Reading Ulysses for Fun: Wandering Rocks Part 1
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 ม.ค. 2018
- It seemed so easy to synopsize this episode! I can do this in 10 minutes...40 minutes later, I realize I need a part 2! Because it's hard? No! Because this is such a fun episode!
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did making this video for you.
Chris
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Thank you so much for another amazing video! I really enjoyed this episode and your analysis. Navigating my way through Wandering Rocks, I was particularly moved by Stephen's meeting with Dilly and I feel that I maybe responded to this scene in a slightly different way.
As he saw Dilly drowning I remembered the writhing weeds of Proteus, yearning for a better life but always being drawn back by the relentless toil of waters. I imagine that this might be the future he sees for his sister and that he feels utterly powerless to stop it. Maybe he also feels guilt for encouraging her dreams, telling her stories of Paris and giving her hope, which glows like the fire she's kindling, whose flames could ultimately destroy her (like those killed in The General Slocum Disaster) when it proves impossible for her to realise her ambitions.
One of the ways our brain can defend against painful feelings like guilt and helplessness is by detaching from them, pacing 'the path above the rocks' rather than taking our chances amongst them. We can't switch off just the feelings we don't like though, we feel everything or we feel nothing, so in cutting off from our pain we also cut off from the emotions that make life worth living and we become disconnected from ourselves and from others.
I felt that the moment Stephen told himself to show no surprise at Dilly's desire to read French though is an indication of the love that still exists within him. I got the sense that he longs to protect her but doesn't know how to and is afraid of what it will do to him if he tries. I saw him at this point as one of those standing on the dock watching General Slocum's passengers as they drowned, unable to do anything to prevent the horror they saw. I don't believe that there is nothing that Stephen could do for Dilly though - her face still glows despite its lank locks, he still has some money (today at least), and he's a writer; he can tell her stories, like those that used to comfort her as they lay under their quilt of old overcoats. I found his inability to recognise that all is not lost very painful and this was the first time during the novel that I have been moved to tears.
Rachel! Your comments made me tear up!!! When a book can touch us like that, wow. I love that we are having this shared experience with people all over the world over the written word. That's so cool. I pinned your comments so others can read them. Thank you so much for your participation. Where are you if I may ask? It's fun for me to know where the comments originate. Take care and THANK YOU very much.
@@TeachUBusiness Thank you so much Chris, that means such a lot! And thank you for creating this community, allowing so many people to connect over this incredible book. I've never read anything like it and I can't tell you how wonderful it feels to be able to share that journey with others from all over the world.
I'm in London. During our first national lockdown I completed reading Dickens' novels and I felt a bit lost as I've been devouring his books since I was a child. I knew that I needed something special to read next and thought I'd try a novel set outside of my hometown. I'm so glad that I chose Ulysses. I've fallen absolutely in love with Joyce's writing, and his Dublin!
Brilliant explanation of this abstruse chapter. The way it ends is so moving. Compassion from the nun. Thank you so much Chris. Picked up my copy of Ulysses the other day. Bought it in 1986. Never got down to read it until now. It is so much more enjoyable with your comments at the back of my mind. Thanks again!
Interesting - the understatement of the year. I just couldn't stop listening. Thank you.
Can’t believe I have followed your video to chapter ten!
There is a Chinese expression describing difficult books as a‘heaven’s book’ , which means only Gods can understand.
Thank you for making it a ‘Sky book’ for me, meaning I can look up at it now, as a mortal.
I like your idea about Bloom is the older Steven.
I am 62 now, when I look at the picture in my early 20s, I failed to recognize the man.
I love the wisdom of your comments. Thank you for teaching me new things. I love that expression very much. Not only is it wise, but also poetic.People from all over the world have added comments and it makes me very happy. Take care and thank you again.
天书，我没有朩说过，一个说法很好。I love what you say. I am 62 too. This book is a Sky Book for sure. I am reading it for the second time. I started it again just a week after finishing it. These videos help a lot and other peoples comments. An inexhaustable book.
