Reading Ulysses for Fun: Cyclops
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 ก.พ. 2018
- I hope you enjoy this video. This is one of the most brilliant chapters in all of literature. Hopefully this video will open it up for you. Take your time and read it slowly.
Your comments are welcome!
I had a few days break and was dreading reading this chapter but it was OK. I loved the parodies. I found them really really funny. Especially that massive title. I could really pick out the sentimentality in them. Also it seemed like such a relevant chapter for today..with how things are politically.
Excellent! If you can see the humor, you are getting the point. That's so cool! You should be very proud of yourself because you are doing great with the book!
"His uncle was a Jew, then."
Chris I am attending weekly classes in London with a focus on one episode of Ulysses in each class. I have found your videos invaluable as a study aid and I applaud your generosity in sharing your enthusiasm and insights. Best... Daniel Cassidy London UK
SO GLAD I WATCHED "CYCLOPS" before finishing this Episode. Late last night, my own eyes shutting in need of sleep, I felt trapped in Barney's Pub- cave--not realizing there are 3 central characters-the Citizen, Narrator, and the Parodist. Chris, you gave me the plan to remove the rock and move on! Oh what fun to re read Cyclops > Thanks, Oliver
Thank you, Oliver! I was not sure how to approach this episode and then it hit me! Untangling the "voices" should help a reader get through the cave! Those injections by the Parodist are very clever IF you know what's going on---otherwise, very distracting and confusing. In today's political climate, I think Joyce gives us a very important message.
Very helpful to explain the role of the parodist. I’d not realised this. Thanks 👏👏
Thank you so much for the videos. You have helped me not just understand each chapter but genuinely look forward to with joy in reading such a complex piece of literature! Thank you! ❤️📖
Would just like to say: cyclops may have been my favorite chapter yet. At least in terms of humour. A few times I hardly could constrain myself, man it was gold. It helped a lot knowing what was going on from the start.
That is so good to hear! I am especially happy when a reader breaks through and can appreciate the fun that is packed into this crazy book. The first time I read Cyclops, I didn't quite know what to make of it. As I realized that Joyce was going over the top with parody, the enjoyment followed. Thank you so much for your comments. Your words will serve as encouragement for others. May I ask where you are? I like knowing we have a global community. Cheers!
@@TeachUBusiness Sure: I'm from the Netherlands (Dutchland), from the hyperborean Groningen. Cheers!
aidanmcgourty Just came upon your video on the Cyclops chapter. I have to say that I was lost after Frank Delaney died two years ago because his Re-Joyce podcasts which cover the first third of the book are just brilliant . But now that I have discovered more material including your Cyclops analysis I feel I can move on. and make sense of the rest of the book. BTW Trump has now become his own parody - didya hear him talking (26 september 2018) - in public - about the Chinese admiring his great brain - Ye Gods! Try making that up.
Thank you for adding to the conversation. I wanted to make the videos as relevant as possible. Strange times we're in. And perhaps Joyce is distilling the characteristics of his era that are common to every. The more I understand of this book, the more in awe I am of what Joyce gave us. Thank you again for your comments.
This video saved me! I struggled so much through the first half of this episode! I decided to watch this video and get some help :) SO glad I did! Understanding the voices made all the difference! I went back to the beginning of the episode and re-read the entire thing. Thank you so much!
Also, very interesting commentary. Being an immigrant, myself, I always struggle a little when facing nationalism and patriotism. Even understanding the subtle distinction between the two and more importantly, how it can be exploited. It’s a little scary to see how nostalgia can drive individuals to romanticize feelings of intolerance and lack of progress. Been thinking about all this a lot, thanks again!
Your comments are brilliant and appreciated. Thank you for being so open. Many readers who strongly dislike Joyce do not see some of the important layers built into his work. This chapter is certainly tough, but once we start to understand it, it's very touching and important. Timeless too. Read that someone was convicted of hate speech today in the UK. A comedian who taught a dog to do a Nazi salute. It think that's tasteless but I see a world-wide move in a very bad direction with a core of "the good ole days" baked in. I believe the humanities make us human and I am proud of all of us who make the journey through Ulysses and other works of art. I am very pleased to read your comments. Thank you.
