In this age of Zoom virtual education, you are the perfect example of a good man who can lead our poor students who will struggle through the Covid era.....I say this as a retired high school English teacher., who taught for 35 years....I am reading Ulysses as a retirement gift to myself.
Wow. Thank you so much for your kind and very generous words. The greatest compliment you could give is to call me a teacher. Are you enjoying the book? My goal is help with enjoyment. That is huge. If you can enjoy and not just survive the book, then maybe I have done something.
Hi Chris. I am an Ukrainian who lives in Belgium. I participate on Joyce project which is organized by the literary channel Armen and Fyodor on TH-cam. This project is for russian speaking people who read Ulysses in Russian translation 1 chapter weekly and then we get something like summery of it. I also read each chapter in a Dutch translation because it's the only book I could get in paper version and I listen to the audio version of it in English. My English is not so good to understand everything but it's important for me to hear the melodic of the language. Thanks a lot for your video's. You have done a great job to make Ulysses more understandable and to help people enjoy the greatest and the most complicated (to my opinion) book. Sorry for my English. Greetings
Hi Chris. I wrote this before, but I'll say it again--this has been the most wonderful pandemic project! I've been reading Ulysses and listening to it, and listening to your lectures. And you are a supreme teacher, guide, coach, cheerleader! I love what you have to say. Really feel you've opened the novel up for me, rolled out the red carpet. You give your readers permission to delve in. So much of scholarship, unfortunately, gives one the idea that specialized skills and degrees are required. So thank you. Brilliant.
Wow, Jackie. You really touched me. I appreciate your kind words so much. It thrills me that you are or have enjoyed the book. A lot of emotional energy goes into those videos and hearing from you gives me a giant boost. Thank you. Are you done?
Now that I, too see only two chapters ahead, I begin to feel like I would if someone close to me is moving far away. Then, joy and excitement return as I anticipate my second read of Ulysses. This time, taking a chapter-or even a few pages at a time and delightling in the language, the scenes and my newly acquired understanding. Oliver
Well, Oliver, if you feel that way, the mission of this little project is going to be accomplished. Ulysses is a book to which we can always return and instantly feel a sense of familiarity of place. The characters come alive and it becomes more of a memory than a 'read' experience. I am very glad that you sparked this project.
Hi Chris, from China with thanks! Always heard Ulysses is a great read but man what a hard one and I could not have the courage to read though without chancing upon your video. Such great job and thanks so much for the wonderful job!!
Dear Chris, These videos are so enjoyable and heartfelt. I feel so inspired and content. I'm sending you all my gratitude from Japan, and I wish I had a father like you! If you don't mind, I will send you a card from Japan. My biggest hope is that you will keep making amazing videos!
I am still hanging on with my Canadian/Montreal reading group (i'm in New York City); We are on this episode; it has been several zoom meetings on this one chapter. i so love the help i get from you..
I had to read Ulysses in a course of my MA, and didn't know how to approach it. Tried different ways, but it was just too 'new' a thing for me to take in. Before finally dropping this course I though of checking out TH-cam for encouragements, and there you were. I liked your introductory video, but what really got me going was the allegory of the chocolate cake. I'm a big fan of chocolates, have to eat it every bloody day, and if Ulysses is a chocolate cake as you said it is, then who else could appreciate it more than I do! And I've been loving it, and making progress. And I want to give full credit to you for saving my course and helping me appreciate Ulysses. I really can't thank you enough, so not trying it. May God bless and reward you for this effort.
Wow, that is so kind of you. Thank you. You did the work and you deserve the credit. Ulysses is the Mt. Everest of books and you're doing it. I commend you for that! I hope that you will get pleasure from the book and not just 'work'. There is a lot of beautiful insight on those pages. Thank you for commenting.
Thank you, Chris for a great analysis of the 16th chapter. I belong to a Joyce study group in Manchester. We meet monthly at the World Irish Heritage Centre. Our next meeting is this Sunday and this is so helpful.
Thank you so much for your kind words! I envy you for having a group to discuss writing. It's so good to hear from you. Happy Spring! I'd love to hear about your meeting Sunday. Cheers!
Hi Chris and hello from Dublin! I've been watching all your videos as I make my way through Ulysses - your passion and love of the book is really infectious and has definitely kept me going (after a few failed attempts at reading it over the years) Sorry I haven't been leaving you any comments along the way but if you're ever in Dublin we can retrace Blooms steps and I'll buy you a pint in each of pubs that are mentioned in the book (that will probably cost a fortune given how many there are!) There is still a lot in this book I will need to re-read and absorb over many years but I feel as if the summit of Everest is in sight... Dermot
Thank you so much for your beautiful comments. Best wishes for a successful completion of the book! Let me know when you finish and we'll Skype a brew together. I just bought a Guinness yesterday and I'll keep it on stand by. Take care and thanks again.
I’m reading Ulysses with a group here in Providence,RI... we meet once a week and discuss 1 chapter at a time...you have helped me tremendously..your passion for the novel comes through and makes reading Ulysses that much more enjoyable. Thanks again.
Thank you for taking the time to comment! I envy your group for having a place to discuss the book together. There is some very beautiful writing ahead in the Ithaca episode. Congratulations to you. You will complete your Odyssey!