I think you are doing an amazing job helping people to read Ulysses. You seem to be a great guy, besides being so intelligent and a very skilled pedagogue. And so human, funny, sincere. I read the Odyssey before and that helps (it is actually essential) to understand Ulysses, but it would be much harder to enjoy it and get so much out of it if it had not been for your exquisite coaching
Thank you so much. That is very, very kind of you. I appreciate your comments so much. Are you enjoying your own odyssey through Ulysses? Stay in touch! I love hearing from you and I admire you for sticking with the book.
I wouldn’t have stuck with Ulysses had it not been for these talks-thank you!
Hi, Chris. Watching your videos after each chapter is making the book so much fun! I've tried and given up on the book in the past but I'm really enjoying it this time. Thanks for making these videos, they're great!
Sorry I didn't reply sooner! I just saw your comment and it's very appreciated. Thank you.
Chris, thank you for your insight in this viedo. You help to show us what really there and what we might have missed. Just love your videos!
I got a laugh out of the part where the Dedaluses are spooning out the soup and one says “we are blessed to have so much of it.” I found that a bit facetious.
It is all relative, isn't it. Joyce packs a ton of humor into this book. Most people are so busy trying to pigure out all the hidden meanings that they miss the pleasure and fun that the book offers. That means you are in A+ territory because you are not so caught up in analyzing that you miss the fun. Congratulations!
Happy St Patricks Day from Dublin Chris. Thanks again for these helpful videos.
So nice of you to think of me! Thank you so much! I hope you have a great weekend! Someday I hope to do a streaming event...it would be fun for all of us to get together in a virtual sense. Thank you again.
Definitely be up for that. Cheers Chris ✌
Georgina Egan I will start thinking about how that could work. It would be so fun to do. Take care,
Another fantastic video, Chris. Thanks, you are a legend.
Thank you! You are burning through the book! Love hearing your progress.
Just finished the episode and then watched this video. Thanks for enriching the Ulysses experience!
I hope you haven't give up!
On my second run through Ulysses and going through your series again, these recaps and explanations are fantastic
This was an extremely difficult episode for me to get through. After watching this video (and the bonus), I was able to appreciate it more. I felt like I was reading through a lot of noise to gather little pieces of background. I got the sensation that I, the reader, was wondering 😅 I did pick up on the character intersections and really thought those were neat. Difficult chapter for me, though. Could not have made it past this chapter without your guidance! Thanks again!
Thank you! Because you had a rough experience, you had a true experience. Joyce meant for the readers to get smashed on the rocks too. You are doing so well! Take your time and asorb what happens. No rush. If you get hung up, let me know and I'll try to help. You are doing an amazing job! This is one of the greatest books ever written but it is very complex. I wish I had trophies for people like you! Together, we're going to make it!
Thanks Chris, this is so helpful.
Thank you, Noel. Means a lot to me. This is a fun but difficult project. Ulysses isn't easy to synopsize. Thanks for participating.
Some people in these comments seem to find this chapter easy going. I remember the first time I read Ulysses this was one of the chapters that really blew me off course more than the previous chapters, as I struggle to keep up with and remember all the characters as they go about their business. So for this chapter I'm listening to this video before ploughing into the text.
Joyce is showing off. He's timed all those walks so he knows who would meet whom and when. It's truly genius. Think of turning the city and characters into a huge, living clock. Most novels would estimate time and have some random meetings. Here we get a very accurate recreation of Dublin's size and pace. Just enjoy and don't stress over details. You're doing an amazing job!!!!
That is so kind of you!
Very helpful.
Holy shit that sound effect at the end of your intro was terrifying lmao
Got to have some fun!
“The Woman in White” was published in 1860.
Check the tide chart for that day... I'll bet Joyce timed it for high tide which would in effect, slow down or stop the Liffey for an hour or two... Thanks for all the good stuff!
I bet that you are right! Everything else can be checked including the recent eclipse referenced and the moon state in the Ithaca episode. Thank you so much for commenting.
