Thank you so much for your very kind words! I hope you are enjoying the book as well as seeing a deeper meaning. Best wishes to you and your group for a fun odyssey!
I recall a lecture on the novel--the protagonist enters the story with one state of mind and is transformed (METEMPSYCHOSIS) That happens in Hades and Chris Reich just enriched my understanding. Best episode and lecture yet! Oliver
Oliver Goldsmith wow, thank you. This is a tough project. The more I read, the more I want to cover. Pretty hard to cut this one down...your comments mean a lot to me.
Thank you for uploading these videos. I am reading Ulysses for the second time - the first time was in 1977 or 78 - and it quite eludes me. Your videos on Hades, the first that I am watching, do clarify things. Thank you.
You’ve made 6 my favorite thus far. So I’m listening to you ahead of reading the actual chapter, and this strategy makes the book so enjoyable. Again, thanks. Did you ever put up a video about the mystery man at the end? Can you share who you believe it is, if no video has been put up?
I am still pondering the MacIntosh man...I have a theory that he might a doctor who was known at the time for very, very fast surgery, especially amputations. Since Bloom sees the cemetery as a parts house, it made me think of that. He also took a Macintosh coat and coated it with rubber to protect it from blood...
Hello Chris. Another excellent lecture. I was wondering, did you ever make a video about your theory on who Mackintosh is? I would love to hear what you think, but I can’t find the video anywhere.
I read this chapter and Blooms maturity and attitude very differently. I do not know if Joyce intended this, but his thoughts on death seem cheap and facile to me. They don't seem mature at all, and his dime a dozen agnosticism or atheism or whatever he believes or does not believe seems facile and disappoints. When I go to cemeteries and I've walked around Glasnevin it's not those morbid thoughts that assail me, and the not needing of "religion" doesn't seem a victory or a virtue or dignified. Bloom seems very ignorant and his thoughts very uninteresting. What do you think was Joyce's own position? Any irony or distance there or did he identify with Bloom that much? Personally, I find him very deficient as a hero. Human and likeable in some ways (and also especially for we are told by so many critics we are to like him) but definitely a limited and not a very deep character... my 2 cents....
Oh, I have a question as well about Bloom being complicit in that joke that story that wasn't even funny. About Reuben J's son who tried to drown himself. Why does he start to share this story with such glee? It makes him look about as bad and hypocritical as the rest of them... am I missing something? It's true they did not let him finish the story himself but he seemed delightedly anxious to be sharing it for a laugh.
Such a refreshing comment. My thoughts exactly. Also, are the other men somehow obliged to like Bloom and enjoy his company? Maybe he's slighted not because of his jewish ancestry, but because he's boorish and uninteresting?
Let me begin by owning James Joyce was an exceptional writer , but he wrote to the gallery Nobody writes the way Joyce wrote Ulysses this era. He was unnecessarily verbose . Should literature resemble a course in calculus ? Joyce had enough talent to have simplified the convoluted syntax in Ulysses. To give depth to a literally work , it shouldn't be lumbered with sesquipedalian words and clauses from different languages. If complexity is what Joyce wanted to give Ulysses , he failed to realized that a writer can be profound without been verbose ; a case in point , Hemingway's Old man and the seas , which was written in a word of a syllable but has several layers of meanings . Joyce was a poseur , he wanted to mystify his readers with his obscured writing , a lot of people won't read Ulysses on account of Joyce's deliberate attempt to be difficult . Joyce continued with his obscure way of writing novel in his unreadable novel called Finnegan's Wake , even Ezra Pound told him that . I first attempted to read Ulysses at age 21, and I checked the dictionary over a hundred times .
After reading and loving Portrait of An Artist it came as a shock that Ulysses leaves Daedalus behind and focuses on Bloom the first time I read it. But that's a really good thing now I'm reading the novel again. Bloom isn't a self-insert, which makes Joyce's writing much more relatable, humane, less riddle-based, when we have the "telepathic" sections inside Bloom's mind.
Joyce himself said that he was glad to be done with Stephen by the end of this book. The boy becomes the mature man. Joyce did not mature into Bloom though he did mature in his relationship with Nora and his own kids. Thank you for commenting. Glad you are enjoying the book.
