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WEEK 1 - Ulysses BY James Joyce


January 25 � January 31: Intro and Part 1 (this is a very short part of the book and it overlaps the last week of The Odyssey).
� Part I: The Telemachiad � approximate pages 1 � 44 (the paperback goes to page 50)
o Episode 1: Telemachus
o Episode 2: Nestor
o Episode 3: Proteus

I'll confess, I'm a little over thirty pages into this and while there's the thinnest thread of a possible storyline, I'm incredibly confused as to what's going on right now, and why I should care. Am I missing something? Does it just start out this way, or does the entire book continue being this confusing?

Alana - No, I don't think you are missing anything. I read this last year and it sounds like you are right on track. The reader is simply dropped into a day in the life of several people, the main person being Leopold Bloom, of course. No background info, no nothing. You must pick up cues from the conversations of surrounding characters, and the thoughts running through people's minds and pick up threads that way. I think that is why reading this book more than once is helpful in understanding the book overall. Once you've read through it once, then you will be able to pick up the cues and threads easier the second time around.

This book has so much packed into it, so much play on language and themes that, I admit, were completely over my head. I can see how people could spend a LOT of time trying to tease apart this book. The first time I read it, I just tried to get through it and get the general sense of what was happening, which was difficult enough. I think the next time I attempt to read it, I will make use of a reader's guide.

There is a lot online to help the reader. Both Spark Notes and Cliff Notes are online. A search of just about any phrase will bring up info related to Ulysses. When you get to the Proteus section of stream-of-consciousness, it is so densely packed that you could spend days and days on just those few pages. I finally decided to look up things which interested me, ignore the things that didn't, and just observe the workings of Stephen's mind. The point is that he is very well-educated. And Joyce did a lot of research.

The Bloom section is much easier to read, at least so far.

Hi all!
I am reading with the aid of Spark Notes, as well, because otherwise I'd be missing a lot.

So far, I am reintroduced to Stephen Dedalus, as I remember him briefly from A Portrait of an Artist. According to spark notes, he is Joyce's alter-ego, as well.

I expected all of Ulysses to be like the Proteus section, so I was very pleasantly surprised through the first two episodes to see that I was understanding the general point throughout. When I did get to Proteus, though, I realized I understood not a single word, except maybe that there was a dead dog, but even then wasn't certain it wasn't some weird metaphor. I ended up reading through it once, then reading the spark notes and reading through it again. Honestly, so many parts I would never have understood. Even WITH spark notes and knowing it was there, I had to read several times to find certain pieces, like the poetical description of urination.

I think without Spark Notes this would be an impossible read for me.

Otherwise, I am with you, Alana. I don't particularly see why I should care. On my own, I am really only getting the bare-bones story and its not super interesting. With Spark Notes, I can see that there is more there for me to "get", but even then I am still not really "getting" it.

I am surprised, though, that I have found it as "readable" as I have so far, and even if I only get the face-value story of a few guy's day, I will be able to complete the read, which is encouraging. I may never get the "deeper" story, and thats kind of okay with me.

So far, my thoughts are that if I need to revisit a book again in as much depth as I'd have to revisit this to really study it, I'd rather put that effort into Gravity's Rainbow.

I started this one on audio, but I just got through the very first segment and I'm abandoning that idea. I just don't think this suits well to an audio read. I'm not following anything, which may be because I'm listening, or because the story's that confusing. Going to start over and see how I do.

That being said, I usually avoid SparkNotes as they so often contain spoiler, but I think I'm going to need them for this one!

I'm trying the audio as well. I'm a bit lost.

I'm ten pages in, having started over when I abandoned the audio. I am liking it much better actually "reading" it, finding it easier to follow. At least thus far.

You may try the podcasts by Frank Delaney called re:joyce. They are very effective at understanding the context and timeframe of Ulysses.
Ulysses to me is like a lifetime read. I recommend savoring it instead of trying to plow through and read it. Those podcasts help immensely and are extremely enjoyable in their own right.

I can imagine the audio is quite a trip with this book. I need to reread so many sentences a few times or read a whole paragraph then go back and read it again. That would be extraordinarily difficult with the audio book.

I might try the podcasts, though. That seems like it would be helpful, but its not the book itself.

I recommend savoring it instead of trying to plow through and read it.

I think I need to develop more of a...well, anything for this book before I can think about savoring it. Its hard to savor something you don't understand most of or particularly like. Maybe by the time I get to the end, my opinion will have changed and I will want to go back to the beginning and savor it all. Right now I am really just plowing through in the hopes that some of it will stick and I will develop a sense for it.