You stopped numbering the episodes. Interesting. Anyway, THANK YOU for the lecture series. I'm 63, and this is my first go at Joyce. I couldn't do it without your outlines. This chapter has me thinking about how hard its been in my own life to find true, trustworth, well-intentioned friends. Virtually everyone I've met in life have been distractions from my path. Still - they add interest. They've been interesting rocks. And when I've been redirected from my original path - I've been able to recover on the new path.
I have been watching and enjoying your videos as I read Ulysses for the first time. One question: Gifford sayd that YMCA panphlet velocity is compatible with the flow of the river. Do you think that was innacurate? Thank you!
Love your videos Chris!! Thank you so much for posting. I've been trying to get through Ulysses for about two years on and off and I always come back to your videos - just picked it up again!
I student taught in Dublin last spring and got this book called "James Joyce's Dublin" by Ian Gunn and Clive Hart. On page 58-59 there is a spreadsheet of all the characters in the chapter and every minute of the chapter and the interactions. I want to share it with someone, but no one that I know is interested in Ulysses 😭. I'd love to send an image of it to someone, if they are interested, it's so very cool!
Also! When I was student teaching, i sat with a bunch of teachers and the principal and we tried to name the song that plays at the beginning of your videos but we couldnt pin it! Could you please share the name with me?
Thank you, and thank you again for your videos. They are so much more appreciated than you know. ❤❤❤
Thank you, Laura Clare! I appreciate your comments very much! These videos are a product of a labor of love and it makes me smile to hear from readers who get through and enjoy Ulysses. I would love to see that spreadsheet. Chris@TeachU.com
Hi could you share it with me too please?
At least you don't Con me like Father Conmee, Chris!
Just a few pages into the episode and it’s one of my favorites so far. It also seems like the easiest to understand without the guide or accompanying video. I do have a thought 💭 or question rather, if an usurper is a person by definition, can we consider religion or the church, a body or a government body as a whole to be an usurper? Is it proper. If so, I’m going to use it more in everyday language. I feel there are a lot of usurpers, a big one being modern day liberals and their “our way or the highway” Or the Muslim religion in the Middle East or the catholic religion of much of Europe Etc... I say that is usurper behavior although not by one person but as various bodies as a whole. Sure, we can apply the term to the Pope or to a member of government but can we as a plural noun vice a singular noun. I’d like your thoughts 💭
I can step into that only as far as a usurper as an institution or philosophy. Indeed, religion can be a usurper. The religion brought to the New World by the Spanish arguably usurped the religion and subsequently the indigenous peoples. Whether Islam usurps other religions of Europe depends on more than mere presence. Usurpation is something that happens against the will and at a loss of the one being usurped. Islam in Europe does not usurp anything. Muslims having equal rights in Europe does not usurp. Gay marriage does not usurp those who are anti-gay or in a straight marriage. Should there be a gay conquest that required only gay marriage be permitted, that would be a usurpation. I take issue with terms like "gay agenda". Would you apply the same terminolgy to the US civil rights movement? Is there a black agenda? Or, do peoples have a right to obtain equal protection under law? I would fall on the side of saying that if someone would deny equal protection under the law to someone else because of race, that person would indeed be a bigot. If that person also would seek to deny rights to someone who is of a different sexual orientation, then the title of bigot would apply. I am always surprised at the "conservative" position on this as conservative should mean being in favor of as much government restriction as possible and as much freedom of rights as possible. Just consider it, please.
Chris Reich so a body of people who impose or force language or sexual orientation either way on others could be usurpers. I’m not stating as a conservative or a liberal point of view, just as a question to groups or in the plural sense rather than the singular adaptation. The term does refer to individual so I was just pondering wether it could actually have bigger reach in the plural sense.
My own video is a little wandering! Watch out for the rocks. I added a supplementary bonus video too. Check it out...
What does H.E.L.Y.S stand for please? It was also in the chapter with the gulls...
HELYS is a stationery store. Bloom used to work there and he has all kinds of ideas for marketing...a fake ink spill. A glass carriage with a beautiful girl inside writing letters...they could drive all over Dublin.