Thank you so much Chris for making my favorite novel in the world even more fun! Are you active on other social media? As a fellow long into my 60s, I find it interesting that Joyce has such insight into the thinking of a middle aged man when he was only in his 30s when he wrote these chapters.
This is something I thought about too. I am reading the book for the first time at 31 and feel in the middle between Stephen and Bloom in a way... I totally get what Chris means when he says Bloom starts to bloom.
I discovered your series last year and took it up this year as a more concerted effort at reading Ulysses (for fun)! I really appreciate this series. Do you think Sisyphus is Martin Cunningham? I wondered if it were the Priests who had to say the funeral mass. Hope you see this & thanks!
@@TeachUBusiness Thanks! I will. Your series of lectures is a big help in my self-created study effort. I plan to finish before Bloom's Day, which is also my niece's birthday.
No, I haven't yet. I have some thoughts on that but one of our favorite readers disputed my theory so I'm still thinking about it! Glad you asked. Do you have thoughts on who might be the mystery man?
Chris Reich I just finished Hades. Not much of an idea on Mac unless he’s supposed to be Satan (affiliated with #13?) or a god of death, someone who shows up unexpectedly at every funeral, O’Connell says, though not necessarily THIS someone. Maybe in different guises? By the way, there is talk about the weather changing while they travel to the cemetery, so a man in a Mac isn’t totally out of place. But unlikely Joyce would have several people note him for no reason I figure Cunningham as Sisyphus is obvious. Menton is clearly affiliated with Ajax. Does the mention of Tantalus glasses (trick cups) have to do with “convivial Mat Dillon”? I want to suggest that not all the men with Bloom are consistently unkind to him: I would say that Martin Cunningham is pretty decent on balance and Bloom seems to appreciate that. No doubt the Hades chapter is really rich. Seems like it has a remarkable balance of humor and contemplation, with Bloom ultimately answering the question from GAME OF THRONES, “What do we say to the god of death?” just as Syrio Forel does: “Not today!”
Chris Reich Thanks. If Mac shows up repeatedly, my impulse is to think of Melville’s Confidence Man. But also of some figures from mythology: a trickster god, perhaps? I will have to look for other manifestations/avatars and what they suggest to me. You obviously have a more developed notion than do I.
Your videos are helping me feel more assured when it comes to reading this incredible book,and I'm super thankful for that, I love how you transmit such love for the book and put that much effort into each and every video, I know it's only chapter six, but I'm pretty sure I'm in love with this book. Thank you thank you thank you from Spain.
thank you so much... i am new to JJ and just found you here. i will listen to you first, then i will read the chapter.. i just saw below your comment on the Man in the MacIntosh... interesting.. thanks..
I folded at the end when you toasted to Paddy Dignam 😂😂😂. That’s the most Irish thing I’ve seen you do, haha! Brilliant! 👍🏼 I’m not sure who McIntosh could be. At first I thought Hades himself, but I suppose the caretaker is more representative of Hades if McIntosh turns up throughout the rest of the story. Could it be Athene? Athene appears throughout the Odyssey, often in disguise, to help both Telemachus and Odysseus on their journeys. Could McIntosh being the number 13, with its superstitious/spiritual significance, suggest he is a representation of the spiritual world, in other words an omnipresent God figure? I’m glad you pointed out McIntosh because I nearly let that moment slip out of my mind because I was more engrossed with everything else that was going on. I’m excited now that a wee bit of mystery has entered into the equation. Yes!
Thank you so very much for putting these videos together. Like many others, I have tried reading this book at least a dozen times in my life. I can recite episode 1 in my sleep. Then it just dies off there. This has helped me extremely.
Thank you so much for these wonderful videos, they are lovely. I am absolutely convinced that I could never make heads or tails of this novel without them
Terrific series of videos. A group of friends are challenging ourselves to read this book, one chapter a month (it’s an adjunct group to our regular book group). Your videos have added so much to our understanding and enjoyment. Thank you!!!
Hi Christine! Is your group still on their own odyssey? Let me know if I can help. Maybe we could do a video chat just with your group? I would do it! Fun.
@@TeachUBusiness Hi! Sadly the last meeting was at the end of February, just before lockdown. We have not done the Ulysses meetup since then, I think people are too exhausted with life at the moment. The last meeting was at a cafe and another guest was Rep Adam Schiff. He stopped by our table to chat, we are all huge fans of his, and he was impressed that we were reading Ulysses!!
