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Jenny
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Jul 14, 2025 11:28AM
Instead of teaching to the test you mean? Yup that would be nice for the future of humanity.
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(aka: Sex Letters, Soap, and the Stream-of-Consciousness Slip n’ Slide)
We follow Bloom as he:
➡️ Picks up a letter from his not-wife, Martha that's kind of flirty. Kind of sad. Kind of ew. --- seriously, who is Martha?
➡️ Goes to the chemist for Molly’s ladies' items + some suspiciously sensual soap
➡️ Sits in a church (but not for church)
➡️ Daydreams about sex → religion → bodily functions → death → advertisements → back to sex. All while… not really doing anything.
🧠 (More) Characters to Remember:
✨ Martha Clifford – the mysterious letter writer. (side note: In Episode 4, I thought she was maybe a sweet young pen pal. Now? That letter is very not-rated-for-daytime.)
At one point during a particularly gruesome inner thought, I had to stop and ask: Wait… is that necromancy? Necrophilia?? The answer: neither. It's just Bloom being f-ing weird again.
I feel like I just got trapped inside the damp folds of someone else’s brain. AGAIN.
Is Bloom horny? Guilty? Sentimental? Avoidant? Dissociating?
Yes. All of the above.
Also, there’s still math.
❓Final Verdict:
I still have no idea what’s going on, but still I’m pretty sure that’s the point.
And also: I need soap now. But like, not his soap. Never his soap.
Mod
(aka: “Forget Your Problems and Eat the Sad Salad”)
I stopped before the Cyclops section, in the spirit of the Tandem Read, but this was a quick 4 pages.
Lotus Eaters = literally drugged
Lonely Leo = emotionally sedated?
Both scenes ask: “What do we do when life hurts too much? Do we numb ourselves and avoid it, or face it?”
Bloom’s not ready to face it. Neither were Odysseus’s crew. Same soup, different spoons.
Mod
Reading this short bit without context was a little weird.
The Tandem goes:
→ Odyssey Book 9 (early) – Lotus Eaters
stop when they reach the land of the Cyclopses
→ Odyssey Book 11 – Underworld
→ Odyssey Book 10 (first half) – Aeolus and the Winds
Stop right before Odysseus arrives at the land of the Laestrygonians.
→ Odyssey Book 10 (second half) – Cannibal Giants
→ Odyssey Book 12
→ Odyssey Book 9 (Cyclops section)
→ Odyssey Book 6 – Nausicaa helps Odysseus
→ Odyssey Books 7–8 – Phaeacian court scenes
→ Odyssey Book 10 (Circe)
→ Odyssey Book 13 – Odysseus Lands in Ithaca
→ Odyssey Book 14 – Eumaeus the swineherd
I think you will be ok. The things that happens to Odysseus are kind of episodic, and it doesn't matter a great deal if you find out about them in order. You should reread the Odyssey later though, with a different translator. Give it a minute to sink in, and then read or listen without stopping to analyze.
The more editions you read, the more you want to read it in the original Greek, if you are anything like me.
Mod
You should reread the Odyssey later thoug..."
If only I could read Greek! hah!
Yeah. Me too. I taught myself a little bit of modern Greek when I went there the first time, but it was just enough to get by in restaurants and the like. Not enough to get close to reading Homer in the original.
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(aka: Four Men in a Carriage, Processing Mortality... Kinda)
🧃 Standout Quote:
"Rattle his bones. Over the stones. Only a pauper. Nobody owns."
It’s bleak. It’s bitter. It’s exactly the kind of thing someone thinks when they’re trying not to feel grief too deeply.
✨ My Take:
Honestly? This chapter made more sense than the previous ones.
Either I’m acclimating to Joyce’s crazy-talk, or funerals just hit different.
The men gossip like judgmental aunties, Bloom broods quietly in the corner, and everyone pretends they aren’t terrified of dying.
🧼 Wait… Why is Bloom still carrying that soap?
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🥊 From Jax:
"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"
My Take: Buck Mulligan. It’s Buck. He’s punchable. I feel this in my soul.
📚 From Jax:
"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."
My Take: I’ve asked myself this like ten times already. 1904 intellectuals would chew me up and spit me out.
🪻 From Sammy (Ch. 4–5):
"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.
"I thought Bloom's "flower letter" was hilarious."
"Punish your cactus" had me snorting tea out of unfortunate places."
My Take: Okay, I’m definitely using “she has her roses” from now on, just to confuse people.
Also, wait — can someone remind me what exactly the flower letter was?? I think I missed it or mentally blocked it?
