Happy Bloomsday

[ghost of miles]

Today is the 99th anniversary of what is now known as "Bloomsday"--June 16, 1904, the day that James Joyce went on a date with his future wife Nora, and the date on which Joyce's novel ULYSSES takes place. I have the crazy notion to show up in Dublin next year for the 100th anniversary. Anyway, I love DUBLINERS, have a high regard for PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN, and hope to actually finish ULYSSES this year (have started it several times, but always seem to bog down around chapter 5). As for FINNEGANS WAKE--may save that one for old age. It sounds beautiful, I've found, when read aloud--and this was evidently part of Joyce's intention in writing the book the way he did. Well, that and "to keep the critics busy for 300 years," as he once said. I think he's succeeding.

[jazzbo]

I've read Ullyses several times. A real masterpiece!

I've tried Finnegan's Wake several times. A very difficult book. I haven't gotten far.

Hopefully you've read the first draft of "Portrait. . ." called "Stephen Hero"? I really like this one!

[Guest Mnytime]

Completely forgot it was Bloomsday. Love Joyce's works. Every 2-3 years I like to go through all his works.

Some Joyce online sites

Site by his family

http://www.jamesjoyce.ie/home/index.asp

This is an excellent portal site for Joyce and other great authors

For Joyce

http://www.themodernword.com/joyce/

For the others

http://www.themodernword.com/authors.html

Another excellent Joyce Portal

http://www.robotwisdom.com/jaj/portal.html

There is supposed to be a new film of Ulysses coming out called "Bl,.m" I believe. With Stephen Rea playing Leopold Bloom. It will be based on the 1922 version of Ulysses.

[Matthew]

Today is the day.....

[Alexander]

Hap pie Bloom stay to missed her Germ's Choice!

[Kalo]

I've read Ulysses twice. Once in college, and again a few years ago. The last time I read it it was something of a shock to realize that I was now several years older than Leopold Bloom was on June 16, 1904!

I love DUBLINERS, have a high regard for PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN, and hope to actually finish ULYSSES this year (have started it several times, but always seem to bog down around chapter 5.

Try reading Ulysses along with one of the many guidebooks. Harry Blamires has a good one, but my favorite is James Joyce and the Making of Ulysses by Frank Budgen, a painter who spent a lot of time with Joyce as he was writing Ulysses . Joyce was more open about discussing his creative process with a visual artist than he might have been with a fellow (rival) writer. So Budgen had a front row seat at the creation of this masterpiece.

[BruceH]

The 16th already?? Gee...

[rostasi]

Ulysses has long had a special place in my heart.

I've read it and Finnegan's Wake many times.

You can get audio book recordings of both now,

and the "Great Courses" series of CDs

has a wonderful set that's devoted to Ulysses.

To take the tour thru Dublin and it's environs

is something every lover of this literature should do

before leaving the planet.

The 100th anniversary celebrations were a blast

and a really surreal event:

a few pix from the Bloomsday 100th in Dublin

Rod

[ejp626]

I've read Ulysses twice, but never made it more than 5 pages into Finnegan's Wake. Perhaps one day. There are a number of useful guides to Ulysses. Probably one of the more useful hints is that the style shifts each chapter, getting closer to modern English and therefore easier to read as the book progresses, though then the last chapter is a wild stream-of-consciousness piece with almost no punctuation.

Does the public radio in New York still broadcast staged readings of Ulysses? I remember listening to it a couple of times.

I did make it to Dublin, though I missed most of the Joyce tour. My wife just wasn't that into it. We did see an exhibit on Joyce at the National Library, including a mock-up of his apartment in Paris. Really hard to believe he lived like that (so cramped). No wonder he and so many other authors did all their work in cafes.

[rostasi]

Man, you should see how small the place is where he and Nora Barnacle lived in Dublin!

The following pictures are the actual location of the beginning of the book

with Buck Mulligan and Stephen Dedalus (inside the tower):

[ghost of miles]

I've been so busy/preoccupied that I forgot the date...but my wife just reminded me. Happy Bloomsday!

...lend me a few bob?

[PHILLYQ]

I read 'Ulysses' in high school and everytime I think of it I want to read it again, such a masterpiece. Today is also my son's birthday, so I guess he has a special Joycean connection along with a wee bit of Irish blood.