Reading Matters

Want to read James Joyce's 'Ulysses'? Here's some tips that might help you

You want to read James Joyce's Ulysses but are too scared to tackle it. You've picked it up once or twice. You might have even read a chapter or two. But then you've abandoned the book — and felt like a failure.

Many of us have been there. I tried to read the novel in my early 20s. I got about a third of the way into it, then put it down and never picked it up again. A year or two later, too ashamed to keep the book in my personal library, I sold it to a second-hand store just to be rid of the damn thing.

But then last month I set upon a mission to read it in three weeks — to have it finished by Bloomsday — and found myself thoroughly enjoying it. The key is not to get too concerned with understanding every single reference, but just go with the flow, and if all else fails, read bits of it out loud and buy yourself a guide to help you along.

Or you could try a different route — and learn to read it while in Dublin.

Dr Eibhlín Evans, an academic and writer, set up The Flying Book Club to do just that — and a lot more besides. The organisation, based in a gorgeous Georgian building not far from St Stephen's Green, runs all kinds of literary programmes for visitors to Dublin who want to learn more about the city's literary history and Irish literature in general. (You can find out about their programmes for book-lovers via the official website — now if only I could convince my book group to sign up for a three-day trip!)

When I visited Dublin last month I attended a three-hour session on "Feel the Fear and Read it Anyway!" which provided tips on reading Ulysses for those who have always been too scared to tackle it.

Even though I had recently finished reading the book — just two days earlier, in fact — it was an inspiring session. If only I'd attended it before I had read the book, the challenge would have been far less daunting.

During the session, held on a damp rainy Friday afternoon, Dr Evans put the book into context and gave us some background to Joyce's troubled life. Dr Mark Quinn also gave us some tips on reading the book, and then we were treated to a lively and animated reading by a Dubliner, who really got into the spirit of it and brought Joyce's work to life. In fact, he had us all roaring with laughter. (It was the bit in Barney Kiernan's pub that ends with the anti-semitic "citizen" hurling a biscuit tin at Bloom's head while his dog gives chase.)

I took some notes, and what follows is a mix of tips I picked up from those who were there, including the dozen or so people in the audience:

• Ulysses has a difficult reputation — and not without reason. It has a structure, a narrative and a voice that you probably have never come across before

• It is a "novel of ideas"

• It was written at a time when the world was going through a period of radical uncertainty — psychology was a new science, religion was being challenged by Darwinism, gender issues were coming to the fore with the suffragette movement and history was no longer viewed as a reliable narrative

• It was written at a time when Nationalism was on the rise in Ireland. And what better way to analyse a country than by having your central character — Leopold Bloom, the Irish-born Jew — as an outsider, with an outsider's keen eye and dispassionate way of looking at things

• The main character is an anti-hero — he is an ordinary man with ordinary problems trying to get by like everyone else

• The book depicts the inner reality of its characters, rather than an outer reality. This is achieved chiefly through stream-of-consciousness and inner dialogue

• It is helpful to look at the book as if it was a newspaper, with each chapter like a different section
  

• Note that each chapter is written in a different literary style and is often themed around a particular subject or idea
  

• It is not necessary to understand every reference in the book. If you don't understand something, don't get hung up on it — just keep reading!

• If you get really stuck, try reading some of it out loud — or listen to an audio version to get to grips with the Dublin vernacular

I would add that the more widely you read — everything from historical drama to post-modern fiction — the easier you will find Ulysses to tackle, because the book is essentially a history of English literary styles condensed into one volume. In many ways, when I tackled it, I felt like I'd been in training for it my whole life.

If you're still too scared, take The Flying Book Club's advice and feel the fear but read it anyway!

I travelled to Dublin and attended this event as a guest of Tourism Ireland. Many thanks to Dr Eibhlín Evans and The Flying Book Club for the warm Irish welcome, delicious afternoon tea and wonderful discussion — it was the highlight of my trip.