I am thinking Ulysses is an acquired taste...

Francis wrote: "You may try the podcasts by Frank Delaney called re:joyce. They are very effective at understanding the context and timeframe of Ulysses.
Ulysses to me is like a lifetime read. I recommend savorin..."

Oh, absolutely! This is my first time, because I always heard it was unreadable. A critic wrote that you could design an entire liberal arts curriculum around the subjects within, and I believe that, though it would be an unusual set of subjects. I am particularly lacking in Irish history and politics, which an Irish or English reader in the 20's would have had no problem recognizing. And if we hadn't just read The Odyssey, that connection would have been lost.
Google a picture of the Martello Tower at Sandycove, or James Joyce's Tower. It's a museum now, but it gives you an idea of where those fellows were living, and the rocky beach below. The whole episode of the room mate dreaming of a black panther and letting off a shotgun in the night really happened. Scared poor James to death.

Is the Nestor section a flashback to when Stephen was a young teacher? Or is he currently a teacher?

Currently, I think. In Proteus, he keeps checking on where he put the letter the headmaster asks him to deliver.

Kaycie wrote: "I can imagine the audio is quite a trip with this book. I need to reread so many sentences a few times or read a whole paragraph then go back and read it again. That would be extraordinarily diffic..."

Hearing the Irish accents in audio was rather fun, though :) But I think that was part of my problem...the accents were so strong that it was even more difficult to understand something that was difficult to begin with!

"Stephen, still trembling at his soul's cry, heard warm running sunlight...." (p 10)

I love that! Hearing sunlight. I don't know why, that line just struck me for some reason.

Here's a blurb from SparkNotes from the first "chapter" which I found interesting:

(view spoiler)[The first three episodes of Ulysses center upon Stephen Dedalus, Joyce’s autobiographical protagonist from A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. We left Stephen at the end of Portrait, an ambitious and slightly arrogant young poet who was just finishing college and leaving Dublin for Paris in the Spring of 1902. Ulysses picks up just over two years later. In Paris, Stephen lived a bohemian-intellectual lifestyle after abandoning medical school. Stephen was called back from Paris by his mother’s illness, probably in the summer of 1903. Almost a year later—June 16, 1904—we see Stephen in “Telemachus,� unresigned to life in Ireland and still dressed in mourning for his mother. He is as yet unrealized as an artist. (hide spoiler)]

I put in in spoilers in case it would give away anything, although I don't think it does. I'm curious though; are we supposed to be reading this as a sequel to The Portrait of the Artist? Or, like The Iliad and Odyssey, it's always starting right in the middle of the action?

I haven't read Portrait so I'd be vexed if this is a sequel. Grr!

Alana wrote: "Kaycie wrote: "I can imagine the audio is quite a trip with this book. I need to reread so many sentences a few times or read a whole paragraph then go back and read it again. That would be extraor..."

Ha! Never thought of the accents! I bet that's fun, but distracting.

Renee wrote: "I haven't read Portrait so I'd be vexed if this is a sequel. Grr!"

I don't remember tons about Portrait, but this seems pretty standalone. I think it's just more that it is using the same character. As Alana posted from SparkNotes shows, much has happened in Stephens life between then and now that even a Portrait reader wouldn't know.

Renee wrote: "Is the Nestor section a flashback to when Stephen was a young teacher? Or is he currently a teacher?"

Yes, like SusanK wrote, he is currently a teacher. You see more about that letter later, too.

How is everyone doing with the Osyssey connection? I am finding it tenuous at best (and only really see it after some supplementary reading that explains it), and think if many other connections are this slight, it's not a wonder I am missing things.

Alana wrote: "Kaycie wrote: "I can imagine the audio is quite a trip with this book. I need to reread so many sentences a few times or read a whole paragraph then go back and read it again. That would be extraor..."

I'm loving the audio accents and dialects, I think it adds to the book.

Is there any relevance to the name Steven Deadalus?

Saint Steven, in the book of Acts in the Bible is the first Saint to be executed (stoned): does this bode badly for our character?

Also Daedalus was an inventer from Greek mythology and father of Icarus. Daedalus constructed wings of wax to facilitate their escape from Crete. He wanted Icarus against 2 things.
1) complacency and flying to close to sea which would clog the wings.
2) Hubris (pride) and flying too close to the sun which would melt the wax.
Icarus was victim to hubris, flew too close to the sun, his wings melted and he drowned.