Many thanks. You have the natural ability of explaining & expressing the genius in these chapters like no other.
Okay, that was just a ridiculously fun and yet touching chapter. I had heard an alleged quotation from an episode of the TV version of AMOS & ANDY in which a judge says to the Kingfish, “Do you deny the allegation?” to which the latter replies, Yes, and I resent the alligator!”
I have never tracked it down to an actual episode, but a variation of it shows up in “The Cyclops” chapter!
There’s the wicked little parody about rod, Jacky Tar, and unholy boast, and so much more comedy. And there’s Bloom finally bowing his stack near the end, then rising like Elijah into heaven.
Joyce must have had a gas writing this one. Brilliant.
Are you sure you never read this book before?! You're tearing right through it. The parodist is a complete riot, isn't he? I almost did the ole "milk out the nose" trick when I read the description of the Citizen. It feels so good to hear from readers who get the humor. Thank you, Michael. You are adding much to this journey.
Well, another mystery solved: here's the clip from the relevant AMOS & ANDY episode: th-cam.com/video/6238N655Lq0/w-d-xo.htmlm
I have been thoroughly enjoying your videos as I wind my way through Ulysses. You certainly make it fun and have kept my attention throughout.
Thank you! This episode is a lot of fun! I appreciate your comments very much.
That was a long episode and the most difficult for me thus far, but I got through it, your video and the reading guide helped tremendously with that. Thank you for the time and effort you put into making these for us.
Congratulations! You've made it through one of the hardest episodes in the book. Hopefully you can go back and get a laugh or two out of it. The exaggerations are pretty funny. You're well on your way!
Thanks you for relating it to today and modern society we live in. Really put this in perspective!
Might put some people off as I make fun of Trump---but that is what Joyce is doing. He is mocking nationalism and blowhards. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Keep going and have fun. Thank you so much for commenting.
Your best video yet, a masterpiece. Thanks.
Wow, thanks!
Amazing video as always! Thank you very much Chris!
🤣 the Trump parody!
I'm argentinian so I have the added challenge of first understanding the language and THEN understanding the meaning of it. This videos really help me a lot, it's a shame that I'm only watching them 3 years later, but I want you to know they mean a lot to me so thank you Chris!
Michael Cusack (widely accepted inspiration for The Citizen) was a fascinating character in Irish sporting and Cultural history. He was the first secretary and probably most influential figure in the establishment of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). This organisation promotes Irish (non- foreign/ British) games, mainly Hurling and Gaelic Football which are uniquely Irish sports with a Celtic heritage. The GAA is still the most powerful sporting organisation by far in Ireland today and permeates throughout nearly all aspects of Irish society. The main stadium for Gaelic Games in Dublin (Croke Park) has a stand named after Cusack and there are numerous clubs and stadiums named after him around the country.
Where it gets interesting is, 2 years after he helped found the organisation, Cusack had a falling out with other members of the GAA and was fired as secretary. Effectively, kicked out of the organisation he helped create. Like any conflict through history, there's different sides and opinions to the fall out, but it is said he was a domineering character who was notoriously difficult to work with.
I always feel knowing this about Cusack does give weight to Joyce's portrayal of the Citizen in Ulysses!
Loving this video series Chris. You've democratised Joyce in a very fun and unpretentious way, yet you still capture the depth and genius of the book. Can't praise you enough 👍
Your comments add so much to our discussion of the book. I really appreciate that you took the time to write. It's great that you help me out with the historical aspects of the book. Cyclops is such an amazing episode when the reader understands that it is a parody. Again, I really appreciate your participation.
Thanks for a wonderful guided reflection on Cyclops
Chris, You did an absolutely fabulous job with this video. Background, structure, characterisation and most of all meaning described in language I can understand and take with me as I re-read the chapter. Thank you!