A very Bloomsday pub quiz, plus a little competition of my own

So you think you know Ulysses... but how well do you know Dublin, and, more specifically, the Dublin of 1904?

Me? I know zilch, zippo, nada.

Oh, okay, I knew the answer to one question.

Q. In what moral pub did Bloom have his vegetarian snack?

But pretty much everything else went right over the top of my head.

Where was the main train terminus in Dublin in 1904? What is the connection between Ground Hog Day and James Joyce? What is the motto of the city of Dublin, and what does it mean? Night-time centred on what famous street? And so on and so forth.

Fortunately, I didn't lumber any particular team with my complete lack of knowledge. When I arrived at the Mint Bar at the Westin Hotel for the first annual Great Hibernian Metropolis Pub Quiz I opted to sit on the sidelines and watch the action.

This basically meant I perched on a bar stool, drank (expensive) pints of Guinness, and nibbled on (free) bar snacks. Well, someone had to do it.

To celebrate my inability to properly participate in the quiz, I thought I'd give you the chance to show-off your own knowledge. The first person to answer the question in bold above correctly will win a little something: I promise to send you a suitably Joycean souvenir from Dublin. But no cheating!

A Bloomsday stroll through northside Dublin, courtesy of the James Joyce Centre

Breakfast over and done with, and it was time to walk in the footsteps of Leopold Bloom.

I arrived at the James Joyce Centre just in time to join a group of (mainly elderly) Americans for a one-hour wander around the northside locations that feature in Ulysses.

Perhaps it was me, but I found the walk a bit under-whelming. We saw Eccles Street, which is where Leopold and Molly Bloom lived in the novel, but their house at No. 7 has long since been demolished, so we kind of had to imagine what it might have looked like. This picture (right) shows our guide standing at 78 Eccles Street, which has been named "Bloom House" (although it has no actual connection with Ulysses) reading an extract from the novel. She pointed out that the Bloom residence would have looked quite similar. Do note the black railings, which Leopold clambers over when he forgets his key to the front door.

Speaking of which, our guide tells us that Joyce wrote a letter to his Sandymount-based aunt, when he was researching his novel, to ask whether she thought it possible for a grown man to climb over the railings without doing himself serious damage. She said yes, although our guide suggested that she probably only said it to keep him happy; it would have been too strenuous a journey, in those days, to travel from Sandymount, a suburb in the south, to Eccles Street, in the north, just to check the validity of her claim.

Our walk also took in Belvedere College, which Joyce attended; the birth-place of Oliver St. John Gogarty, whom the character of Buck Mulligan is based on; and the Charles Stewart Parnell monument on O'Connell Street, whose presence looms large in the novel (the person, not the statue).

When the walk concluded, near the General Post Office, I headed back to the James Joyce Centre for a look around.

The centre's very tiny courtyard garden houses the original door from No 7. Eccles Street, but, somewhat alarmingly, the small gold plaque alongside it reveals that it is owned by the UK retail giant Marks & Spencer! Talk about selling your Irish heritage to the English "enemy".

Inside, I quite enjoyed watching three short documentaries about the reception of Ulysses upon publication in 1922, Joyce's relationship with the National Library of Ireland and Joyce's influence on literature in the 20th century.

I think writer Frank McGuinness summed it up perfectly when he said there's an industry around Joyce that means nothing in comparison to the joy that the novel brings to the reader, and it is the novel we should remember and revere and celebrate rather than the fact we bought a t-shirt or took part in Bloomsday. Wise words, indeed.

The James Joyce Centre is located at 35 North Great George's Street, Dublin. It organises walks all year round. You can find out more by visiting the official website.

A very Bloomsday breakfast

So, I know I was joking about the kidneys for breakfast thing in my last post, but never a truer word was spoken in jest. I turn up for the 9.30am Bloomsday Breakfast in The Gresham Ballroom only to find that they have laid on a very literal interpretation of Ulyssean fare. I'm talking sausages, kidneys, white pudding and black pudding.