Oddly, the first few times I read the book, I thought I'd NEVER get through Circe! It's brutal. I hope the videos gave a little help. But you're right...tough. One caution....don't let Circe wreck you. Eumaeus is brilliant. It's a bit comical. The writing is meant to be awful....comic relief.
Hi Chris, recently discovered your wonderful series which has been so helpful in my discovery of this masterpiece. Love the language, the wordplay, the images, the ideas, etc and which have been brought into focus with your clarifications. Ulysses and Proust which I read 10 years ago have been life changing for me. Question - in this video at minute 7:35 you talk about a sentence you love about the weather - Of course I want to find that particular spot and I'm sorry to say I have been unable to do so, if you can let me know where it is more specifically I would be grateful but in any case thank you for your wonderful work and support in bringing this classic to life for us
As much as I'd love to teach writing by using the Eumaeus chapter as a textbook for what NOT to do, I fear that my typical composition student simply won't be able to see just what's wrong with the writing here because the vocabulary and syntax are too hard for people who don't read much, particularly not the sorted of bloated, academic sort of prose I've chosen to slog through now and again in my various professional lives. That said, I was tickled by how consistent Joyce was in creating an abominable style here: I love repeated examples of malapropism, absurd diction, and particularly the use of pairs of words in a given sentence that simply shouldn't be used so closely together. For a "writer" who constantly tries to impress us with his erudition, the narrator in Eumaeus seems to embarrassingly lose bits of his lexicon in ways that highlight what a truly bad writer s/he is. Perhaps I can pull out just a few choice examples for my new composition class that started Tuesday. I'm reminded, as a poor to mediocre singer that it takes real talent for a good singer to sing off key or for a gifted actor to act badly. Joyce likely knew something about the former and perhaps the latter as well, but clearly he was a master at willfully writing awful prose. I wonder if it was a painful exercise for him. Thanks for getting me to undertake what will be my first complete reading of ULYSSES. Anyone who has come this far with you has to be thrilled to have found your videos. (By the way, I re-discovered the John Irving video I commented on earlier in the year that led you to invite me to subscribe to this channel. It still gripes me to think about Irving's viewpoint. He's such a fine writer and storyteller (and an excellent live reader) that I'm shocked that he has the perspective on ULYSSES and Joyce that he expresses there).
This can be a tough one. When Ulysses gets back after many years, he is in disguise so he can spot the ones who are fake...not supporting him. The old sailor tells some tall tales and it is hard to separate fact from fiction. Also, he talks about his wife back home but he is a totally ansentee husband. Bloom is looking out for Stephen and protecting him from the counterfeits all around. Thank you for commenting.
I am so thankful for you! I'm reading this book with two people I met online and we video chat once a week. I watch your video first, then check out the intro in my annotated guide, then read the episode. Then consult my annotated guide here and there for things in the episode so I'm ready to discuss the episode with my friends. It's been so much fun I don't want it to end! I highly recommend reading this book with others and with references and aids like yours. It made something I would have thought impossible, possible and FUN! I WILL be reading it again!
I know I'm kinda late, but I've deeply entered the Ulysses universe because of you, I wasn't going to make it alone. Because of your sympathy, because of your knowledge, and mostly because of your passion about creating the videos and understanding the book is what got me so hooked on the story and your lectures about it, a guide in this complex paradise. This book is being a real game changer in my life as a hole, and I don't have words to describe how much I want to thank you for presenting to me such a profound universe created 100 years ago that feels like a story from nowadays. From the bottom of my heart, thank you! Have a great life and keep on making these videos on other books, I'll be glad to keep following you in your literature adventures. Best regards from Curitiba, BR.
Hi Chris, Just want to say thanks for putting these videos together. They have been a great addition to reading Ulysses. I wasn't sure if I would make it all the way through when I started it (still not done yet!) but I'm nearly there. I think that I will be reading different episodes for years to come. I aim do read The Odyssey soon and go back over each episode, just not ready to do it yet. So far, I have found Ulysses to be moving and humane, particularly due to the mundane which you mentioned in this video. I'm looking forward to the last two episodes, writing from Kilkenny, Ireland. Slainte, John
I was very close to putting this book down after reading Circe but I am so glad I stuck with it. I really enjoyed Bloom and Stephen's interaction and couldn't help but smile at several points during their conversation. One of the images that really stayed with me during this episode was that of the crabs about Ringsend. As well as being one of the most beautiful descriptions I've ever read, it also made me think of the purpose of the lies we tell, both to ourselves and to others. Everyone has parts of themselves that they present to the world, and parts that they hide, sometimes even from themselves, deep inside their shell. It's how we survive. Stephen's response to Bloom reminded me of a crab, gradually exposing parts of himself and allowing himself to be vulnerable (eg. the meaning glances he shared with him, allowing himself to be led by him despite his uncertainty), and then retreating. Although it may feel anticlimactic I thought this was the perfect meeting as it's so real. This is how we get to know others, starting to opening up, and then withdrawing or snapping when we feel we have revealed too much of ourselves. I think this is particularly true when getting to know someone who treats us differently, showing us a softness (or wobbliness) that we haven't experienced before. I thought that the confusion this causes in us was really well echoed in the episode's writing style which reminded me of our thoughts as we get to know someone new, trying to reason and to find certainty, but ultimately ending up not knowing what we think, what's true, and even if it's warm or cool! I found it interesting that the way Stephen related to Bloom, being drawn in by him but also suspicious, so closely mirrors my relationship to the book. Some episodes have left me feeling held, comforted and understood while others have left me feeling angry, hurt, and even abused by Joyce, so that I now feel wary of fully connecting, not knowing how safe it is to let down my guard.
