Hooked on Books discussion

Sammy wrote: "Risa said she's on board too."

I thought so, but couldn't tell on my quick look above. Fixed.

Sure, that's fine

Jenny is sure Angie will be ok with it too, but she's currently still on vacation.

"Sure" is a strong word, but I think she will go along with us.

that was the general gist, lol.

I'm going to try listening to the audio for the actual text, but simultaneously reading the annotations and essays (there will be a lot of pausing! lol) in my Little Baby Book. One day I will run out of different ways to experience this one, but this is not that day 😂

👍🏼

I'm fine as long as I don't have to buy a new book 😂 And I hope I'll get Ulysses better with a second read, since I feel like my first read was a fever dream 😂

Yes to Ulyssess!! It's been on my "must read this year" list for 3 years now. I'll take the push to knock it out.

I think it's a go!

Group Buddy Read - we do everything in this thread! (Sammy, I'm using your edition image because it's pretty, lol)

Chosen Book: Ulysses by James Joyce

So I'm now considering the nutty idea of reading this in tandem with Odyssey. Or maybe I should leave that for the next read-through, as that one doesn't have MPG historical Fiction for this challenge either 😂

I'm happy to join you in a rereading of that wonderful book anytime.

Ya'll are wild! How are you tandem reading? Are they intertwined?

Ashley wrote: "Ya'll are wild! How are you tandem reading? Are they intertwined?"

The stories are, after a fashion. Think of a theme and variations. Ulysses is the Roman version of the Greek Odysseus, and the main character in Ulysses has a bunch of stuff happen to him while he is trying to do something else. Sort of like Odysseus trying to get home, and getting thrown off track for ten years.

Whew, I missed a lot!
Since I'm the decidi g vote, I'll say yes as well.

yes Ashley, Ulysses is based on the Odyssey. You probably have to be much smarter than I am to spot all that properly, but I've noticed certain things aligning in previous read-throughs. I think reading both simultaneously would be interesting and probably make it clearer, but I think when I'm not in as much of a rush would probably be better 😆

I started Ulysses today. It's a big book and pretty dense so I've decided to chop it up into 25 daily reads to get through. Just started it, getting used to Joyce's style which seems a little stream of conscious and a little "if you didn't do your homework good luck keeping up in class.

Also, I already want to punch one of the characters (since it's day one I'll hold off on announcing who it is so I don't prejudice anyone.)

Jax wrote: "Also, I already want to punch one of the characters (since it's day one I'll hold off on announcing who it is so I don't prejudice anyone.)"

Haha! Now I'm going to be on the lookout for who needs punching! I was thinking I would start (slowly) tomorrow. I was running amok, working, and finishing a book I was supposed to finish on the 30th... but I have tomorrow off, so I figure it's a good time to start!

I fell victim to peer pressure. Or maybe it was peer envy. I just ordered the Cambridge Ulysses. I really didn't need to spend the money, but it is so pretty, and my paperback sucks. I think I bought it used a hundred years ago.

I will start as soon as I get the pretty pretty book in.

Yes, I am weak.

Teehee! Just make sure you have a sturdy desk or table to sit at Jenny! 😆
I'll probably start later today too. If I was doing just the audio I'd do it in a couple of days, but as I'm combining with the baby book, I'll take it a lot slower.

If the punchable character is (view spoiler)[ Buck Mulligan (hide spoiler)] (I agree he is a bit grating!), rest assured he isn't a major character. 😉

Listened to chapter 1 while putting the final touches of paint in the bathroom, gonna take a break now to read some of the extras in the baby book!

Woohoo! I got my Cambridge Ulysses. Damn is it pretty. And heavy.
I will likely just look at the pretties tonight and start it tomorrow.
Ulysses is a totally appropriate read for the Fourth of July, yes?

Well, it's more appropriate for the 16th of June, but sure 😆

one thing that does bear mentioning in case anyone is unaware, but Stephen Dedalus is a fictionalised version of Joyce himself (and the hero of Joyce's autobiographical work 'A portrait of the artist as a young man ').
I'm just about to start the second chapter, where Stephen is also supposed to represent Telemachus in the Odyssey.

Joyce can be said to have been many things. But I don't think straightforward is one of them 😆

couldn't help myself jumping straight into chapter three afterwards, as it's one of my favourites. I don't pretend to understand it all, but I find the stream of consciousness thing to be really soothing.

Day 3-about 15% in. It took awhile to get used to the stream of consciousness and to realize it's all kinds of various thoughts pinging around like in my head. There's a lot of literary references and I'm wondering if it's about people being better read (or the average book reader being better read) in those times or for his contemporaries was it just the culture of things.

Oh no, it was 100% Joyce adding all this stuff in (not just Literary references, but music, politics and all sorts) for the sheer heck of it! He famously said that the book would keep professors busy for centuries 😂

This is why the Cambridge book is so great, because it explains a lot of that stuff!

The main thing to realise is that you're not going to get everything (nobody does!) and just enjoy.

I am about to start this one. I'm glad you are explaining, Sammy!

So I have been reading the intro to this Ulysses edition, and it made me go find The Odyssey on my shelves. I at least at the start, am going to try to read a chapter of the Odyssey and then a chapter of Ulysses.
I now have to decide whether to read the Emily Wilson translation, or the Robert Fagles translation. Maybe both.
I am so glad that I got this Cambridge annotated text. Damn, it is going to be helpful.