Hades is a VERY interesting chapter. Listen a couple of times because it is very important and full of amusing things. There are jokes and we get a sense of how Bloom is treated. You have much to be proud of for taking on this book! I do recommend that you have a print copy to look at. Some of the writing is very beautiful. Thank you for writing!
Never mind, I found the rest of the episodes on your channel. Thank goodness. Would’ve been a bummer to not have your video to help tie it together. My typical daily routine goes.....I read the book at night followed with the corresponding reading guide and then I listen/watch half of your corresponding video on the way to work in the morning and finish at lunch. Then the cycle repeats.
![[Live] ศึกมหึมันส์มวยไทยสังเวียนเดือด เวทีมวยชั่วคราวสวนสยาม | จันทร์ 30 กันยายน 2567](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/pM1k6f7JXUc/mqdefault.jpg)
Thank you so much for your very kind words! I hope you are enjoying the book as well as seeing a deeper meaning. Best wishes to you and your group for a fun odyssey!
This particular video may have completely transformed my view of the book. Thank you so much. Bloom is a badass.
Brilliant comment! Bloom totally has it together at the cemetery despite shoddy treatment from his "friends".
I recall a lecture on the novel--the protagonist enters the story with one state of mind and is transformed (METEMPSYCHOSIS) That happens in Hades and Chris Reich just enriched my understanding. Best episode and lecture yet! Oliver
Oliver Goldsmith wow, thank you. This is a tough project. The more I read, the more I want to cover. Pretty hard to cut this one down...your comments mean a lot to me.
Thank you for uploading these videos. I am reading Ulysses for the second time - the first time was in 1977 or 78 - and it quite eludes me. Your videos on Hades, the first that I am watching, do clarify things. Thank you.
You’ve made 6 my favorite thus far. So I’m listening to you ahead of reading the actual chapter, and this strategy makes the book so enjoyable. Again, thanks. Did you ever put up a video about the mystery man at the end? Can you share who you believe it is, if no video has been put up?
I am still pondering the MacIntosh man...I have a theory that he might a doctor who was known at the time for very, very fast surgery, especially amputations. Since Bloom sees the cemetery as a parts house, it made me think of that. He also took a Macintosh coat and coated it with rubber to protect it from blood...
Hello Chris. Another excellent lecture. I was wondering, did you ever make a video about your theory on who Mackintosh is? I would love to hear what you think, but I can’t find the video anywhere.
I read this chapter and Blooms maturity and attitude very differently. I do not know if Joyce intended this, but his thoughts on death seem cheap and facile to me. They don't seem mature at all, and his dime a dozen agnosticism or atheism or whatever he believes or does not believe seems facile and disappoints. When I go to cemeteries and I've walked around Glasnevin it's not those morbid thoughts that assail me, and the not needing of "religion" doesn't seem a victory or a virtue or dignified. Bloom seems very ignorant and his thoughts very uninteresting. What do you think was Joyce's own position? Any irony or distance there or did he identify with Bloom that much? Personally, I find him very deficient as a hero. Human and likeable in some ways (and also especially for we are told by so many critics we are to like him) but definitely a limited and not a very deep character... my 2 cents....
Maybe he'll grow on me, I do hope so.
Oh, I have a question as well about Bloom being complicit in that joke that story that wasn't even funny. About Reuben J's son who tried to drown himself. Why does he start to share this story with such glee? It makes him look about as bad and hypocritical as the rest of them... am I missing something? It's true they did not let him finish the story himself but he seemed delightedly anxious to be sharing it for a laugh.
Such a refreshing comment. My thoughts exactly. Also, are the other men somehow obliged to like Bloom and enjoy his company? Maybe he's slighted not because of his jewish ancestry, but because he's boorish and uninteresting?
Let me begin by owning James Joyce was an exceptional writer , but he wrote to the gallery
Nobody writes the way Joyce wrote Ulysses this era. He was unnecessarily verbose . Should literature resemble a course in calculus ? Joyce had enough talent to have simplified the convoluted syntax in Ulysses. To give depth to a literally work , it shouldn't be lumbered with sesquipedalian words and clauses from different languages. If complexity is what Joyce wanted to give Ulysses , he failed to realized that a writer can be profound without been verbose ; a case in point , Hemingway's Old man and the seas , which was written in a word of a syllable but has several layers of meanings .