This episode is very interesting to me. Not only is it content rich, but Joyce gives a great sample of what bad writing sounds like. It's a fun episode to explore.
We’re taking a monthly class, usually 2 chapters at a time. Discovered your vids around Nausicaa and have enjoyed them a lot, very helpful and informative. Once we get to the end, in January, we’ll go back and watch the earlier chapters. Thanks for the hard work of guiding us!
Thank you so much! I am glad you had fun with Ulysses. That is the highest compliment. It is not an easy book so if you had fun, I am thrilled. Thank you for commenting! Good to hear from Houston!
Hello Chris , I just want to say Thank you for your wonderful videos that have helped me through this beautiful , challenging novel . I am in a Ulysses book group associated with the Rosenbach in Philadelphia . ( where the handwritten Ulysses manuscript is ) Frank Delaney’s Re:Joyce podcast helped me with the first part of the novel . He passed in 2017 and was working through “ wandering rocks “ . His passion and love for Ulysses and Joyce was contagious and i was a sad to lose him as a guide ! I searched here on you tube and found you happily ! Hope you are doing well ..thank you so much ..if you ever want to tackle Finnegan’s Wake I would be eternally grateful!! Cheers !
Thank you very, very much for your kind words! I am having a hard time getting the videos "found" so I am glad you did! I hope others in your group viewed them as well. Let me know if you would like to arrange a virtual discussion about the book with your reading group. I would really enjoy that! Take care...
Hi. I’ve loved this. You have really helped me understand and love it. My question is…should I try finnegans wake? Have you done a similar thing? My great respect. Superb.
Chris, how does this impossibility of commenting relate with metempsychosis? I mean, from a certain point of view Bloom and Stephen are the same person (Joyce) referring to the Hamlet theory. Since they're both in mourning , they could have a real connection even in the characters, but this non capability of communicating destroys the theory a bit
Have been trying to spin Ulysses out .. was desperately hoping that Ukraine would have won before I reached the end .. have re-read Circe and listened to a few podcasts to make it last a bit longer... The Odyssey has one thing wrong ... the journey as always better than the arrival... Thank-you for such an entertaining and enlightening series of videos it's made the journey all the better.
It does feel a little sad to see the book nearly come to an end. I hope that we maybe get another series in the future to discuss! There’s so many great works of art out there and they’re made so much better with a great teacher like yourself
@@TeachUBusiness I’m looking forward to it! I will be finishing Penelope today and there was no way I wouldn’t gotten this gargantuan book finished without these videos
I am just a university student from Hong Kong and are fighting against deadlines on Eumaeus essays haha I will probably do something on the imposture characters in relations to Joyce's use of language... And I do appreciate this video as it offers me one new perspective of maybe seeing Joyce as some imposture wannabe writer in this chapter. But I'm just wondering apart from the following things, how can I expand my perspective in my essays?? For now, I will probably be talking about 1. Murphy's imposture (from the chapter content e.g. the postcard and his made-up stories) 2. Bloom's imposture (maybe through his use of pretentious foreign/cliche language???) 3. Joyce being a 'bad' writer 4. at last maybe expanding my essay to the imposture ridiculing the emphasis on proper standard English (in view of its competition with Irish bulls aka the Irish improper English) Do you also have any more insights???
Just wrapped it up. Onward to Ithaca. “The biscuit was hard as brass, and the beef was salty as Lot’s wife’s ass.” the end is in site though not in a hurry to end this journey.
I hope you enjoyed that after the brutal Circe! You're almost there but I'm glad you are in no hurry for it to end. I think Ithaca is the most beautiful chapter. Be proud! You're far, far ahead of where most people ever get!
Thanks Chris. Love your sincerity and enthusiasm. You're right, there's no money to be made in difficult, worthwhile stuff! This is the third time I've read this book, and this time I'm reading it in a group (Liverpool) and reading commentaries and watching lectures. I always watch your videos the day before meetings and find something new there. Have you thought of doing Finnegans Wake? We read it out loud (monthly) for about two years and only got to about page 200. 'The Sound and the Fury' , by Faulkner would also be a great one to do. What are your other favourite 'difficult' novels?
Thank you, Jim. It's a true labor of love! I'm not sure I could do the Wake. I've often wondered if Joyce went to a higher plane or lost his mind. It's full of puns but few people would make it through. My goal is to do more videos on the humanities. I have notes prepared for a neat analysis of a Shostakovich piece. That involves a lot of editing and I haven't had time as yet. But there is more to come! Did you enjoy this trip through Ulysses?
I agree! Bloom's struggle to win Stephen as a friend is very moving. Do you think he presents the picture of Molly to lure Stephen closer, possibly in order to become her new lover and in that way get Boylan tipped out? It's hard to fully grasp how Bloom thinks. In one way he is a caring and loving person, but he is also a calculating businessman desperate to get Boylan kicked out.
