"I've put in so many enigmas and puzzles that it will keep the professors busy for centuries arguing over what I meant." – James Joyce.
NOTE: There is a time change for next week’s call: By request, it will be one hour earlier so that members can watch one of the most highly anticipated and surreal U.S. presidential debates in history.
Second Note: There are 15 faces in the optical illusion above, which is what Monday's book call was all about...
Before we recap this week’s call and share the details for next week, here are some bonuses for Book Club participants…
Bonus number 1: A helpful Podcast explaining all the details of James Joyce’s literary work:
http://blog.frankdelaney.com/re-joyce/
Bonus number 2: In case you want to listen to Joseph Campbell narrating while you drive:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2hy62n_wings-of-art-joseph-campbell-on-james-joyce-2-6_creation
Last Monday was the official second meeting of the Steemit Book Club, as we picked our way through the bread crumbs, peeled the layered mysteries, and deciphered the Latin phrases strewn throughout the brain-picking classic that is Ulysses.
For those who missed the SBC meeting, here’s a quick recap. Or you can skip straight to the recording below:
We started last Monday’s session by exploring the similarities between one of Ulysses’ main characters, Stephen Dedalus (based on a young Joyce) and Homer’s Telemachus from The Odyssey.
We then dove into the parallels between Dedalus and Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
And then we looked at Dedalus as representing Ireland (especially the artist), and his housemate Haines as England.
Then Dedalus as Jesus, with Leopold Bloom as the Father.
Soon we were down the rabbit hole: What ties these themes together is that Dedalus, Telemachus, Hamlet, and Ireland are/were all dealing with usurpers. With people coming to stay, using them, and putting them in menial positions.
Now add in the father/son relationship of Odysseus and Telemachus, the symbolic father/son relationship of Dedalus and Bloom, and the consubstantial relationship of Jesus/God (theorized to be of the same substance).
And—stay with me here—now imagine Joyce layering all these metaphors, parallels, and symbols into one sentence or paragraph, and you have the first chapter of Ulysses.
As one Book Club member said in the steemit chat room: It’s like an onion of parallelisms.
Puzzles that will keeps professor busy for centuries? That doesn’t seem so far-fetched after all.
Yet we managed to crack the first chapter so everyone could understand it, and leave the first chapter with Dedalus/Telemachus about to begin his wanderings: “I will not sleep here tonight. Home also I cannot go.”
If you want to join us in our weekly head-scratching, mind-expanding adventures, you can find the details below. But first, here’s the entire recording of the second Steemit Book Club meeting:
https://soundcloud.com/user-655948001/steemit-book-club-meeting-part-2
NEXT WEEK’S SBC CALL
Steemit Book Club, Session 3
Book: James Joyce, Ulysses (Preferably Gabler Edition)
Reading Assignment: Chapter two, which is a small one.
Date: Monday, September 26
Time: 5 p.m. PST / 8 p.m. EST / 1 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
Reminder: The weekly meeting will start one hour earlier than usual, due to popular demand since many Book Club members want to watch the shitshow immediately afterward.
Don't forget to download this one-page map to Ulysses, which we mentioned on the call. It will be a huge help with the readings:
To answer some of the most recurring questions, here you can find a free ebook:
On Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/Ulysses-James-Joyce-ebook/dp/B002RKT6QK#nav-subnav
Or in any format you prefer: http://manybooks.net/titles/joycejametext03ulyss12.html
However, I strongly recommend getting the paperback version of the Gabler edition. Besides being my favorite, it has line numbers in the margins so we can all communicate clearly and be “on the same page.” You’ll notice on the call that it was a challenge when we weren’t:
https://www.amazon.com/Ulysses-original-James-Joyce-ebook/dp/B017WQ5WTI/
The good news for those who missed the second meeting is that we have only read the first chapter so far. So it’s not too late if you’re just seeing this: You can be caught up in no time to join us for our third session.
(See the preliminary post for more details but in a nutshell, all Steem Dollars generated from the weekly posts of the Book Club will be divided equally among book club members after finishing each book.)
This is shaping up to be an interesting adventure and we hope that you can join us.
Best,
P.S.: Note that the Comments section of this post will also serve as a discussion forum for the current reading.