Joyce was a poseur , he wanted to mystify his readers with his obscured writing , a lot of people won't read Ulysses on account of Joyce's deliberate attempt to be difficult .
Joyce continued with his obscure way of writing novel in his unreadable novel called Finnegan's Wake , even Ezra Pound told him that .
I first attempted to read Ulysses at age 21, and I checked the dictionary over a hundred times .
These videos are fantastic, Chris. Thank you. No notes.
Hello. Great videos. Just curious, did you ever make the video on who you think McIntosh is? I can't seem to find it. Thanks.
After reading and loving Portrait of An Artist it came as a shock that Ulysses leaves Daedalus behind and focuses on Bloom the first time I read it. But that's a really good thing now I'm reading the novel again. Bloom isn't a self-insert, which makes Joyce's writing much more relatable, humane, less riddle-based, when we have the "telepathic" sections inside Bloom's mind.
Joyce himself said that he was glad to be done with Stephen by the end of this book. The boy becomes the mature man. Joyce did not mature into Bloom though he did mature in his relationship with Nora and his own kids. Thank you for commenting. Glad you are enjoying the book.
Thanks for these videos but just one tiny correction. Nobody ever said, "A penny and a halfpence, we said, "A penny halfpenny." Cheers.
Is there a link to the video about his theory on the ‘man in the Macintosh’ referenced at the end of this video?
Thanks again for this lecture series-- consistently insightful and illuminating
Thank you! I greatly appreciate all comments.
Thank you so much Chris for making my favorite novel in the world even more fun! Are you active on other social media? As a fellow long into my 60s, I find it interesting that Joyce has such insight into the thinking of a middle aged man when he was only in his 30s when he wrote these chapters.
Thank you so much for taking the time to comment! I appreciate your participation very much. Have a GREAT summer!
This is something I thought about too. I am reading the book for the first time at 31 and feel in the middle between Stephen and Bloom in a way... I totally get what Chris means when he says Bloom starts to bloom.
When can we expect episode 7 through 18? I’m now half way through 7 of the novel and the guide. Thanks!
They are all there. Look at the main page for the channel. We made it to the end June of last year!
I discovered your series last year and took it up this year as a more concerted effort at reading Ulysses (for fun)! I really appreciate this series. Do you think Sisyphus is Martin Cunningham? I wondered if it were the Priests who had to say the funeral mass.
Hope you see this & thanks!
Great topics for discussion! Keep reading. You'll be rewarded if you stick with it. Take care, Marv.
@@TeachUBusiness Thanks! I will. Your series of lectures is a big help in my self-created study effort. I plan to finish before Bloom's Day, which is also my niece's birthday.
Thanks a lot for your video! ❤ I am doing a study of Divine Comedy in dialogue with writers of XX century, and i think this book is essential.
Did the Macintosh Man video ever get posted?
No, I haven't yet. I have some thoughts on that but one of our favorite readers disputed my theory so I'm still thinking about it! Glad you asked. Do you have thoughts on who might be the mystery man?
Chris Reich I just finished Hades. Not much of an idea on Mac unless he’s supposed to be Satan (affiliated with #13?) or a god of death, someone who shows up unexpectedly at every funeral, O’Connell says, though not necessarily THIS someone. Maybe in different guises?
By the way, there is talk about the weather changing while they travel to the cemetery, so a man in a Mac isn’t totally out of place. But unlikely Joyce would have several people note him for no reason
I figure Cunningham as Sisyphus is obvious. Menton is clearly affiliated with Ajax. Does the mention of Tantalus glasses (trick cups) have to do with “convivial Mat Dillon”?
I want to suggest that not all the men with Bloom are consistently unkind to him: I would say that Martin Cunningham is pretty decent on balance and Bloom seems to appreciate that.
No doubt the Hades chapter is really rich. Seems like it has a remarkable balance of humor and contemplation, with Bloom ultimately answering the question from GAME OF THRONES, “What do we say to the god of death?” just as Syrio Forel does: “Not today!”
Michael, your comments are very rich. Mac shows up throughout the book but is never identified. I am still persuing a theory
Chris Reich Thanks. If Mac shows up repeatedly, my impulse is to think of Melville’s Confidence Man. But also of some figures from mythology: a trickster god, perhaps? I will have to look for other manifestations/avatars and what they suggest to me. You obviously have a more developed notion than do I.