This might be a very interesting discussion. I think Bloom is a little perverse and might be showing off. I don't think he wants Stephen too interested in Molly. Bloom has had a tough day and Molly is highly desirable. She is, pardon the expression, a trophy wife. Bloom is showing her off as a way of stating his own worth.
That's so cool! I'm in the country and couldn't get a group to eat ice cream here! I envy you! It would be fun. Speaking of fun, I hope the book is fun for you.
@@TeachUBusiness I don't know about fun! It's certainly challenging. I love his writing and when we've finish Ulysses I think we're going on to 'Dubliners'.
Hey Chris! I’m from Ireland and studied a Literature course, in which we covered the first 6 episodes of this book. Needless to say, they were challenging at the time, but I found once I got to grips with what was going on that I really started to fall in love with the book. Joyce is a master of capturing the profound, but as you say he also depicts the beauty of everyday life! Despite really loving the episodes that I knew well, I really wanted to continue reading, but got lost somewhere about half way and stopped reading it, but funnily still considered the book a masterpiece, and I knew I would come back to it one day. So I’m not sure what inspired me, but basically I wanted to start doing something similar to yourself, I wanted to make TH-cam videos analysing different books, as I felt it would give me extra motivation to read them, dissect them further through reading essays! (As I am hoping do do a PHD next year, and teaching literature in a university is a dream of mine) So anyway, 😂 Something motivated me to give Ulysses another try and to read it from start to finish. So I knew I needed some help and found your video series. I have to congratulate you on an amazing series so far. Your videos have helped me really enjoy and fall in love with this book, and now I can easily say it’s one of the best books I’ve ever read. Your knowledge of the book and references have been amazing, and I tip my hat for knowing the Irish ☘️ history, and the political and religious dynamics at the time. Your videos are amazing, I’ll definitely recommend them to anyone who wants to read the book. And hopefully one day I can send you a video of mine analysing this great work of art. Slainte!
I don't know if you're reading those after all this years but I want to thank you for your work. Thanks to you I was able not only to read this book, but to understand it, enjoy it and have my own thoughts about it. You are a wonderfull person. Greetings from Poland!!!
Greetings from down-under Australia. I wish I had access to your presentations some 50 years ago when as an undergraduate I was expected to read and understand this complex book. I always vowed that I would return to it some day (like I did with War and Peace!) and indeed I have returned. Listened to an Audible version and now following your commentary which I find so very stimulating. So clear. So enlightening. I am commenting some four years after you did the presentations and I guess a lot has changed in that time. Hope you are well and continuing to bring JOY into the lives of people like me! Cheers. Graham
I started to get a bit bored in this chapter but the intensity softened, even though it was welcomed! Its the style of writing. It made me realise how good writing makes reading, pleasurable, interesting. I am starting to get used to these long sentences..almost like I've acclimatised to his writing and if I were to start at the beginning again, I'd find it much easier. The waffling reminds me of talking or thought.. and inwas thinking about the type of people that waffle.... ha. I definitely picked up on the lack of chemistry between them. I feel like I could read the book again and type different comments to you.
I like the theme of a son in search of a father. It is mentioned several times in the first chapter and, of course, later. Then I discovered you’re idea that Bloom is going to fix his marriage. Your idea has merit, as you say. On the other hand there are no fixed relationships, either father son or marriages. Is there another possible theme? Jehovah seems to promise us a new world. No more marriages. Only good relationships between brothers and sisters in the new kingdom. Forever. My idea is that it is possible that Joyce’s theme may be Biblical after all. Revelation {8:10} For this [is] the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: {8:11} And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
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In this age of Zoom virtual education, you are the perfect example of a good man who can lead our poor students who will struggle through the Covid era.....I say this as a retired high school English teacher., who taught for 35 years....I am reading Ulysses as a retirement gift to myself.
Wow. Thank you so much for your kind and very generous words. The greatest compliment you could give is to call me a teacher. Are you enjoying the book? My goal is help with enjoyment. That is huge. If you can enjoy and not just survive the book, then maybe I have done something.
Hi Chris. I am an Ukrainian who lives in Belgium. I participate on Joyce project which is organized by the literary channel Armen and Fyodor on TH-cam. This project is for russian speaking people who read Ulysses in Russian translation 1 chapter weekly and then we get something like summery of it. I also read each chapter in a Dutch translation because it's the only book I could get in paper version and I listen to the audio version of it in English. My English is not so good to understand everything but it's important for me to hear the melodic of the language. Thanks a lot for your video's. You have done a great job to make Ulysses more understandable and to help people enjoy the greatest and the most complicated (to my opinion) book. Sorry for my English. Greetings
Hi Chris. I wrote this before, but I'll say it again--this has been the most wonderful pandemic project! I've been reading Ulysses and listening to it, and listening to your lectures. And you are a supreme teacher, guide, coach, cheerleader! I love what you have to say. Really feel you've opened the novel up for me, rolled out the red carpet. You give your readers permission to delve in. So much of scholarship, unfortunately, gives one the idea that specialized skills and degrees are required. So thank you. Brilliant.
Wow, Jackie. You really touched me. I appreciate your kind words so much. It thrills me that you are or have enjoyed the book. A lot of emotional energy goes into those videos and hearing from you gives me a giant boost. Thank you. Are you done?