@@TeachUBusiness thank you. I have just finished rocks and OH. MY. GOODNESS. I cannot explain how everything has come together.
1.) I noticed the man cover story.. a typical 'heroic' story vs. lots of people finally realising that Bloom is a hero operating on a totally different level. Ordinary bloke, making small gestures of care and love... which is more heroic? The mans life was stuck in the manhole is of course precious but an easy way of... noticing the hero. Yet Bloom silently saving wherever he can.. was harder for them to spot but the penny is dropping for them all.
2.) I noticed how ugly everyone was. How many different ways there are to be the total opposite of a hero. Notice how everyday peoples lives and struggles were described.. especially Stephens account, held against the glossy trotting horses.
3.) The Viceroy looking down on it all, us the readers looking down on it all, God looking down on it all.... I honestly cant explain the experience I had reading this chapter. I feel totally alive.
4.) The Yorkshire song really was a moment for me. I dont know if he was referencing Yorkshire in the UK but that is where I have moved to. I live in Sheffield. Historically very industrial, many collieries, full of wonderful beautiful working class people. I moved here because it's working class and because people here are beautiful and that poem literally brought this chapter and the book home. The song celebrates the beauty of the ordinary.
Chris thank you so much for helping me read this book.
I found the song that was sung in the park at the end of the chapter. open.spotify.com/track/2PshUcu0Vw6eJTbJmBlQJL?si=EiDGB6yRRsGPiPHxSLJ0wQ
Hi Theresa. I believe it refers to the owner of a Dublin stationary store, who is named Wisdom Hely. Therefore, the store he owns would be called "Hely's" (possessive, with the apostrophe and S). This gentleman has hired several men to advertise his store with letters on placards on their bodies, spelling out H-E-L-Y-'-S. So each person is displaying one letter (and an apostrophe). I am not entirely sure I'm right, but this is what I've worked out after reading Ulysses several times.
@@andrewfoster883 thank you. I totally didnt pickup the advertising thing first time around. Something to look forward to next time.
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Dear Mr. Reich, I am following your videos and reading Ulyssess parallell. I am a published author, have been reviewed, etc. My review of Ulyssess is as follows - why do we have to dig through and decode references so arcane and obscure only to find that what the Great James Joyce is talking about in three paragraphs with disjointed sentences, italicized song lyric fragments, and exclamations, is an old woman eating a bowl of soup in the corner of some pub and not enjoying it, and calling it Revelation? Why do we care? My thanks for your work.
Hi Sebastian, let me try to clarify a few things that might enhance your reading pleasure. First, foremost, Joyce wanted to give us a book that would entertain and challenge everyone. The book predates all the modern entertainment we take for granted. So he built in puzzles and historical references to amuse us. You'll find that every time you pick up the book, there is something totally new to play with. Joyce wasn't just being "wordy", he wanted to craft something that would be entertaining for years.
Each episode is written in a different style by design. Each episode runs a parallel to the Odyssey. Not in direct storytelling or as a modern adaptation, but as a core around which to create his story. In this episode, Joyce lays out the City of Dublin almost as a giant living clock. We see the hands moving and the river of time flowing. We see the little details of life as life happens. And, thinking of the Odyssey, we see many who were crushed by those moving rocks...That's marvelously entertaining.
At the end, you can say Joyce is pedantic, he is, but, we should also realize that his catalog of knowledge is quite broad. Joyce gives layer after layer for us to explore. It may not be for everyone, but, neither is opera despite being a beautiful and very complex art form. Mozart was often accused of writing "too many notes".
Take care and thank you for commenting. Your participation matters to us all.
The use of non English language throughout Ulysses is really annoying. I've never understood why translations as footnotes are not included. Without translations it comes across as unnecessarily pretentious.
I understand your frustration. Joyce wanted layer after layer to keep us amused for 100 years. The foreign language isn't too bad in this book. Most of it is the Italian singing teacher and we can generally figure out what he's saying. Don't let those traps keep you from conquering this masterpiece. Pat yourself on the back for getting through!
It’s part of the fun to find out what they mean