Your videos are helping me feel more assured when it comes to reading this incredible book,and I'm super thankful for that, I love how you transmit such love for the book and put that much effort into each and every video, I know it's only chapter six, but I'm pretty sure I'm in love with this book.
Thank you thank you thank you from Spain.
I love these videos! Thank you so much for your content. I’d love to follow your content in other platforms, too, if possible
thank you so much... i am new to JJ and just found you here. i will listen to you first, then i will read the chapter.. i just saw below your comment on the Man in the MacIntosh... interesting.. thanks..
I folded at the end when you toasted to Paddy Dignam 😂😂😂. That’s the most Irish thing I’ve seen you do, haha! Brilliant! 👍🏼
I’m not sure who McIntosh could be. At first I thought Hades himself, but I suppose the caretaker is more representative of Hades if McIntosh turns up throughout the rest of the story. Could it be Athene? Athene appears throughout the Odyssey, often in disguise, to help both Telemachus and Odysseus on their journeys. Could McIntosh being the number 13, with its superstitious/spiritual significance, suggest he is a representation of the spiritual world, in other words an omnipresent God figure?
I’m glad you pointed out McIntosh because I nearly let that moment slip out of my mind because I was more engrossed with everything else that was going on. I’m excited now that a wee bit of mystery has entered into the equation. Yes!
This is a fun chapter, isn't it?!
Chris Reich excellent 👍🏼
I read a wonderful theory that Macintosh is Bloom's father!
Thank you so very much for putting these videos together. Like many others, I have tried reading this book at least a dozen times in my life. I can recite episode 1 in my sleep. Then it just dies off there. This has helped me extremely.
That's great Brandon! I hope you stay to the end. It really gets better and better....
@@TeachUBusiness Finished it. Loved it. I can't thank you enough. Honestly.
Bravo! And gratitude! Your videos are exactly the help I needed to access this book.
Thank you so much for these wonderful videos, they are lovely. I am absolutely convinced that I could never make heads or tails of this novel without them
I am loving these videos! You’re really helping me see things I am missing along the way. Thank you!
Terrific series of videos. A group of friends are challenging ourselves to read this book, one chapter a month (it’s an adjunct group to our regular book group). Your videos have added so much to our understanding and enjoyment.
Thank you!!!
Hi Christine! Is your group still on their own odyssey? Let me know if I can help. Maybe we could do a video chat just with your group? I would do it! Fun.
@@TeachUBusiness Hi! Sadly the last meeting was at the end of February, just before lockdown. We have not done the Ulysses meetup since then, I think people are too exhausted with life at the moment. The last meeting was at a cafe and another guest was Rep Adam Schiff. He stopped by our table to chat, we are all huge fans of his, and he was impressed that we were reading Ulysses!!
Chris Reich We might be interested soon in a video chat. I will let you know. Please confirm you got this reply. Thanks!!
I am just finding these videos- they are incredible!
You can go as long as you want. I just love listening to you.
Chris, thank you for sharing your thoughts and expert analysis in this relaxed, conversational format.
Thank you, Greg. Trying to promote the humanities and make it fun. I am so happy that you are reading the book. Take care and enjoy your own odyssey.
What Scotch may I ask
Redbreast 15 year...
Look for the episode titles.
27:19
Thank you for leading me through ‘Hade’ today.
Now I can go back to my audiobook chapter with Jim Norton’s wonderful narration.
PS
John Barleycorn must die is my favorite song
Clay
Hades is a VERY interesting chapter. Listen a couple of times because it is very important and full of amusing things. There are jokes and we get a sense of how Bloom is treated. You have much to be proud of for taking on this book! I do recommend that you have a print copy to look at. Some of the writing is very beautiful. Thank you for writing!
I do have the printed book on my shelf which is standing there for over 20 years.
Time to have it see the light.
Never mind, I found the rest of the episodes on your channel. Thank goodness. Would’ve been a bummer to not have your video to help tie it together. My typical daily routine goes.....I read the book at night followed with the corresponding reading guide and then I listen/watch half of your corresponding video on the way to work in the morning and finish at lunch. Then the cycle repeats.
Thanks! I changed the naming part way through because it got a little messy.