Now that I, too see only two chapters ahead, I begin to feel like I would if someone close to me is moving far away. Then, joy and excitement return as I anticipate my second read of Ulysses. This time, taking a chapter-or even a few pages at a time and delightling in the language, the scenes and my newly acquired understanding. Oliver
Well, Oliver, if you feel that way, the mission of this little project is going to be accomplished. Ulysses is a book to which we can always return and instantly feel a sense of familiarity of place. The characters come alive and it becomes more of a memory than a 'read' experience. I am very glad that you sparked this project.
Hi Chris, from China with thanks! Always heard Ulysses is a great read but man what a hard one and I could not have the courage to read though without chancing upon your video. Such great job and thanks so much for the wonderful job!!
Dear Chris,
These videos are so enjoyable and heartfelt. I feel so inspired and content. I'm sending you all my gratitude from Japan, and I wish I had a father like you! If you don't mind, I will send you a card from Japan. My biggest hope is that you will keep making amazing videos!
I am still hanging on with my Canadian/Montreal reading group (i'm in New York City); We are on this episode; it has been several zoom meetings on this one chapter. i so love the help i get from you..
you are very kind man, you are Bloom in some ways . thank you so much
Thank you so much for your kindness. I hope you enjoy the book. Get pleasure from it! Take care. Chris
I had to read Ulysses in a course of my MA, and didn't know how to approach it. Tried different ways, but it was just too 'new' a thing for me to take in. Before finally dropping this course I though of checking out TH-cam for encouragements, and there you were.
I liked your introductory video, but what really got me going was the allegory of the chocolate cake. I'm a big fan of chocolates, have to eat it every bloody day, and if Ulysses is a chocolate cake as you said it is, then who else could appreciate it more than I do!
And I've been loving it, and making progress. And I want to give full credit to you for saving my course and helping me appreciate Ulysses. I really can't thank you enough, so not trying it. May God bless and reward you for this effort.
Wow, that is so kind of you. Thank you. You did the work and you deserve the credit. Ulysses is the Mt. Everest of books and you're doing it. I commend you for that! I hope that you will get pleasure from the book and not just 'work'. There is a lot of beautiful insight on those pages. Thank you for commenting.
Rio de Janeiro Brasil. I"m reading the book with the help of your excellet analysis, after difficult in CirceI arrived in Emaus.
Thank you, Chris for a great analysis of the 16th chapter. I belong to a Joyce study group in Manchester. We meet monthly at the World Irish Heritage Centre. Our next meeting is this Sunday and this is so helpful.
Thank you so much for your kind words! I envy you for having a group to discuss writing. It's so good to hear from you. Happy Spring! I'd love to hear about your meeting Sunday. Cheers!
Hi Chris and hello from Dublin! I've been watching all your videos as I make my way through Ulysses - your passion and love of the book is really infectious and has definitely kept me going (after a few failed attempts at reading it over the years) Sorry I haven't been leaving you any comments along the way but if you're ever in Dublin we can retrace Blooms steps and I'll buy you a pint in each of pubs that are mentioned in the book (that will probably cost a fortune given how many there are!) There is still a lot in this book I will need to re-read and absorb over many years but I feel as if the summit of Everest is in sight... Dermot
Thank you so much for your beautiful comments. Best wishes for a successful completion of the book! Let me know when you finish and we'll Skype a brew together. I just bought a Guinness yesterday and I'll keep it on stand by. Take care and thanks again.
I’m reading Ulysses with a group here in Providence,RI... we meet once a week and discuss 1 chapter at a time...you have helped me tremendously..your passion for the novel comes through and makes reading Ulysses that much more enjoyable. Thanks again.
Thank you for taking the time to comment! I envy your group for having a place to discuss the book together. There is some very beautiful writing ahead in the Ithaca episode. Congratulations to you. You will complete your Odyssey!
Thought I'd never finish Circe. It should've been called "Hades" cuz it was hell.
Oddly, the first few times I read the book, I thought I'd NEVER get through Circe! It's brutal. I hope the videos gave a little help. But you're right...tough. One caution....don't let Circe wreck you. Eumaeus is brilliant. It's a bit comical. The writing is meant to be awful....comic relief.
Hi Chris, recently discovered your wonderful series which has been so helpful in my discovery of this masterpiece. Love the language, the wordplay, the images, the ideas, etc and which have been brought into focus with your clarifications. Ulysses and Proust which I read 10 years ago have been life changing for me. Question - in this video at minute 7:35 you talk about a sentence you love about the weather - Of course I want to find that particular spot and I'm sorry to say I have been unable to do so, if you can let me know where it is more specifically I would be grateful but in any case thank you for your wonderful work and support in bringing this classic to life for us
As much as I'd love to teach writing by using the Eumaeus chapter as a textbook for what NOT to do, I fear that my typical composition student simply won't be able to see just what's wrong with the writing here because the vocabulary and syntax are too hard for people who don't read much, particularly not the sorted of bloated, academic sort of prose I've chosen to slog through now and again in my various professional lives.