I'm a fussy carnivore at the best of times (I don't eat red meat or pig products), so I was kicking myself I hadn't taken advantage of the free continental breakfast at my hotel. Still, I made do with some cooked mushrooms, half a tomato and a boiled egg, all washed down with very strong coffee and freshly squeezed orange juice.

I'm not sure I would have been able to survive Dublin in 1904 if the only thing available for breakfast was meat and offal!

 

Still, I can't complain. Mid-way through our meal, the mayor arrived and then we were treated to a cameo appearance by Buck Mulligan (that's him in the canary-yellow dressing gown above left), followed by Leopold Bloom himself.

It was about this time that my camera decided to have a malfunction -- and the three camera batteries I had with me didn't want to work! Never mind. It meant I could enjoy the performances for what they were, instead of filtering it all through a camera lense.

It was quite a hilarious experience all up. Hearing Joyce read aloud by actors who really inhabited their parts, both in accent and mannerisms, made the book truly come alive. And because Ulysses is fresh in my mind, it felt wonderful to identify and remember all the extracts, which covered the entire novel, from Buck Mulligan having his shave in the opening chapter, to Molly Bloom's soliloquy at the end.

It was a terrific start to the day, even if I felt decidedly under-dressed in combat trousers and a summer top. Most of the guests were outfitted in Edwardian attire, with straw boaters aplenty. Even the five-month old baby at our table was donned up in period costume! Mental note for next time: hire an outfit!

I travelled to Dublin and attended this event as a guest of Tourism Ireland.

Happy Bloomsday from Dublin, Ireland

Yes, your intrepid blogger is in Dublin again! Some of you will be wondering why I don't just up sticks and move here. This is the third time in three months that I have visited this fair city, and it's the second time I've been invited as a guest of Tourism Ireland. The city is beginning to look -- and feel -- very familiar.

This time I am here to celebrate that quintessential Joycean experience known as Bloomsday, something I've always wanted to do, but something I didn't feel I ought to do until I had read Ulysses first.

I arrived in Dublin late yesterday afternoon feeling a little out of sorts. I couldn't muster the enthusiasm to attend an 'Operas and Arias' concert (featuring music from Joyce's era) in St Stephen's Green, but I managed to go for a little walk in and around the area where I am staying just to get some fresh air. The city seemed to be buzzing. It felt quite summery, quite upbeat, with loads of tourists dawdling along, buskers doing their thing up Grafton Street, and others eating and drinking outdoors in the sunshine.

I was soon feeling my old self again thanks to the curative power of a browse in Hodges Figgis, followed by a delicious chicken curry. A good, restful sleep, in a super comfortable hotel bed has hopefully set me up for the day ahead.

Today's agenda looks suitably Joycean -- and busy. There's a VIP Bloomsday breakfast at the Gresham Hotel, followed by a visit to the James Joyce Centre and a walking tour of James Joyce's Dublin, taking in key northside locations from Ulysses such as Leopold and Molly Bloom's residence on Eccles Street.

In the evening, we'll be squaring off and putting our knowledge -- or in my case total lack of knowledge -- to the test in a charity pub quiz specialising in "1904 Dublin". God help the poor sods who end up with me in their team!

Of course, I know many of you would dearly love to be here joining in the festivities, so rest assured I'll publish a full report as soon as I am able.

You might also want to keep tabs on dovegreyreader's blog, because I believe Lynne is attending too, although we are yet to bump into each other. That will probably happen over the grilled mutton kidneys with their "fine tang of faintly scented urine" which they offer us at breakfast a little later! Hehehe.

A rap tribute to James Joyce by Frank Delaney

Yesterday I finished reading Ulysses by James Joyce, just in time for Bloomsday, which is tomorrow (June 16). I loved the book. It was challenging, and I'm sure much of it went over my head, but I enjoyed the humour, the playful use of language and the parody of different literary styles. I'll update my reading notes in due course.

In the meantime, here's a little tribute to James Joyce by Irish author Frank Delaney that sums up the man's genius better than I ever could. Enjoy!