)Hey, Bloom.
(points both fingers at him, nodding frantically)
Oh, look at those sirens in the corner. Giddy up!
You're out there and you're lovin' every minute of it!
Congratulations! Looking forward to your review now....BTW, your status updates were great.
Congrats, you did it!
5 stars? Marvelous
Awesome!
Nathan "N.R." wrote: "Only five stars?!"Hah! Good point.
Also shelved on my 'obras maestras' shelf which is essentially 'my favorites'.
Well played. I also enjoy '3 Cheers 4 Complex characters'!
Bloom is not even a character. He's everything. Buuuuuuut more of that in the review.
So glad you liked this! How incredible is the last chapter. I was completely immobilized after finishing this book.
Sean, I'm sure you were able to get a bit more out of the Molly section than me, but goodness. That one destroyed me. I got a little bit of it, but ma goodness. It was a little too much Joycean fuckery for me to deal with. The last line is gorgeous of course.I ended up liking the catechisms section quite a lot. As you mentioned, most definitely funny. In fact, there were so many "laughing out loud" moments, the most of any other part for me. They pee in the shape of the "bifurcated penultimate alphabetical letter". Too much. too much.
I didn't really 'get' much of it, but I read it aloud and quite slowly. It was like riding a gentle wave to shore.
When I said you forgot to mention the laughs, I didn't realise you were referring exclusively to the Ithica chapter, which is indeed a bitch. Still funny though.
When I said you forgot to mention the laughs, I didn't realise you were referring exclusively to the Ithica chapter, which is indeed a bitch. Still funny though.
A review of this and the Cat? I doff my cap!Shimmi gimme shakin review!
Witchcraft, this review.You and me, whoever rereads this first, must drag the other person with them. It is necessary.
:) Indeed. I can't wait to re-experience this masterpiece.Thanks both.
Gods. I love this review. Thank you for investing the time to craft a response to this book and sharing it with us. I love when friends weave personal narrative with fheir reviews. Wonderment.
Thank you so much Brian. That means a lot. I was worried that this review was just a big mess.
RE history as nightmare. There's a similar phrase/concept coined by Mircea Eliade in The Myth of the Eternal Return that's stuck with me since reading it in college: The Terror of History. I've graffitti'd this on bathroom walls after too much to drink more than once.Further details:
Most certainly worthy of ballroom wall graffiti.
It's late, so I will try to read this tomorrow. Just wanted to say that I love the fact that you created a shelf just for this book. That is the cat's Mrkgnao!
Another one for 'mentions-mitchell' shelf.
:) Thanks Megha. Good catch. The only review that casts the man in a disparaging light. What's happening to me?Take your time Richard. The Milk for the pussens can always wait.
MRKGNAOOOOOOOO!
This is the best Sunday I have in a long time. Ian's review, followed by yours. And what a review Stephen! Never before I've been so tempted to read this book. Spectacular!
You won't regret reading it. It's wonderful :)Thank you for the nice words too.
Stephen, Ulysses is a coathanger upon which first Joyce hung his coat and now you have hung your coat of many colours.Can I ask, is your girlfriend the poem girl? And did you hide it in her book for her to find it later? And is that how it happened?
Thank you Ian. You deserve credit for that poem. Without your edits it would be a terrible mess. Thank you again.1st question, no. The other two, yes.
Holy shit this is amazing!
"Only with literature have I experienced that epiphanic, everything fits together type of religious sensation. Ulysses delivered that in droves." - agreed.
Lovely review! Fun to experience your epiphanies. Reading it in college at the time of hallucinogens gave it a different twist. The steps of pleasure and challenge from "Dubliners" and "Portrait of the Artist" was a big one. I never could imagine making the leap to "Finnegan's Wake" however.Love your bookshelf categories!
I remember reading a line in Ulysses that proclaims that Ireland doesn’t have its masterpiece yet. . . yet! Ulysses is sooo dated.
But, M. M, looks like you've gotten yerself cleared four a-WakeWalkStroll.
S.penk: thanks so much man. I'm glad you found this review :)Sunny: I'm glad you gravitated towards that quote. It's kind of my life story ha.
Nick: Please let us know when/if you dive into it. A group read of Ulysses is almost necessary for motivation/support/helping each other catch the references that each individual can not possibly catch on her own.
Michael: Thank you Michael! "Milk for the Pussens" has to be one of my favorite lines in anything.
Nathan: I will probably
Sounds like fun!(Although my 're-reading' may turn into me just reading my favorite parts. Skipping the real difficult stuff).
Just watch me skip over the entire Circe section.
That's right. It was almost a section I didn't like. I know that many other people loved it but I thought it was the least focused and most bombastic of all the sections.
Yeah, I seem to be missing out on a lot of the good ones lately, but glad I'm still finding the best ones. (if I ever miss one, yell at me because I want to like them all!)But now that I have a moment to leave an actual comment, I must say how much I loved your commentary on the novel as a nightmare from which they all wish to wake. Brilliant. That really must weigh heavy on the mind of an author trying to break into new levels of literary awesomeness (like this one did, and this review for that matter!), how do you rise above without being pulled back down by the hands of history, how do you not just come across as just a slight twist on an old idea/tradition/etc. I spent all morning at work thinking about that paragraph of yours. I think a lot of that comes across in Infinite Jest as well, and, like Joyce, Wallace gladly acknowledges those who lead him to the start of his own path, politely nods his head at them, and then proceeds in his own direction. The whole The Man Himself and his sons forever having his shadow looming over them bit, I wonder if in some way he chose that name to acknowledge Joyce in just that manner. Seems everything turns to a IJ discussion lately...
Okay, I'm rambling at you, but this review is amazing. Drunk reviews are the best. Especially ones with love songs. Oh, and please tell me that one day in class when you shut down some argument, you make a pun on their argument just to use that line of your's 'pun fucking intended', and then slam your fist on the desk and march out with your fist in the air.
Okay, I'll shut up now. Awesome review.
Awesome
AWESOME!
Haha, your comments always give me the biggest smiles. The book has a way of doing that—inspiring long bouts of introspection. There are many "frames" by which you can analyze it and under which everything fits it. I think the whole book being a dream is really fascinating as well as the book being a celebration of the present. And then there's all the intertexual elements, the book being a rewriting of the Odyssey and the book being a rewriting of Shakespeare.
There's just so much going on in this book and the multiple readings are endless(view spoiler).
Stephen, I have renamed my cats shelf "milk 4 pussens" in your honor!
Yay! I'm happy to have the spread some of Joyce's words around!