That said, I was tickled by how consistent Joyce was in creating an abominable style here: I love repeated examples of malapropism, absurd diction, and particularly the use of pairs of words in a given sentence that simply shouldn't be used so closely together. For a "writer" who constantly tries to impress us with his erudition, the narrator in Eumaeus seems to embarrassingly lose bits of his lexicon in ways that highlight what a truly bad writer s/he is. Perhaps I can pull out just a few choice examples for my new composition class that started Tuesday.
I'm reminded, as a poor to mediocre singer that it takes real talent for a good singer to sing off key or for a gifted actor to act badly. Joyce likely knew something about the former and perhaps the latter as well, but clearly he was a master at willfully writing awful prose. I wonder if it was a painful exercise for him.
Thanks for getting me to undertake what will be my first complete reading of ULYSSES. Anyone who has come this far with you has to be thrilled to have found your videos. (By the way, I re-discovered the John Irving video I commented on earlier in the year that led you to invite me to subscribe to this channel. It still gripes me to think about Irving's viewpoint. He's such a fine writer and storyteller (and an excellent live reader) that I'm shocked that he has the perspective on ULYSSES and Joyce that he expresses there).
Michael Goldenberg I too was taken aback by Irvings comments. It hit me like having two good friends that don't like each other!
In order to be able to read this book to the last chapter , one should come and lean on Mr Bloom , trust him .
Thanks for sharing. Although find it a very tough ep. have no idea what they are talking abt.
This can be a tough one. When Ulysses gets back after many years, he is in disguise so he can spot the ones who are fake...not supporting him. The old sailor tells some tall tales and it is hard to separate fact from fiction. Also, he talks about his wife back home but he is a totally ansentee husband. Bloom is looking out for Stephen and protecting him from the counterfeits all around. Thank you for commenting.
Chris Reich . Thank you! Also watched the intro vid which helped!
I'm from Brazil and i love to read Ulysses and enjoy your teachings. Well done, Chris! thank you
Glad you like them! I am happy to have your comments. Stick with it and the book will reward you. Take care, Patrick
I am so thankful for you! I'm reading this book with two people I met online and we video chat once a week. I watch your video first, then check out the intro in my annotated guide, then read the episode. Then consult my annotated guide here and there for things in the episode so I'm ready to discuss the episode with my friends. It's been so much fun I don't want it to end! I highly recommend reading this book with others and with references and aids like yours. It made something I would have thought impossible, possible and FUN! I WILL be reading it again!
I know I'm kinda late, but I've deeply entered the Ulysses universe because of you, I wasn't going to make it alone. Because of your sympathy, because of your knowledge, and mostly because of your passion about creating the videos and understanding the book is what got me so hooked on the story and your lectures about it, a guide in this complex paradise. This book is being a real game changer in my life as a hole, and I don't have words to describe how much I want to thank you for presenting to me such a profound universe created 100 years ago that feels like a story from nowadays. From the bottom of my heart, thank you! Have a great life and keep on making these videos on other books, I'll be glad to keep following you in your literature adventures. Best regards from Curitiba, BR.
Hi Chris,
Just want to say thanks for putting these videos together. They have been a great addition to reading Ulysses.
I wasn't sure if I would make it all the way through when I started it (still not done yet!) but I'm nearly there. I think that I will be reading different episodes for years to come.
I aim do read The Odyssey soon and go back over each episode, just not ready to do it yet. So far, I have found Ulysses to be moving and humane, particularly due to the mundane which you mentioned in this video. I'm looking forward to the last two episodes, writing from Kilkenny, Ireland.
Slainte,
John
Thank you, John.
I was very close to putting this book down after reading Circe but I am so glad I stuck with it. I really enjoyed Bloom and Stephen's interaction and couldn't help but smile at several points during their conversation.
One of the images that really stayed with me during this episode was that of the crabs about Ringsend. As well as being one of the most beautiful descriptions I've ever read, it also made me think of the purpose of the lies we tell, both to ourselves and to others. Everyone has parts of themselves that they present to the world, and parts that they hide, sometimes even from themselves, deep inside their shell. It's how we survive.
Stephen's response to Bloom reminded me of a crab, gradually exposing parts of himself and allowing himself to be vulnerable (eg. the meaning glances he shared with him, allowing himself to be led by him despite his uncertainty), and then retreating.
Although it may feel anticlimactic I thought this was the perfect meeting as it's so real. This is how we get to know others, starting to opening up, and then withdrawing or snapping when we feel we have revealed too much of ourselves. I think this is particularly true when getting to know someone who treats us differently, showing us a softness (or wobbliness) that we haven't experienced before.
I thought that the confusion this causes in us was really well echoed in the episode's writing style which reminded me of our thoughts as we get to know someone new, trying to reason and to find certainty, but ultimately ending up not knowing what we think, what's true, and even if it's warm or cool!
I found it interesting that the way Stephen related to Bloom, being drawn in by him but also suspicious, so closely mirrors my relationship to the book. Some episodes have left me feeling held, comforted and understood while others have left me feeling angry, hurt, and even abused by Joyce, so that I now feel wary of fully connecting, not knowing how safe it is to let down my guard.
This episode is very interesting to me. Not only is it content rich, but Joyce gives a great sample of what bad writing sounds like. It's a fun episode to explore.