🧀 From Sammy (Ch. 6):
"Had a good chuckle over cheese being "the corpse of milk" 😂
My Take: Fully cackled. That line is horrifying and hilarious. Joyce really said “death, decay… and dairy.”
Anyway. On to Episode 7.
I assume Bloom still has the soap. 🧼
The flower letter was Bloom taking Martha's letter and re-composing it in his mind using flowers and plants. hence the "punish your cactus" snort 😆Martha btw is technically a pen-pal. A naughty one Bloom found via a newspaper ad. I think she's a little nervous and unsure of herself still (as in, new to writing smut). As far as I'm aware she's not someone Bloom has ever met IRL.
Kinda the early 20th century equivalent of a certain type of internet chat room 😆
Mod
Martha btw is technically a pen-pal. A naughty o..."
Oh this is helpful! I swear this book makes me feel dense.
Don't worry about it. Joyce does that to everyone 😆
Mod
Well. That was... a weird, moody, borderline incestuous parade of the dead. Honestly, it felt like Homer handed Odysseus a VIP pass to the Ancient Greek Trauma Con.
Also: shout-out to Agamemnon, who’s still salty from beyond the grave. And yeah, considering the whole “sacrificed our daughter for war” thing, it's somehow not shocking that Clytemnestra murdered him. 🙃
The whole scene is dripping with guilt, grief, and unresolved family messes. Classic Greek drama.
Connection to Ulysses, Episode 11 (Hades):
Okay, yes, both involve the dead. We’ve got literal ghosts in Homer, and symbolic/psychological ghosts in Ulysses. Death, memory, and grief haunt both scenes. The funeral in Ulysses mirrors the descent into the Underworld, just with less prophecy and more passive-aggressive eulogizing.
But otherwise? It’s kind of vibes-only.
Mod
aka 🗞️ THE DUBLIN DAILY BLATHER
🚨 SUDDEN SOAP REALIZATION SHOCKS LOCAL MAN (AGAIN) 🚿
Bloom’s back at it again, surprised to find that yes, the soap is still in his pocket. I swear, the soap is becoming a character in its own right. At this point, I'm half expecting it to deliver a monologue.
📰 HEADLINES, HEADACHES & HECKLERS
I really liked the format of this one! Those shouty newspaper headlines cutting through the narrative were chaotic but fun. They gave me the sense of a very loud, very masculine space where everyone’s talking over each other and trying to one-up each other’s wit.
K.M.R.I.A. EXCLUSIVE
I legit laughed out loud when that came up.
🚫 BLOOM, INTERRUPTED: EXCLUSION IN THE NEWSROOM
There’s this subtle undercurrent of Bloom being just slightly "other" in every space he enters. Like, he’s technically welcome, but never really included. Everyone else seems part of some boisterous boys’ club, and Bloom’s on the outside of the banter. Even when he tries to assert himself (with the letter, or his take on the horse story), it feels like he’s being politely sidelined. Honestly, it’s kind of heartbreaking.
Mod
Okay, so Odysseus finally gets a break, and his crew still manages to mess it all up. I swear, this man cannot catch a break. He’s asleep for five minutes and they’re already undoing all the progress. Like… why!?
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And after spending some time in Dublin, I am sure there is a "Journey of Odysseus" private boat tour that would be worth going on."
When are we all going on these tours?!?!?! 😂
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I was behind on the comments because I was trying to read the parts before I read the comments.
This made me laugh out loud because I just said to myself...."this book is giving my brain a real workout!!"
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I'm dying
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Sammy wrote: "I think they should continue to teach everything!
Trying to pretend problematic things never happened is never a good idea. Better by far to instead teach stuff like this and then have a discussion about why abandoning people once you no longer need their help is not cool...."
Completely agree with the discussion on these items! It really is a shame that society is trying so hard to not offend anyone and that leads them to basically silencing history (as Ashley said).
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And, that soap..... 🤣
Angie ☯ wrote: "I read something last week that made me think - why does it matter who is writing what or how diverse the characters are? If it is a good (or great) story by an obviously talented author, why can't..."I just finished a book written by a white woman, which mainly takes place on Mars in the future. Mars was colonized by the US, Russia, and China, and the Chinese settlers had the best luck/equipment/whatever, and thus became the dominant governing system and language. Mind you, this book takes place on Mars, and is mainly about the politics and the issue with taking on more settlers from Earth, which is dying.
I liked the book. It was almost great, but for me the writing fell a bit short. I gave it three stars, and I would have given in 3 1/2 if we could do that.
