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James Joyce was a complicated man

thefitzwilliam.com

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Re: James Joyce was a complicated man

#21

Post by [deleted] »

sourcepluck wrote: post #8
bbor wrote: post #5

A) Great article, thanks for posting! I would say the headline is a little bit of clickbait (the "complication" implied there is that he had complicated feelings about Ireland, plus maybe some sexual kink stuff), but in 2024 I can't complain. After all, as an ex-Adsense employee, it's more my fault than theirs! B) "From then on, Joyce lived in Europe." Isn't Ireland in Europe...? C) “Just as ancient Egypt is dead,” h…

B) "From then on, Joyce lived in Europe." Isn't Ireland in Europe...? -- technically yes, of course. In reality? Eh, it's complicated. There's probably a few reasons, but if you told an Irish person they were European, people would be bemused, at least.

[deleted]

Re: James Joyce was a complicated man

#22

Post by kayo_20211030 »

OliverM wrote: post #12
sourcepluck wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

B) "From then on, Joyce lived in Europe." Isn't Ireland in Europe...? -- technically yes, of course. In reality? Eh, it's complicated. There's probably a few reasons, but if you told an Irish person they were European, people would be bemused, at least.

Not this Irishman…

Nor I.

Re: James Joyce was a complicated man

#23

Post by robwwilliams »

sourcepluck wrote: post #9

Excellent essay! Really loved it. For Finnegan's Wake - I find it's best to open it up at random and shout it out as you pace around. Maybe peer at yourself now and again in a mirror. If you can work it up to a roar, then you'll really be flying, but it'd depend on what you had for breakfast.

Loved the essay and this practical and funny approach to the Finnegian dreamscape.

For me it will be back to Dubliners—should not have skipped it.

Re: James Joyce was a complicated man

#24

Post by kridsdale3 »

AlbertCory wrote: post #4

This is actually one of the best summaries of Ulysses I've ever seen, and I took an extension course at Stanford on the book. We also had an approved commentary book. I don't remember most of these themes being raised. I remember the teacher saying with awe, "He can do whatever he wants with the English language!" and me thinking, "Who cares?" He also went on and on about Joyce's stream-of-consciousness writing, and…

I did similar, in university 20 years ago. Your post brought up hidden memory of the same excitement by the prof, and my reaction, as I was already pretty exposed to postmodernism. Maybe its a Big Deal because it was an early break-out from Modernism (as this essay goes in to detail on its membership within) and into Post-.

Re: James Joyce was a complicated man

#25

Post by kridsdale3 »

trilbyglens wrote: post #17
Irishsteve wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

B) "From then on, Joyce lived in Europe." Isn't Ireland in Europe...? - If someone told me they were from Europe, I'd assume they meant the continent.

This is how many people from the British isles think of it.

"Continental Breakfast" is exclusionary of the isles.

Re: James Joyce was a complicated man

#26

Post by dagw »

For anyone who want get into James Joyce, but finds reading him intimidating, I highly recommend the RTE (Irish national radio) recording of Ulysses: https://www.rte.ie/radio/podcasts/series/32198-ulysses/

Not only do they have a fantastic full cast reading of the book, but for each chapter they have a companion episode where they talk to a Joyce scholar about the chapter. I went through it by alternating listening to a chapter then listing to the episode about the chapter, and I finally really got Joyce and understood why he is considered great.

Re: James Joyce was a complicated man

#27

Post by mordechai9000 »

sourcepluck wrote: post #9

Excellent essay! Really loved it. For Finnegan's Wake - I find it's best to open it up at random and shout it out as you pace around. Maybe peer at yourself now and again in a mirror. If you can work it up to a roar, then you'll really be flying, but it'd depend on what you had for breakfast.

The Wake didn't really click with me until I heard the recording of Joyce reading the episode with the two washerwomen. I realized the references, puns, and in-jokes are basically just bonus material for me. It's the dream images and the sound of the words that engage me and make me want to learn about the rest of it.

I wish we had a recording of him reading it cover to cover.

Re: James Joyce was a complicated man

#28

Post by axiomdata316 »

dagw wrote: post #26

For anyone who want get into James Joyce, but finds reading him intimidating, I highly recommend the RTE (Irish national radio) recording of Ulysses: https://www.rte.ie/radio/podcasts/series/32198-ulysses/ Not only do they have a fantastic full cast reading of the book, but for each chapter they have a companion episode where they talk to a Joyce scholar about the chapter. I went through it by alternating listening t…

This is an awesome recommendation. I've tried reading him several times but I can never get into it. Definitely going to try this out.

Re: James Joyce was a complicated man

#29

Post by mark_mc »

dagw wrote: post #26

For anyone who want get into James Joyce, but finds reading him intimidating, I highly recommend the RTE (Irish national radio) recording of Ulysses: https://www.rte.ie/radio/podcasts/series/32198-ulysses/ Not only do they have a fantastic full cast reading of the book, but for each chapter they have a companion episode where they talk to a Joyce scholar about the chapter. I went through it by alternating listening t…

Thank you so much for this recommendation! I tried an audiobook version once before but felt like I was missing a lot of context. This looks very promising (and is on spotify)!
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