How right you are, as always.
You have raised us to Joician lit'racy.
Can't thank you enough.
I wish I had listened to your take on Cyclops before reading it. You made such sense of difficult reading! I will reread the episode with new eyes, thanks to you:-) I very much appreciate the effort you bring to each of your videos. Thank You!
Thank you! This episode is very funny once we understand what's going on. Its terrific parody based on real characters. Great stuff. I hope you are enjoying your own odyssey!
I should have listened to your take on Cyclops before actually reading it. You made such sense of difficult reading. I will definitely reread the chapter. I very much appreciate the effort you put into your videos. Thanks!
Thank you Chris - a well thought through synopsis of the episode. Much appreciated and you're right, Joyce was watching in the 20s the emergence of patterns we are recognising now - the slow car crash
Best video so Far!
Thank you! I appreciate the comment. Keep going!
Thank you so much for your video. I struggled with this episode but your thoughts helped me to take so much more from it. I've found that throughout the book I'm often reminded of the sea, from the long chunks of text by the parodist like waves it felt almsot impossible to ride, to the ideas around sentimentality. Like a shore we are never constant, the tide constantly coming in and going out, driving us forward and pulling us back, bringing new experiences, and washing up debris, from our past and from the lives of those before us, but altered by time. I found it inspiring to see that as well as destroying us though, like the views that erode the humanity of the narrator, these fragments of our history can also be constructive, Bloom's memories of his son and his love for him contributing to him being more what I would 'call a man' than many other characters in the novel.
Thank you, Rachel! Your comments mean a LOT to other readers. And ME! Isn't this episode brilliant?
i love this chapter.. and i agree with your danger of 'again'.. thank you, Chris..
Thank you so much, Chris!! I wish you could stand on a podium in front of a large crowd and spread your insights. Thank goodness for TH-cam so that we could get your message and understand all of the relevant and pertinent information that you have to offer
Blush! That is is very high compliment and I thank you very much. But you get it and I love it! Thank you. I can tell that you are having fun with the book and that is the goal! You come up to the podium and take a bow!
Hello again, Chris!
What a great chapter it is and what a blessing you are for me so that I could understand it better AND get an opportunity to share the emotions and thoughts!
While reading this episode i would actually imagine a bard jumping into the scene, insanely playing his harp, praising this and that 😂 that is a genius way to poopoo sentimentality 😂
But closer to the end of this chapter all the laughter gags in the throat for that now it gets really serious. Bloom is so miserably odd, so Jewish, so jesuschrist-ish here and so alone. And his words of love, would there ever be times when they are not so bitterly desparate.. that hit me hard too.
Also, this chapter made me think about another book: the Idiot. Dostoevsky's Myshkin and Leo Bloom to me seem similar, yet Myshkin is so pitiful and powerless while Bloom has something strong and promising within (oh how i love his last name for same reason!). I do believe he can make changes. So i do believe that we should try too. This inner optimism i like and i hope dearly for the first time ever for a real happy ending ❤️ thank you so much for your company, looking forward to reading Nausicaa
I have read your comment many times and absolutely love what you say here. Thank you so much. You are adding a lot to the Ulysses experience. Yes, your reference to Myshkin touched me. Wonderful observation. Thank you so much. I can really feel that you get this.
Hi Chris,
Thank you so, so much for your videos. I can't tell you how much they are helping me through this incredible novel which I've been wanting to read for decades! Now I'm in the Covid-19 lockdown, this is the ideal opportunity and to have found your guides has put icing on the cake!