Out of curiosity, I looked at some other reviews. They were mainly 5 stars and 1 star. The 1 star reviews were scathing. The reviewers had an issue with the author being a white person, who doesn't know enough about China, or the people that hail from there to be allowed to write a book with Chinese characters in it.
Granted, I am not myself Asian, my ancestors were from northern Europe, but that aspect of the story didn't even enter my mind as something I should be worrying about, or take umbrage at.
What the hell is it like to go through life right now being so ready to be angry that someone appreciates another culture enough to write a story about it?
I can never read Watership Down again I tell you. I am almost 98% sure that Richard Adams is not in fact a rabbit.
Maybe he identifies as a rabbit though
It's a catch-22 right now, to be fair. People get yelled at for writing about "stuff they don't know" as in your example above, and they get yelled at for not having enough diversity in their books.Literally can't win. And it's killing new authors.
Richard Adams would have even less of a chance now, as aside from his other sins, he's also male!! 😆
Now I want to read about Hazel and Fiver and Bigwig again. I wonder how many times I have actually read that book since I was a child.
Mod
https://www.npr.org/2023/05/16/117650....
KELLY: The sly, winked-at, never-quite-said-out-loud joke here is you have written a novel about a white woman who writes about Chinese people and gets slammed for cultural appropriation. It does not escape my notice that you are an Asian woman who is writing a main character who is white. Were you deliberately stirring the pot - like, trying to invert all the questions about appropriation and racism and who gets to write which stories?
KUANG: Oh, yeah. I think it's hilarious that all of our assumptions about who gets to do cultural appropriation or when something counts as cultural appropriation kind of go away when you invert who is of what identity. And I think that a lot of our standards about cultural appropriation are language about - don't write outside of your own lane. You can only write about this experience if you've had that experience. I don't think they make a lot of sense. I think they're actually quite limiting and harmful and backfire more often on marginalized writers than they push forward conversations about widening opportunities. You would see Asian American writers being told that you can't write anything except about immigrant trauma or the difficulties of being Asian American in the U.S. And I think that's anathema to what fiction should be. I think fiction should be about imagining outside our own perspectives, stepping into other people's shoes and empathizing with the other. So I really don't love arguments that reduce people to their identities or set strict permissions of what you can and can't write about. And I'm playing with that argument by doing the exact thing that June is accused of - writing about an experience that isn't hers.
excellent answer...
Mod
Men are Gross (Confirmed): This whole chapter is a sensory assault tied closely to men, consumption, and physicality. Bloom finds it revolting. Honestly, same.
The Soap Returns (Yes, Still!): Yep. He still has the lemon soap in his pocket.
Racism & Social Observations: Unfortunately, there’s casual antisemitism and other racist language in this chapter, often voiced by others but sometimes woven into Bloom’s own internalized fears. It’s ugly, and it’s clearly meant to be, no matter the rhyme scheme. Joyce clearly doesn’t sanitize the thoughts of his characters.
Mod
Men? Still Gross.
Seriously, between the cannibal giants and the endless poor decision-making, I’m once again left asking: how did humanity survive this long?
I accidentally read ahead into the Circe bit and, uh… wow.
Sexual assault vibes, possible ✂️ of a certain appendage, and more magical goddess detours for Odysseus. Meanwhile, Penelope’s still holding it down at home, but sure, let’s keep collecting divine bedpost notches. 🙄
Also, why is everyone always weeping?? You’d think this was a Nicholas Sparks novel at sea.
Ashley wrote: "Wasn't it R.F. Kuang that was on a panel talking about this issue... hold on.. let me go find it...https://www.npr.org/2023/05/16/117650......"
Well damn. Now I want her new book right now!!!!
I have not read The Poppy War series. Anyone know if it is worth picking up? I loved Babel, and Yellowface was a good read.
Mod
https://www.npr.org/2023/05/16/117650...-..."
I've only read Yellowface, which I thought was great. I have been slowly collecting the collector editions of The Poppy War series, I have 1 and 2 (they are so pretty), but I wanted to wait until the 3rd was released before starting it. I can only say what I've heard, that it's good.
I'm actually interested to see how her newest release will be received, Katabasis, since there's been some talk that's it's very different? Or something?
Heaven forfend that an author tries a new genre!!!!One of my favorite authors writes books that are absolutely nothing like any of his other books.
If you like rolling the dice on a new book by an author, give Matt Ruff a try. I first met his writing with Bad Monkeys, and thought I knew what his writing was like. Then I read Set This House in Order, and Fool on the Hill, and Lovecraft Country. I love that they are nothing like each other.
