[Rick Mullin]

I'm liking the title "Ulysses" more and more. ~,:^)

[Mark McDonnell]

Hi Nemo,

I’ll take “Bingo!” for now, thank you.

Hi Alexandra,

Thanks for giving me your detailed thoughts on this. I think I’ve sorted the technicalities of the epigram out so it passes muster. There is lots of humour and absurdity in the novel and some of that finds its way, however obliquely, into the poem: Bloom on the toilet, Bloom having a biscuit tin thrown at him etc. And the epigram’s inadvertent pun seemed a nice way of showing that one of the other things the book is concerned with is the absurdity and complexity of language itself. I’m glad you like the new title.

I can’t deny that the poem will probably go down better for someone who knows the book pretty well, and even better if they like it ha. I thought it was fantastic. Perhaps if I had been forced to study it, I might think differently. The opening line is a reference to the (fairly famous, I think) opening sentence of the book: “Stately, plump Buck Mulligan came from the stairhead, bearing a bowl of lather on which a razor and a mirror lay crossed”. And the “from” in the lines

from inner organs, outhouse defecation,
from dodging biscuit tins to spilling seed
on twilit siren sands

just refers back to the previous line’s, “slog from crib to tomb”. They are all events in Bloom’s day that form part of this “slog”.

I’m glad you enjoyed some of this, at least. I realise it’s a fairly niche endeavour.

Hi Rick!

Ha. Hmm. Is the new title a little too florid, do you think? I think I like it…

[Alexandra Baez]

Perhaps if I had been forced to study it, I might think differently.

Well, I can’t claim that I was—it was an elective course, though I barely knew what I was getting into. Actually, we read it side-by-side with Homer’s Odyssey, so I was helped a lot by being thus alerted to the presence of parallels (however tenuous) between the two books. That and being able to discuss it weekly with our lively, intelligent professor and a small class of seven, plus getting college credits for it all, actually leavened the experience considerably for me (making it feel about more than just the book)!

The opening line is a reference to the (fairly famous, I think) opening sentence of the book: “Stately, plump Buck Mulligan came from the stairhead, bearing a bowl of lather on which a razor and a mirror lay crossed”.

Oh, yes--okay, not a new mystery. I remember that now, probably more from having heard it quoted before than from having read it in the book. So, here’s a good example of a place in your poem where specific knowledge of the book is quite important.

And the “from” in the lines

from inner organs, outhouse defecation,
from dodging biscuit tins to spilling seed
on twilit siren sands

just refers back to the previous line’s, “slog from crib to tomb”. They are all events in Bloom’s day that form part of this “slog”.

All right; what threw me here most was “inner organs,” which I wouldn’t call an “event,” and also, it’s a mite complicating that amid all the “-ing” ending verbs is the noun “defecation” instead of the more expectable “defecating.” But I do realize you’ve got meter and rhyme to consider.

I realise it’s a fairly niche endeavour.

Well, you certainly have discovered a big stretch of that niche here on the Sphere. To your credit, the poem carries a strong tang of the book, which a poem about a book probably ought to do, and which is an admirable feat in its own right.

[Jim Moonan]

Originally Posted by A. Baez

To your credit, the poem carries a strong tang of the book, which a poem about a book probably ought to do, and which is an admirable feat in its own right.

Yes I agree. Your sonnetization of it is a crystallization of it. You may have saved it from its own impenetrability. But its impenetrability is what secures it to its immortal place in literature, I guess.

On the heels of Alexandra's stolid crit of the book itself, I must admit that I muddled through it more than absorbed it at the time I read it. (Everybody was reading it). I stuck with it solely on the fumes of Portrait of the Artist and Dubliners which are fantastic imo. Perhaps my opinion would change if I read it now but I'm not about to try.

I personally loved the mirror and razor crossed as well as the first four lines that capture the book's opening so well. The shaving scene at the start of the day n the tower is so heavily symbolic it levitates.

Imo I suggest you hold onto this one and put it where it can get the most exposure to James Joyce/Ulysses fans. I can imagine it going viral in a universe of Joyce readers.
Strangely, the book itself is relegated to being something of a footnote to your poem for me. It's the ultimate cliff note. I mean that in the best way possible.

.

[R. Nemo Hill]

I have not read the book but I love the poem.

Nemo

[Mark McDonnell]

Alexandra, Jim, Nemo. Thanks for coming back, you three.

I read Ulysses in the spirit of fun and adventure and because, like Jim, I'd loved Joyce's shorter stuff. Also, I'd just read The Odyssey properly for the first time (Robert Fagles translation) so I thought "now's the time, if ever". Certainly, the novel can be hard work sometimes but not half as much as I was anticipating. And if I sometimes found myself lost, it didn't bother me as I saw this as a reasonable consequence of being dropped unprepared into someone else's consciousness. Mostly it was a rollicking thrill to read with something striking on nearly every page. And then at the end the whole thing is left floating in your mind, somehow much more extraordinary even than the sum of its fascinating parts. If anyone feels like giving this book a go for the first time, or trying again after abandoning it, I recommend 2 things. There are probably dozens of books "explaining" Ulysses that are as weighty and imposing as the novel itself. But I did find this website useful, particularly the "episode guide", just to ground myself sometimes.

https://www.ulyssesguide.com/

Secondly, about halfway through reading I found this audiobook on YouTube. Now, I promise I didn't start cheating! But I did sometimes read along whilst listening and My God! This is no ordinary audiobook. It's from 1982, made by RTE (kind of the Irish BBC) and it's the whole unabridged novel, yes, but it's also a full dramatic reading, with different (excellent) actors playing different roles, and music and sound effects. It's got to be one of the best things on YouTube and I’ll be listening to the whole thing at some point.

https://youtu.be/qY1E-NqPcP0?si=EwfnjkRZ44JUCoZE

Nemo, that's just what I had optimistically hoped, when I added the original note to the poem — that whether one was familiar with the book, "Perhaps it's interesting anyway".

Well, this can probably slide now. Onward and upward! (or at least sideways). Thanks again, all.

Mark