We’re taking a monthly class, usually 2 chapters at a time. Discovered your vids around Nausicaa and have enjoyed them a lot, very helpful and informative. Once we get to the end, in January, we’ll go back and watch the earlier chapters. Thanks for the hard work of guiding us!
Thanks for your videos Chris. I’m English and I live in France!
I only read the book with this channel...really enjoying the book ..thanks for all your time and effort
Hey Chris. From Houston, Texas all the best and thanks so much for these lectures. You have made reading Ulysses a lot of fun for me. You did great.
Thank you so much! I am glad you had fun with Ulysses. That is the highest compliment. It is not an easy book so if you had fun, I am thrilled. Thank you for commenting! Good to hear from Houston!
Are you in a safe place from the coming storm? Be safe.
Hi Chris , reading in Italy, What a wonderful journey it's been. Your videos a
have illuminated the way. We're almost there.A thousand thanks.
Hi Chris, thank you so much for these videos! You’ve definitely made this book much more enjoyable, and I appreciate it a lot!
Hello Chris , I just want to say Thank you for your wonderful videos that have helped me through this beautiful , challenging novel . I am in a Ulysses book group associated with the Rosenbach in Philadelphia . ( where the handwritten Ulysses manuscript is )
Frank Delaney’s Re:Joyce podcast helped me with the first part of the novel . He passed in 2017 and was working through “ wandering rocks “ . His passion and love for Ulysses and Joyce was contagious and i was a sad to lose him as a guide ! I searched here on you tube and found you happily !
Hope you are doing well ..thank you so much ..if you ever want to tackle Finnegan’s Wake I would be eternally grateful!!
Cheers !
Thank you very, very much for your kind words! I am having a hard time getting the videos "found" so I am glad you did! I hope others in your group viewed them as well. Let me know if you would like to arrange a virtual discussion about the book with your reading group. I would really enjoy that! Take care...
Hi. I’ve loved this. You have really helped me understand and love it. My question is…should I try finnegans wake? Have you done a similar thing? My great respect. Superb.
Hi Chris, I just want to say thank you for your great insights on the book. You've really helped me get through my course on James Joyce.
I am with you in Davao, Philippines and I am with you, Stephen, Bloom and the whole motley gang in Rockland.
I love how Stephen is genuinely annoyed by Bloom's phenomenologism...I mean he has just passed out after drinking to death hahaha
Chris, how does this impossibility of commenting relate with metempsychosis? I mean, from a certain point of view Bloom and Stephen are the same person (Joyce) referring to the Hamlet theory. Since they're both in mourning , they could have a real connection even in the characters, but this non capability of communicating destroys the theory a bit
thank you very very much Chris , my name is Conrado watching the videos from Montevideo Uruguay
Have been trying to spin Ulysses out .. was desperately hoping that Ukraine would have won before I reached the end .. have re-read Circe and listened to a few podcasts to make it last a bit longer... The Odyssey has one thing wrong ... the journey as always better than the arrival... Thank-you for such an entertaining and enlightening series of videos it's made the journey all the better.
Fantastic stuff, Chris Reich. A real help. (|Dublin and New York
It does feel a little sad to see the book nearly come to an end. I hope that we maybe get another series in the future to discuss! There’s so many great works of art out there and they’re made so much better with a great teacher like yourself
Sean, your words touch me deeply and I am very grateful. I have plans for some very cool content. Keep encouraging me!
@@TeachUBusiness I’m looking forward to it! I will be finishing Penelope today and there was no way I wouldn’t gotten this gargantuan book finished without these videos
I am just a university student from Hong Kong and are fighting against deadlines on Eumaeus essays haha
I will probably do something on the imposture characters in relations to Joyce's use of language... And I do appreciate this video as it offers me one new perspective of maybe seeing Joyce as some imposture wannabe writer in this chapter. But I'm just wondering apart from the following things, how can I expand my perspective in my essays??
For now, I will probably be talking about
1. Murphy's imposture (from the chapter content e.g. the postcard and his made-up stories)
2. Bloom's imposture (maybe through his use of pretentious foreign/cliche language???)
3. Joyce being a 'bad' writer
4. at last maybe expanding my essay to the imposture ridiculing the emphasis on proper standard English (in view of its competition with Irish bulls aka the Irish improper English)
Do you also have any more insights???
Just wrapped it up. Onward to Ithaca. “The biscuit was hard as brass, and the beef was salty as Lot’s wife’s ass.”
the end is in site though not in a hurry to end this journey.
I hope you enjoyed that after the brutal Circe! You're almost there but I'm glad you are in no hurry for it to end. I think Ithaca is the most beautiful chapter. Be proud! You're far, far ahead of where most people ever get!
Thanks Chris. Love your sincerity and enthusiasm. You're right, there's no money to be made in difficult, worthwhile stuff! This is the third time I've read this book, and this time I'm reading it in a group (Liverpool) and reading commentaries and watching lectures. I always watch your videos the day before meetings and find something new there. Have you thought of doing Finnegans Wake? We read it out loud (monthly) for about two years and only got to about page 200. 'The Sound and the Fury' , by Faulkner would also be a great one to do. What are your other favourite 'difficult' novels?