This chapter, in particular, I found particularly disturbing, but very interesting and thought-provoking. Joyce's observations on ethno-nationalism were incredibly prescient, particularly if one puts the novel and its publication in the historical context - the 19th-early 20th century concept of a nation state based on ethnic/religious criteria and specifically at a time when Ireland was suffering a period of violence from long-standing cruel colonial repression in its bid for national independence. I visit a country each year that is under a very brutal and restrictive 'colonial' rule which, in addition to other characteristics, tries to obliterate the culture and history of the indigenous population. So I understand where the emphasis in the novel on Irish nationalism, liberation history, politics and culture is coming from; but for Joyce to signal the dangers of ethno-nationalism during this time was amazing! The racism in Cyclops turned my stomach: the racism against Bloom, of course, but also the newsaper story of a lynching and Alf's response. And this came within a catalogue of shocking acts of violence and killings by the British against the Irish. At the end of the chapter I felt drained.
And then there's Bloom: As the novel progresses, I find him an increasingly complex character with all his uncertainties, anxieties, sadness, very good intentions but with an inability to mix in with others (today we'd probably say a 'lack of social skills') and a tendency to 'lecture' people. Very much the outsider and not just because he's Jewish. I do agree that in this chapter he's learning to fight back.
I won't start on my amazement and appreciation over Joyce's humour and mastery of language and style - I've gone on for long enogh!
Just to say again thank you, thank you, Chris. I'm so much looking forward to continuing with Ulysses with your help.
Keep safe! All the very best,
Jenny
You are AMAZING! I love the depth of your comments. Thank you for taking the time. Your comments will help others. You show GREAT insight in your words. Thank you again.
Thanks for this, it really helped me get deeper into the chapter and your overview of heroic systems gives gives a label to a thread I've been following through this book as well as other recent reading, namely the toxicity of most victim based hero systems. I think it's time for me to finally read Rene Girard!
Hi Robert! How is it going? I love your comments and sorry I did reply sooner. Keep going! Thank you so much.
Bravooo…great Chris
Once again I appreciate your helpful commentary very much! Your parody of Trump helps understand the parallelism to the worldwide resurfacing of nationalistic ambition in contemporary societies. It is truly frustrating to see that race, ethnicity or nation still constitutes identities that excludes others. I think enlightening material like Ulysses, that explores the human mind, can show us that although unique and individual or from different cultures speaking a different language, we can be connected and respectful to each other. Bloom does exactly that. His embracing, open-minded, respectful and sober modernity of character makes Bloom a true pioneer-hero and important in today's times.Thank you a lot, Chris!!
Wow, that is beautifully expressed. Thank you for that. I found it interesting that Joyce could express a subject like that so distinctly 100 years ago. Sad that a rise in nationalism takes us to the same place today. This is one reason why I respect this book so much. Imagine writing a book about a single day in a given place that would hold up 100 years on. You nailed it, Gigi!
Fantastic analysis. I’m halfway through reading this chapter and I was struggling, this has helped give it some context. Thank you.
Congratulations! You will make it through the book. Read for fun and keep going. Let me know if I can help you.
@@TeachUBusiness Hello Chris. Thank you for replying :-) That was a few months back now and I’ve I since finished it!!! ... and I watched every single one of your videos. The most incredible and challenging book I’ve ever read. It’s made me realise just how wildly creative the novel format can be. Thank you so very much for your guidance, I’ll be watching all your videos when I go through a second time.
Thank you very much for jour vision about the novel.
Great explanation Chris❤
Great video. Thanks for relating the chapter to days we were living. I am Brazilian and 4 years ahead from your talk here. Unfortunately the chapter is highly conected to our times. It is brilliant, brings mockery but leaves a bitter taste.
Thank you for this! I was very confused by this chapter. I'd been thinking of the "Parodist" as being the the wild alcohol influenced daydreams of the Citizen.
Hi, Chris! I am Brazilian and I almost gave up Ulysses reading this chapter, even understanding the dry humour present in the 33 parodies. It is so inflated that it was difficult to get through. Thanks for your help, now I can go on with the reading.
Thank you! I am so happy that you got some encouragement from the video. Your comments help other and I am very grateful to you. Thank you from California to Brazil! You must be very intelligent to be reading this book and I promise you a very rich experience if you finish. Thank you again.
