“There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says "Morning, boys. How's the water?" And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes, "What the hell is water?”
― David Foster Wallace, This is Water.
In book nine of Homer’s Odyssey, we find Odysseus and his men being driven by some unforgiving violent storms for days on end until they finally end up at the shores of the island of Lotus.
After the struggle comes the relief, and it’s upon the warm sands of the firm land where they realized that they’ve successfully survived the storm. A storm that was sent by Zeus to drag them all across the ocean for nine straight days and causing them to lose six of their fellow crew members in the process.
Upon disembarking, it doesn’t take long before Odysseus and his men make acquaintance with the friendly native inhabitants. As you might have guessed, the locals are called: The Lotus Eaters.
And the reason they were given that name is because the islanders mostly eat fruit from a local plant or tree that is known as Lotus, which scholars believe is the jujube fruit.
The hosts offer this mysterious exotic fruit to Odysseus and his men.
And that’s where things get interesting.
As it turns out, that Lotus in question is as delicious as it is stupefying. Not only does it induce forgetfulness, but it also puts you in an almost dreamlike state.
Falling prey to the lotus, several of Odysseus’s men totally forget about both their mission and their destination, so much so that Odysseus himself has to force a number of his men back to the ship and even tie them up in case they want to escape.
So you can assume that there are going to be a lot of drug references in…
CHAPTER FIVE: THE LOTUS EATERS
It is 11 a.m and Leopold Bloom is walking towards the post office. He suddenly stops walking to gaze at a window while he reads the labels on some Oriental tea. Reflecting on this, his mind starts drifting away imagining the warm atmosphere of the orient.
Once at the post office, Leopold picks up a letter from Martha, a woman who responded to a classified ad he ran under a pseudonym, Henry Flower. He grabs his shady letter and starts wandering around in the streets trying to find a quiet place to read her words.
He is drifting, in a way, further away from his home in the same way Odysseus and his men were sidetracked in their journey home to Ithaca.
“I am sorry you did not like my last letter.” – Martha.
Bloom takes one last look at that letter, which also contained a yellow flower pressed inside of it. He then swiftly throws it away and walks inside a nearby church during mass.
Question for the Comments below: What is that “other word” that Martha says in the letter that she does not like?
As was pointed out on the call, Flower is part of the thematic imagery of this chapter, and is related to the word Bloom as well.
During mass, Leopold’s mind starts to travel. Being an outsider, it seems as if Leopold was in almost a state of awe while observing the ritual ceremonies, and the quasi-cannibalism of the Eucharist. He goes on to describe the symbolic actions and gestures of the priest using a unique, humorous, and blasphemous tone.
And suddenly, you start to wonder: Perhaps it’s not just opium and other drugs that are like the stupefying lotus flower. Maybe Joyce is saying that in modern times, something else is the opiate of the masses.
Tell us what you think.
If you want more, below you can find the entire recording of last session:
https://soundcloud.com/user-920645529/steemit-book-club-part-6
Note from Neil: Wasn’t at my best on this call, so my least favorite session so far. Couldn’t read some of my tiny, scrawled notes in the margins of the book!
NEXT WEEK’S SBC CALL
Steemit Book Club, Session 7
Book: James Joyce, Ulysses (Preferably Gabler Edition)
Reading Assignment: Chapter Six (“Hades”)
Date: Monday, October 31st
Time: 6 p.m. PST / 9 p.m. EST / 2 a.m. GMT / 11 a.m. (Tuesday) UTC
Phone: (800) 719-6100 or (218) 339-7800, access code 629-1831#
Web audio link (and location for international call-in
numbers): https://hello.freeconference.com/conf/call/6291831
Chat: #steemit-book-club channel on steemit.chat
Extras and Bonuses
Bonus #1:
Here’s an annotated guide to Ulysses that could be used as a map to the book, keep it close because it could be a huge help with the readings.
Bonus #2: A short podcast interpreting every single line of Ulysses with painstaking accuracy
http://blog.frankdelaney.com/re-joyce/
Courtesy of
Bonus #3: For those of us who have heavy schedules, this audio with the words of wisdom from Joseph Campbell is a true gift.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2hy62n_wings-of-art-joseph-campbell-on-james-joyce-2-6_creation
Courtesy of
Bonus #4: A short book covering the basics, and all you need to know to understand and love Ulysses.
https://www.amazon.com/Read-Love-James-Joyces-Ulysses-ebook/dp/B00N2A6QN0/
Courtesy of
Best,
P.S. Note that the Comments section of this post will also serve as a discussion forum for the current reading.