Thank you, Jim. It's a true labor of love! I'm not sure I could do the Wake. I've often wondered if Joyce went to a higher plane or lost his mind. It's full of puns but few people would make it through. My goal is to do more videos on the humanities. I have notes prepared for a neat analysis of a Shostakovich piece. That involves a lot of editing and I haven't had time as yet. But there is more to come! Did you enjoy this trip through Ulysses?
@@TeachUBusiness Loved it Chris. Doing it with a group and with others, such as yourself, has definitely enhanced my reading experience.
We are reading it for the 4th time at the James Joyce centre in Dublin. Your enjoyable videos help us to 'cheat' on the homework!
TheKilleaney That's a very fine compliment! Thank you very much. Made my day.
I agree! Bloom's struggle to win Stephen as a friend is very moving. Do you think he presents the picture of Molly to lure Stephen closer, possibly in order to become her new lover and in that way get Boylan tipped out? It's hard to fully grasp how Bloom thinks. In one way he is a caring and loving person, but he is also a calculating businessman desperate to get Boylan kicked out.
This might be a very interesting discussion. I think Bloom is a little perverse and might be showing off. I don't think he wants Stephen too interested in Molly. Bloom has had a tough day and Molly is highly desirable. She is, pardon the expression, a trophy wife. Bloom is showing her off as a way of stating his own worth.
Sharing the emotion of 'Lean on me' from the famous song originally by Bill Withers but best version is him with Stevie Wonder and John Legend?
Yes, Chris, it's very interesting and really tests the intellect. We have some highly informed Joyce scholars and I'm loving it.
That's so cool! I'm in the country and couldn't get a group to eat ice cream here! I envy you! It would be fun. Speaking of fun, I hope the book is fun for you.
@@TeachUBusiness I don't know about fun! It's certainly challenging. I love his writing and when we've finish Ulysses I think we're going on to 'Dubliners'.
I followed all your videos up to now - what a wonderful presentation, Chris, so enlightening! Nizan Weisman from Israel.
Hey Chris!
I’m from Ireland and studied a Literature course, in which we covered the first 6 episodes of this book. Needless to say, they were challenging at the time, but I found once I got to grips with what was going on that I really started to fall in love with the book. Joyce is a master of capturing the profound, but as you say he also depicts the beauty of everyday life!
Despite really loving the episodes that I knew well, I really wanted to continue reading, but got lost somewhere about half way and stopped reading it, but funnily still considered the book a masterpiece, and I knew I would come back to it one day.
So I’m not sure what inspired me, but basically I wanted to start doing something similar to yourself, I wanted to make TH-cam videos analysing different books, as I felt it would give me extra motivation to read them, dissect them further through reading essays! (As I am hoping do do a PHD next year, and teaching literature in a university is a dream of mine)
So anyway, 😂 Something motivated me to give Ulysses another try and to read it from start to finish. So I knew I needed some help and found your video series. I have to congratulate you on an amazing series so far. Your videos have helped me really enjoy and fall in love with this book, and now I can easily say it’s one of the best books I’ve ever read. Your knowledge of the book and references have been amazing, and I tip my hat for knowing the Irish ☘️ history, and the political and religious dynamics at the time.
Your videos are amazing, I’ll definitely recommend them to anyone who wants to read the book. And hopefully one day I can send you a video of mine analysing this great work of art. Slainte!
I don't know if you're reading those after all this years but I want to thank you for your work. Thanks to you I was able not only to read this book, but to understand it, enjoy it and have my own thoughts about it. You are a wonderfull person. Greetings from Poland!!!
Greetings from down-under Australia. I wish I had access to your presentations some 50 years ago when as an undergraduate I was expected to read and understand this complex book. I always vowed that I would return to it some day (like I did with War and Peace!) and indeed I have returned. Listened to an Audible version and now following your commentary which I find so very stimulating. So clear. So enlightening. I am commenting some four years after you did the presentations and I guess a lot has changed in that time. Hope you are well and continuing to bring JOY into the lives of people like me! Cheers. Graham
Fantastic, Chris. You've made this great novel accessible to me. I'm from Portland, Oregon. I can't wait for your next effort!
I started to get a bit bored in this chapter but the intensity softened, even though it was welcomed! Its the style of writing. It made me realise how good writing makes reading, pleasurable, interesting. I am starting to get used to these long sentences..almost like I've acclimatised to his writing and if I were to start at the beginning again, I'd find it much easier. The waffling reminds me of talking or thought.. and inwas thinking about the type of people that waffle.... ha. I definitely picked up on the lack of chemistry between them. I feel like I could read the book again and type different comments to you.
Big thanks from Chicago, the proud home of Ulysses' first publisher.
Mexico
I like the theme of a son in search of a father. It is mentioned several times in the first chapter and, of course, later. Then I discovered you’re idea that Bloom is going to fix his marriage. Your idea has merit, as you say. On the other hand there are no fixed relationships, either father son or marriages. Is there another possible theme? Jehovah seems to promise us a new world. No more marriages. Only good relationships between brothers and sisters in the new kingdom. Forever. My idea is that it is possible that Joyce’s theme may be Biblical after all.
Revelation
{8:10} For this [is] the covenant that I will make with the
house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my
laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I
will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
{8:11} And they shall not teach every man his neighbour,
and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all
shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
You've made my journey of Ulysses so much more interesting, thanks so much, cheers (○゜ⅴ゜)つロ