P.S. - In Brazil, by the way, we live a similar political situation that you are living in USA. 😢
Great video!
Thank you for your comment. It means a lot to me to hear from you.
"I was just going to throw it away."
The piece on Trump was amazing!
Try the same about Obama, it would be more funny, I guess
thank you! your final comments about MAGA...wow...you nailed this...beautiful...
An absolutely wonderful review of this chapter! Thank you Chris!
Thank you! Stick to the end and you'll be rewarded! This episode is wonderfully written as parody and satire.
Thank you so much for watching. Your comments are welcome! What are your thoughts on Cyclops?
I've read parts of it before, in a very loose usage of "read." I took a course on Joyce my second semester in college but I didn't get much out of it and I burned out somewhere during the reading of ULYSSES, though it's too long ago for me to say where in the book that happened. When the Gabler edition was published in the '80s, I bought a copy (same one I'm reading now) and got somewhere into the Nausicaa chapter (based on my marginal notes) before giving up. However, I'm certain that reading it in my thirties and using Gilbert's book as a guide didn't really give me a vastly deeper or more enjoyable experience than before, particularly compared to now.
The resources available to me at this point are vast thanks to the Internet. By watching your videos before reading a chapter, then listening to the book being read aloud by a group of actors while reading the text and consulting either the online version of the Annotated ULYSSES or Gifford's more complete annotated volume upon which the latter is based, and finally reading the relevant chapters from the Blamires book and Richard Ellmann's ULYSSES ON THE LIFFEY, and RE-JOYCE by Anthony Burgess, I am having a very rich and thought-provoking experience indeed. And still just scratching the surface.
As we know, there is a plethora of critical writing available on ULYSSES. There have been specific words, phrases, and short passages that I wanted glossed that have led me to excerpts from books via GOOGLE BOOKS, generally to my profit, though it should come as no surprise that I have been stymied on more than a few occasions thus far in finding out what Joyce was up to on even the shallowest level with some things. Since I'm not a first time reader (despite never having previously finished the book, a status soon to be changed), and coming from a background as a doctoral student in literature in the 1970s (though that degree remains forever incomplete ;^) ), I don't feel like someone making the error of not eating the chocolate cake! I'm gobbling it down a chapter at a time (almost a chapter a day now), and enjoying every morsel. I can't recommend highly enough listening to the audiobook ("ULYSSES Audiobook. RTE Radio 1982) posted on TH-cam by de Selby). The actors are Irish and if nothing else hearing things pronounced authentically makes a huge positive difference in a host of ways. I could go on about this production, but I think if your followers try it they will quickly grasp what I'm talking about.
So to sum up, no, this isn't my first read, but it will be my first complete one. ;^) And I have you to thank for inspiring me to undertake it.
That means a lot, Michael. This book has so many layers that I can barely scratch the surface in the videos. That's an amazing statement considering the hours of video produced so far. My purpose was to crack the book open enough to allow people to squeeze in! Once the reader gets a taste of Joyce's funhouse, they will want to explore every room. The fact that we use so many resources to read a novel is in itself a wonder! If a few people try the book and from those, a handful survive their own odyssey, the goal of these videos will be met. As of this writing, I have to conclude Ithaca and Penelope. That will conclude the series. It's been great fun hearing from people all over the world and I look forward to the thoughts of the survivors when we finish. Thank you again, Michael, for all you are adding. The comments from readers are encouraging for other readers. Sláinte!
Thank you for that. I knew on listening to the text that I needed help and you gave it, in a kind, friendly, down-to-earth manner. Now I can
look forward to reading the original.
Hi Chris, your video has helped me quite a bit in better understanding the chapter and the underlying themes, particularly in regards to the pariodist. I'm not sure you'll even see this but I have been doing an assignment which I am still struggling with a bit and I just wondered if you or maybe someone in the comments section might have some advice. I'm just gonna post the brief below and continue to work on it but would appreciate any advice. Thanks.