So is Steven Deadalus a victim of pride? His own or someone else's (his father?). Is her merely intelligent? Will he be 'executed' (even in reputation?) by society?

Or am I just reaching?

Hmmm. If SD is Joyce's alter ego, he could be spoofing himself with the hubris thing. Or the desire to fly away.

Renee wrote: "Hmmm. If SD is Joyce's alter ego, he could be spoofing himself with the hubris thing. Or the desire to fly away."

Perhaps Joyce felt it was better to be prideful than complacent?

Lisa wrote: "Alana wrote: "Kaycie wrote: "I can imagine the audio is quite a trip with this book. I need to reread so many sentences a few times or read a whole paragraph then go back and read it again. That wo..."

Lisa, are you completementing with a printed copy of the book or working entirely with audio?

Lisa wrote: "Is there any relevance to the name Steven Deadalus?

Saint Steven, in the book of Acts in the Bible is the first Saint to be executed (stoned): does this bode badly for our character?

Also Daedal..."

I couldn't remember who Deadalus was, I'd forgotten he was Icharus' father. But as Icharus was the one who had the hubris and not Deadalus, is Joyce considering himself more of the wise character?

I finally got through the Proteus section... I'm glad the book didn't start with a section like this or I probably would have given up on it already! Stream of consciousness like this is what keeps me from reading more Faulkner and writers like him. It's just so hard for me to care. Hopefully the rest of the book isn't like that. I'm assuming it kind of goes back and forth, though.

I'm into the next section, Alana, and it does go back and forth.

I just need to clarify what's going on in the Proteus section.,.
Stephen thinks about a dead dog,
Then has an exotic, somewhat sexual dream.
Then, gets poetic & writes on ripped paper. There's some toying with poetic thoughts.
Then, he starts thinking about a girl.
Then, pees in the sand?
Then, thinks about the ocean.
Finally, he remembers he lost his handkerchief and picks his nose.

Is that what the rest of you got?

Yep that's pretty much what i got for the most part. I am listening to it though. I will need to dig out my physical canopy and take a look.

I've started looking for more information and I found this tidbit concerning the Proteus section on Wikipedia...

"This chapter is characterised by a stream of consciousness narrative style that changes focus wildly. Stephen's education is reflected in the many obscure references and foreign phrases employed in this episode, which have earned it a reputation for being one of the book's most difficult chapters."

Yay! We made it through!

Haha Renee I like your summary, that's perfect!

Kaycie wrote: "Lisa wrote: "Alana wrote: "Kaycie wrote: "I can imagine the audio is quite a trip with this book. I need to reread so many sentences a few times or read a whole paragraph then go back and read it a..."

Hi Kaycie,

I've tried to read this twice before and both times finished Proteus but got no further. I found that listening to these three chapters was great, I think they were familiar.

Ideally, I'd love to listen and read concurrently, however that is impossible with my 9 month old (she slammed my book shut making lots of noise).

I'm now reading the Sparknotes summary before each chapter, then listening while I drive and later going back to the text. Some parts are easier on the ear and others are better read. Feels like I'm studying...

That sounds like a great system. I'm found something similar but not as well-delineated.
I'm almost finished the next part and part of me keeps thinking this is a book that would appeal more to men. A woman writing similarly in the same time period would have been committed. Seriously.

Renee wrote: "A woman writing similarly in the same time period would have been committed. Seriously. "

Unfortunately, that's sadly true. A man writing in that style apparently was brilliant, but a woman would have been (still is?) considered histrionic and delusional.

I'm just about to start (running a little late--sorry!) so have no comments on the chapter yet. I have been reading the posts, and just wanted to say that anyone who feels confused should take heart--it's perfectly normal. I read this for the first time in a college class, and the lion's share of the semester was devoted to it. We had THREE supplementary books to help us through it, and the guidance of a college professor, and we were still confused. So don't feel badly if you're struggling. From my personal experience, I would urge you to use any supplement you would like to help you better understand what you're reading. There's no shame in it--not for this book. It's a monster to read, but it's also considered one of the world's greatest literary treasures.

Lisa - in response to your audio comment I decided to attempt....ya, maybe I started on the wrong section (I skipped to one where I was struggling) but I really got NOTHING. I think I need to go to an "easier" section to give it a fair shake, but the audio might not be for me. I do want to find a better way to enhance my Ulysses experience, because I do find it a bit lacking right now, but it might be more the image website SusanK mentioned in section 2 than the audio.