Mod
Lovecraft Country is amazing. There was a series made from it. I think it might have been HBO, and it is very close to the book.
Although, come to think of it, it is a story with mainly black characters written by a white man, so enter at your peril!teehee
Mod
I used to think I got most things, but damn, this book made me decide otherwise!
Mod
Tinder Profiles | Ulysses Style
💘 Leopold Bloom
Age: 38
Location: Dublin
Occupation: Ad Agent / Amateur Philosopher
Bio:
💧 Lover of baths, innards, and introspection.
🧼 Carrying soap. Always.
👀 I’ll watch. You don’t even have to know.
🥩 Must enjoy gizzards and quiet longing.
Looking for: Emotional connection. And maybe someone who’ll actually respond to my letter.
Swipe-right match from The Odyssey: Calypso
She’s very into long-winded, emotionally vulnerable men with latent mommy issues who stick around even when they really shouldn't. Plus, she likes a man who wanders.
🎨 Stephen Dedalus
Age: 22
Location: Dublin (but spiritually exiled)
Occupation: Disillusioned teacher / Wannabe artist
Bio:
✝️ Recovering Catholic.
🧠 Philosophy bro with daddy issues and poet tendencies.
🍷 Can’t pay rent, but can quote Aristotle and cry about it.
👨🎓 “I have a soul of flame, but no money.”
Looking for: Someone who understands the burden of genius. (No, seriously. Anyone?)
Swipe-right match from The Odyssey: Telemachus
Both are angsty, father-searching, unsure-what-to-do-with-themselves sadboys. They’d bond over missing dads and long silences at dinner.
💃 Molly Bloom
Age: 33
Location:
Occupation: Singer / Goddess of No F***s Left to Give
Bio:
🌹 Sensualist, realist, queen of inner monologues.
📖 I read smutty books and think about old flings.
💋 Yes I said yes I will Yes.
👑 Your wife could never.
🛏️ If you're into emotional availability... ask someone else.
Looking for: I already found him, and him, and maybe you too.
Swipe-right match from The Odyssey: Circe
Circe sees her and immediately says, “This girl gets it.” They’d hook up, talk about dumb men, swap stories about seduction and self-possession, then decide to form a coven.
👏🏼You're just about at the point where Bloom is actually going need that soap... Just sayin'. 😆 (although he doesn't think to use it, of course...)
Mod
You're just about at the point where Bloom is actually going need that soap... Just sayin'. 😆 (although he doesn't think to use it, of course...)"
Oh no eww!
I know what my creative post was going to be, I just thought I'd wait until a few more people had finished 😁
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Can't wait!
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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!
M..."
Honestly, I didn't even notice, but I'm pretty sure that just because my brain is overwhelmed and I'm just trying to stay above water!
Mod
Thoughts, in the spirit of this episode's progression: Good → Better → Best
Good: Stephen delivers a whirlwind Shakespeare theory.... he’s all in, trying to define genius through suffering and art.
Better: Nobody in the room actually buys it. Including Stephen himself.
BEST: Buck Mulligan rolls in just in time to roast him, proving once again that even a twat can land a punchline.
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🚶♂️ Ulysses Episode 10 - Wandering Rocks
🧠 So, basically, everyone, is... doing something. Got it. Sort of.
Father Conmee, walking and judging everything ... but.... mildly.
Blazes Boylan, gearing up for his booty call with Molly Bloom.
Molly Bloom’s daughter Milly, via a letter.
Simon Dedalus, Stephen’s dad, scrounging around Dublin.
Tom Kernan, drunk and coughing.
Buck Mulligan, still being a smarmy prick.
Bloom himself, briefly.
Even the Viceroy, representing British rule, pompously rides through.
Mod
Mood: Musical innuendo, brass farts, and Bloom’s repressed libido
Quick Vibe Check: This episode is basically “Leopold Bloom, This Is Your Brain on Lust,” set to a pub piano and filtered through a fever dream of puns, echoes, and rhythm. I actually listened to this episode while working, and felt... kind of icky. Everything is suggestive and nothing is confirmed, except that Bloom absolutely hears sex in the air and just keeps... ordering food.
Finally started this book and I have no idea what's going on. I think I will just be along for the ride and will need to do a relisten at some point sooner rather than later
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Set This House in Order (other topics)
Lovecraft Country (other topics)
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R.F. Kuang (other topics)R.F. Kuang (other topics)
R.F. Kuang (other topics)
James Joyce (other topics)
James Joyce (other topics)