Option Two: James Joyce, “Cyclops” chapter of Ulysses
Did I kill him, says he, or what?
And he shouting to the bloody dog:
After him, Garry! After him, boy!
And the last we saw was the bloody car rounding the corner and old sheepface on it gesticulating and the bloody mongrel after it with his lugs back for all he was bloody well worth to tear him limb from limb. Hundred to five! Jesus, he took the value of it out of him, I promise you.
When, lo, there came about them all a great brightness and they beheld the chariot wherein He stood ascend to heaven. And they beheld Him in the chariot, clothed upon in a glory of the brightness, having raiment as of the sun, fair as the moon and terrible that for awe they durst not look upon Him. And there came a voice out of heaven, calling: Elijah! Elijah! And he answered with a main cry: Abba! Adonai! And they beheld Him, ben Bloom Elijah, amid clouds of angels ascend to the glory of the brightness at an angle of fortyfive degress over Donohoe’s in Little Green Street like a shot off a shovel.
Discuss the ways in which this ending relates to the rest of the chapter. Issues you might like to consider are: why does Joyce equate Bloom with a Jewish prophet? How does this relate to the themes of anti-Semitism and nationalism in the chapter? Why is this association of a parodic kind? How does parody in general work and how does it undermine the Citizen’s nationalism? Is Bloom also associated with Christ towards the end of the chapter (cf. “sheepface” above)? How does this passage and the chapter as a whole retell the Cyclops story from the Odyssey? There is a plot and theme summary on Blackboard which will help you with some of these issues.
Hi Greg. Where are you located? Maybe we can discuss this? In general, the video does cover the questions of the assignment. E.g., it is pretty obvious why Bloom is associated with a Jewish prophet being that he is Jewish man in a Catholic country. Joyce uses parody beatifully in this episode to make both anti-semitism and nationalism look absurd. We know that the dog is an old and slow slobbering mutt and not the ferocious defender of the faith that is portrayed. Think about what it means to have one eye. There is no depth perception. Joyce gives a character who sees a very distorted, one dimensional world. Oh man, I want to go on and on with this...it is quite late as I write and will gather clear thoughts tomorrow. Meantime, email me if you would like...chris at teachu dot com.
Funniest chapter yet.
I can't believe how many people miss the hilarity of this chapter. They get wrapped up in the "symbols" and miss the humor.
Bravo on the Trump analogy
Thank you! I try to stay out of politics but Trump is another story!
You can probably make an whole video on all the interesting stuff we can see in your background...! 😅😅
Christ's uncle was a Jew - Joseph of Arimethea, who allowed Christ to borrow his tomb for 3 days.
Also notice how the cyclope has one eye, as in the nationalist has only sight of his political issues (gaining Home Rule or independence). He has no eyes for other issues and becomes blind for them (anti-semitism, racism, homophobia etc.)
I love these videos and I've found them very helpful.
Really though when he's says His father and Uncle were Jews he was right. Joseph and his brothers or Mary's bothers were Jews
Yes indeed. This episode says a lot about Bloom and the Cyclops is certainly a pertinent character today. Thank you for commenting.
CYCLOPS
Homer’s Cyclops is a giant-savage-cave-dwelling-man who eats men for lunch. Odysseus finds himself captive in Cyclops’ cave and his heroic escape is a memorable episode in the Odyssey. Odysseus blinds the savage by poking his eye out with a spear.
In Joyce’s version the Cyclops is a man called the citizen. Joyce is not a bloody minded man. So how does he handle his Cyclops episode?
The citizen is widely known in Dublin bars as man who knows what Ireland’s problems are and how to solve them. Ireland has no natural faults and it is the foreigners who have the dirty laundry and must be expelled.
Bloom is not in the bar to share drinks. He joins the drinkers by smoking a cigar. He is on a good will mission with others to help find a way the family of his deceased friend Paddy Dignam can cash the insurance policy.
