Ulysses: Episodes 4 & 5

Episode 4 introduces us to Mr. Leopold Bloom who likes fried kidneys because the slight taste of urine that they have. Leopold is making Molly, his wife, breakfast while she remains in bed, and he craves kidney (they are out). I know this feeling. Often time I’ve been making breakfast (I am the breakfast maker, Kate prefers making the other meals usually) and I’ll crave sausage, also because of its unique taste. Sometimes I will even run out to the store for that specific purpose, which is exactly what Bloom does. The stroll to Buckley’s shop (this is the second book I’ve read with a “Buckley” in it) is well described and the reader gets a hint that Bloom is specifically trying not to think of something in regards to his wife. When he returns, he fries up the kidney, serves his wife breakfast, and proceeds to… relieve himself… no… do #2… no too crude as well. You get the point. While reading on the toilet he also speaks about the death of a friend, whose funeral is the focal point of the sixth episode, “Hades”.

Episode 5 sees Leopold taking a circuitous route through Dublin on his way to the post office where he gets a mystery letter from a wannabe lover of his. Again, Bloom tries to control his thinking; whenever negative thoughts of Molly pop into his head, he quickly seems to notice any and everything around him. He ends up at the Turkish baths where he buys some soap and makes his way home.

Describing this book makes it sound ridiculous, and I know I am doing it a great disservice. At the moment, these foul and sparse notes are really the best I can do, which is kind of sad. It is so much fun reading this book because of the amount of work and concentration it takes. It, like The Dead Father, is more about the act of reading, then the story itself. The way that Joyce juxtaposes the Odyssey with Bloom’s day should make everyone feel that their days are vastly meaningful; unfortunately, if you can’t make that leap, I can definitely see where a person would not enjoy this book.

“I can’t go on, I’ll go on”

Matt meant to send this email to Charlie

From: Kate Buckley [mailto:kshank@gwu.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, January 16, 2007 5:49 PM
To: 'Matt Buckley'
Subject: Ulysses

Ulysses is really good book. Its about a guy who does stuff. Its long as shit. That’s what I think about Ulysses.


What are you talking about?

From: Matthew Buckley [mailto:mattbuckley80@comcast.net]
Sent: Tuesday, January 16, 2007 5:34 PM
To: 'Kate Buckley'
Subject: Ulysses

Send me essay on Ulysses

Buckley

"It is better to travel hopefully than arrive"

The Eden Express, writte by Mark, son of Kurt, Vonnegut makes me think that I too am starting to lose my mind. The book is Mark's memoir, a hippie who graduated from college in 1969 (the same year Slaughterhouse Five was published), and then fled from his suburban life and famous father on the East Coast to middle of nowhere British Columbia to start a small farm/commune with a pile of his hippie friends and his dog, Zeke. And, the story of his schizophrenic breakdown. Likely due in part to his hippie thinkings, he tended to blame most of his early symptoms on the breakdown of civilization... "A sane response to an insane society."
At the start of the book, Mark is easy to relate to (especially for me right now, because I'm so tired of the city and the traffic and the people and the traffic and a farm sounds like total heaven). The first half of the book is about him finding people and land to establish the farm. After doing much more wandering than I would probably have the nerve to do, they find 80 acres only accessible by boat and move in.
Thanks in no small part to the influence of plenty of drugs, Mark starts to lose grip on reality.... He believes that he was responsible for an earthquake in California, and his father's suicide (which he imagined... Kurt is still alive and kicking), and, at some points, that his own suicide will resolve these problems. But I think that the oddest thing about the whole tale is that, Mark believes that the reason he is hearing the voices in his head is that he is finally able to tune in to them, and that this is a good thing. The voices are the result of ESP or mysticism or some other unknown realm, and his hallucinations are visions rather than biochemical reactions. And, in context, these seem like completely rational thoughts... That's what's scary about it.
The descriptions of his breakdowns seem so lucid that its easy to forget that he was losing his mind. But he seems to accurately describe the torture of the whole episode... losing 40 pounds, not sleeping for weeks at a time, convulsing... As he says "If there is such a thing as hell, and its anything like some of the things I went through when I was nuts, and you can acoid it by doing things as pretty as not coveting your neighbor's ass, by all means, DO NOT COVET YOUR NEIGHBOR'S ASS."
I'm totally into books right now that provide perspectives on things... walking a mile in a schizo hippie's shoes definitely provides new perspective. And as much as I enjoy when it when my brain is going 1000 miles a minute, the book makes me appreciate the quiet moments a little more.
Maybe book #5 will be a little lighter?

Ulysses: Episodes 1-3

So you know how Ulysses is credited as both the best book and one of the most difficult books ever written; they were kind of right. I've finished the first three episodes of the book (Telemachus, Nestor, Proteus) and am currently intrigued though little has happened. It seems to be the Seinfeld of the literary world. It seems to be about nothing.

Episode 1 introduces us to Buck Mulligan, who lives in a tower with Stephen Dedalus and a man named Haines. Buck is a bit of a prick but is totally aware of it, as opposed to Haines who is seems clueless to his own behavior. I found the episode relatively easy to read, although a quick gander at spark notes has since made me feel like i may have missed the last part of the chapter.

Episode 2 shows Stephen teaching at Mr. Deasy's school and there is an interesting conversation between Stephen and his student, Sargent. Sargent is not very good in school, and wrote his numbers (?) as a punishment. Stephen asks if he is able to do so without copying from the board and the boy says no. In the ineptitude of the boy, Stephen sees a shade of himself; he also compares how the boy's mother must love him to the relationship Stephen had with his now dead mother. This is a continual reference; Stephen did not pray with his mother and has not yet fully reconciled how he feels about her death in regards to this (Buck's aunt has also blamed the death on Stephen because he would not pray).

Episode 3 was tough and I think I wasn't quite prepared for it. It is non-narrative and takes place largely inside Stephen's head. I am unsure what is more unsettling: reading an entire chapter and not always being sure of what was going on, or reading a chapter of a character's thoughts and being able to follow it perfectly, if only at times.

This is the end of the episodes that focus on Dedalus, and from here the action apparently shifts to Leopold Bloom. I fear that this blog will sound pathetic as I am obviously missing quite a bit in regards to the book. I'm happy to be reading it, as I love Joyce, but I am continually reminded of how i did not get Portrait of the Artist on first reading, and, once again, am already looking to reread a book on this list.

Next book is going to be an easy one.