I have a soft spot for the Fagels, as it's the one I first read (non-stop over and over again for a year) as a teen. 😁

Mel discovered an audio version of it narrated by Gandalf, so I'm definitely grabbing that some time!

Damn, I forgot about that. Off to see which audio version I have already...

So I have the Emily Wilson version read by Claire Danes, and the Fitzgerald version read by Dan Stevens.
I will wait for a sale to buy a third audiobook, even if it is Gandalf.

Ok, so I just read the first two books (chapters) of the Odyssey (Fagles translation), and was about to pick up my spanking new copy of Ulysses, but I can't for some reason.

It belongs to the Floof now. No more book for you

yeah, that kitty means business... There's a definite sense of "MINE!" there 😆

I just did chapters 4 & 5, which is where we meet Leopold Bloom, who is our main guy.
Lots more stream-of-conciousness, but it's a lot more down to Earth (as opposed to Stephen Dedalus and his more flowery thoughts).

I've got to say, I think having a woman's Time of the Month referred to as "she has her roses" is rather a very pretty way of putting it.
If only the reality was as pleasant as that 😆

And the flower theme continues (chapter 5 parallels the time Odysseus spent with the Lotus Eaters), and I thought Bloom's "flower letter" was hilarious.

"Punish your cactus" had me snorting tea out of unfortunate places.

Finished chapters 6 & 7

Had a good chuckle over cheese being "the corpse of milk" 😂

One reason I found chapter 7 interesting is that Bloom's job as a wandering advertising salesman is more-or-less extinct now. It's all done online these days, and is mostly automated. People certainly don't tend to roam the city streets looking for potential sales any more!
In the few cases where such sales are administered by a real person, I very much doubt the job is commision-based now.

That lack of stability in Bloom's life in terms of income will certainly have an impact. especially if you add that to (view spoiler)[ losing his son and blaming himself. And now with his wife being on the brink of an affair... (hide spoiler)]. I'd be a neurotic mess in his place.

Sammy wrote: "Joyce can be said to have been many things. But I don't think straightforward is one of them 😆.."

I have to agree with this, but it may be a huge understatement!!

I have to say that reading it with the annotations is sooooo helpful. There are references that I recognize, and a ton that I don't. I canm't say that it all makes sense reading it with helpful notes, but it is much clearer.

Since I am also trying to read bits of The Odyssey that supposedly correlate with the same parts of Ulysses, I am giving myself an extra layer of hardness. The first chapters about Telemachus (Stephen) do not fit exactly, as the story doesn't fit exactly. But there are mirror bits. Buck is definitely one of the obnoxious suitors that is sponging off of Penelope. Stephen is a man who doesn't quite know where he fits in. The Tower they are staying in is the Castle on Ithaca.
Differences are that Stephen is not actually the son of Bloom (Odysseus), but I have a feeling that he will be like a "son" to him. I am not there yet.
I am taking this slowly, I think maybe one or two chapters a day, as I am juggling between Ulysses and two translations of The Odyssey.

Bloody enjoying the whole thing though. The only thing I am missing is going back to the dorm after class and getting drunk with a few people from my floor and discussing what we thought of the text. And which bar we should hit on Friday.

I'm doing two chapters a day too (one just before bed, one first thing in the morning.

I've kinda abandoned the kindle book I was meant to be reading, but this one is much more fun!

Are you reading the pre-chapter essays too? I find them so extremely helpful in trying to make sense of some of the stuff in the text!

Yes I am. I have only just read the first two chapters. I decided to try to finish off a couple of other books that I was close to finishing as well.

It is a lovely idea to start and end the day with Joyce.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HviIF...

Teehee! Although it sounds wrong not being read in an Irish accent 😆

Finished ch 8 & 9

Ch 8 wasn't without its issues for me. Switching from 3rd person to 1st person POV and back again in a single sentence is never going to make me happy. Even when Joyce does it!
My least favourite chapter? I don't actually think so, but I'll reserve judgement on that until I've finished this read-through.

I am really appreciating how the essays point out some of the linguistic links between certain chapters of Ulysses and specific adventures on The Odyssey.
Ch 5 is based on the lotus eaters, and the text has a recurring floral theme.
Ch8, based on Lestrygonians deals with food and eating.
Ch9, Scylla and Charybdis linguistically plays with choices between different things.

I am definitely not wondering why it took Joyce so long to write this book!

For anyone wondering how the chapters line up vs The Odyssey (and who don't have a copy of the wonderful centenary edition...) I thought I'd list them here:

1 - Telemachus
2 - Nestor
3 - Proteus
4 - Calypso
5 - Lotus Eaters
6 - Hades
7 - Aeolus
8 - Lestrygonians
9 - Scylla and Charybdis
10 - Wandering Rocks
11 - Sirens
12 - Cyclops
13 - Nausicaa
14 - Oxen of the Sun
15 - Circe
16 - Eumaeus
17 - Ithaca
18 - Penelope

I've pretty much given up on actually understanding and am just reading it! Lol

I am enjoying the commentary from the two of you with the "baby book".

Perfectly valid strategy, especially if it's your first read 😁

I love my baby book. Aside from being so very useful when reading, and so pretty to look at, it could also be utilised as a weapon in the zombie apocalypse.

I still haven't started, I ended up being busier than I thought I would be this weekend - I was supposed to just be holidaying and dog sitting, but alas - pirate smut sucked me in instead.

I'm finishing Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection today, bc my library loan is about to expire, and then I can hopefully get started!