Bloom is slightly Jewish. He makes the mistake of identifying himself as such, even though he was born in Ireland.
-And I belong to a race too, says Bloom, that is hated and persecuted. Also now. This very moment. This very instant.
The citizen has nailed Bloom as a foreigner. After a few drinks, Bloom is just not Irish enough to suit the citizen. Bloom must run out of the bar into the street and mount a horse drawn carriage to escape impending violence.
Joyce has Bloom win the argument by giving a bloodless lesson to the citizen on love over hate.
-But it’s no use, says he. Force, hatred, history, all that. That’s not life for men and women, insult and hatred. And everybody knows that it’s the very opposite of that that is really life.
-What? says Alf.
-Love, says Bloom. I mean the opposite of hatred. I must go now, says he to John Wyse. Just round to the court a moment to see if Martin is there. If he comes just say I’ll be back in a second. Just a moment.
Who’s hindering you?
And off he pops like greased lightning.
-A new apostle to the gentiles, says the citizen. Universal love.
-Well, says John Wyse, isn’t that what we’re told? Love your neighbours.
-That chap? says the citizen. Beggar my neighbour is his motto. Love, Moya! He’s a nice pattern of a Romeo and Juliet.
Bloom has returned to the bar, heated words are exchanged and Bloom completes his exit.
The citizen Cyclops does manage to run to the street door and throw a handy biscuit tin at Bloom in the departing carriage. The citizen's dog chases Bloom out of the bar.
-Hold on, citizen, says Joe. Stop.
Begob he drew his hand and made a swipe and let fly. Mercy of God the sun was in his eyes or he’d have left him for dead. Gob, he near sent it into the county Longford. The bloody nag took fright and the old mongrel after the car like bloody hell and all the populace shouting and laughing and the old tinbox clattering along the street.
The catastrophe was terrific and instantaneous in its effect. The observatory of Dunsink registered in all eleven shocks, all of the fifth grade of Mercalli’s scale, and there is no record extant of a similar seismic disturbance in our island since the earthquake of 1534, the year of the rebellion of Silken Thomas.
Joyce, James. Ulysses (Penguin Modern Classics) (Kindle Locations 8391-8393). Penguin UK. Kindle Edition.
No blood in Joyce’s Ulysses
This video has aged like milk.
I feel that the parody sections seriously distract from the heavyweight subject matter of this chapter. The parodies would perhaps be actually funny in my opinion if they were not composed of endless boring lists. I get the point of them: to mock the sentimentality that is inherent to ultra nationalism and rising fascism. But the parodies undermine what is very effective dialogue, which I feel would flow as smoothly as a play, if not constantly interrupted by somewhat obvious and longwinded satire.
This seems to me to be Bloom's turning point moment, when he stops shying away from the blatant bullying he has been experiencing throughout the novel, and stands up for himself and what he knows to be moral. Its a true Hero's Journey moment, that is really great... but because of all the parodies this gets lost amongst a quagmire of literary "cleverness." And the impact of Bloom's decisive and justified rebuttals of the Citizen's unChristian statements & behaviour is severely diminished.
But despite these criticisms this is one of those Ulysses chapters you've just got to love... even if one loves to hate it a bit! Ha!
The parodies don't have to be funny. They are, in this case because they are brilliantly written but Joyce makes fun of taking political positions too seriously. Imagine the fun he'd have today! I suspect that one day you'll read this chapter again and get a laugh. This book tends to bloom the more you read it. Sort of like my lengthy chocolate cake video.
Counter to the statement that this is a difficult chapter i found it one of the easiest. But then I am a political, hstorical, and piss taker.
no politics but MAGA probably has more to do with industry not slavery and immigration and all the bad things you can pick out of a hat ... and no I'm not pro trump
... the word GREAT is a "Nominalization" and is popular among politicians, they use terms that are vague and undefined and have different meanings to different people
Very helpful to explain the role of the parodist. I’d not realised this. Thanks 👏👏