Today in 1904 Dublin, James Joyce and Nora Barnacle went on their first date. Joyce celebrated the occasion with an iconic novel that everyone has heard of, and most people haven’t read. Which is a shame because James Joyce’s Ulysses is only occasionally difficult – the rest is a cracking read. Even the challenging bits can be negotiated by simply going with the flow of the language. Our minds supply multiple meanings if we let language have its wicked way.
My good deed on this happy day is to post RTE’s ‘unabridged audiobook’, weighing in at at 9 hours and 33 minutes. I just started re-reading the novel, so I’m wary of the audiobook in case it preempts the picture I get from reading the text. I’ll read first and listen later.
I hope you enjoy the audiobook, realising there’s nothing to fear except fear itself. And heaping handfuls of glorious language to enjoy.
I’m having a grand time listening to the installments of Ulysses on BBC Radio 4. There’s no temptation to venture outside since the weather is about as dreich as it’s possible to be a few days before Midsummer. It’s been at least 10 years since I last read Ulysses, so I bought a copy at our local second-hand bookshop, The Old Bookshelf. The owner had none in stock, not expecting any interest at all in this heel of the woolly sock that is the Kintyre Peninsula, and had to order one.
We are what is called a backwater, though Argyll and Bute has catapulted into media infamy these last few days, when the council banned 9 year old blogger, Martha Payne, from taking photos of school food. Only to be forced into a humiliating U-turn less than a day later. Martha – 1, Argyll & Bute Council – 0. The moral of the story is this: never mess with a 9 year old blogger when she has a hugely popular blog. Here is the Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre, with their Mull of Kintyre inspired celebration of Martha’s victory.
I’m surprised at how much a radio adaptation cuts out. We are zipping along at a cracking pace, leaving plenty of time for blogging, eating, and potty breaks. I think radio is an excellent medium for Ulysses – it brings out the voices, characterization, and narrative. The novel will always be harder going, but hopefully the experience of listening will ease the perceived burden of reading. I don’t expect to ever completely understand Ulysses and that’s a very good thing. It means the novel is never finite, with a settled meaning.
I apologize for offering you podcasts from Frank Delaney, starting from their inception on Bloomsday 2010. It now appears that the permalinks are available only from episode 65 in September, 2011. This means I can’t put them on the blog, nor are they visible on Delaney’s podcast page. I wanted to start from the beginning – the titles of the missing podcasts beckon like a desert mirage to a lost traveller. Since I’m reluctant to start halfway through, I’ll try to resolve this with Frank Delaney.com who alerted me to them in the first place. They are available on his podcast page from #65 onwards if you want to see them. In the meantime, here’s a one-off for today on James Joyce.
BBC coverage starts at 9:10 am and continues in 7 episodes through to at least midnight. The Radio 4 Ulysses page has all the details, as well as other interesting links, including a virtual tour of Dublin locations in the novel.
It’s been great fun putting together this Countdown, made even more so by the collaboration with Turbidus, who brought real knowledge to her choices where mine were often serendipitous. Tomorrow I will be raising a pint of Guinness to her, across the Atlantic.
Tomorrow is also the Fremont Fair in Seattle, with its Summer Solstice Parade and Pageant, led off by the massed ranks of naked cyclists. I think Bloom would have approved. Now if you could only combine the two celebrations…
Finally, I wanted to show you the beating heart of Beautiful Railway Bridge, the place where the magic happens. Notice the state of the art sound system and my guardian angel, Chucky.
As we approach Bloomsday, June 16, I will be trawling the internet for daily gobbets of Joycean interest, culminating in a series of podcasts to begin on the glorious day itself. Each segment features Frank Delaney taking a short passage from Ulysses and exploring its multitude of references with insight, eloquence, passion, vast expertise—and a good dose of fun. Since they are broadcast weekly, and began on Bloomsday 2010, I will post one a day until we’re caught up.
turbidus is also regularly posting clips during the countdown. While we may sometimes duplicate, you’re quite likely to find material there that I haven’t posted, and vice versa.
My first experience of Joyce was A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. It had the effect of an imprinting, when I read it at school, opening my eyes to what a modernist novel could be, and probably making it easier to enjoy Ulysses when the time came. It had a powerful effect on my ideas about religion, having grown up in the milk and water tradition of the Church of England. How could any humane religion torment its followers with toxic visions of Hell, conjured up by the sermon that inspired Stephen’s nightmare?
Here is the 1977 film version in full. A treat for me as well, because I haven’t seen it yet.
As we approach Bloomsday, June 16, I will be trawling the internet for daily gobbets of Joycean interest, culminating in a series of podcasts to begin on the glorious day itself. Each segment features Frank Delaney taking a short passage from Ulysses and exploring its multitude of references with insight, eloquence, passion, vast expertise—and a good dose of fun. Since they are broadcast weekly, and began on Bloomsday 2010, I will post one a day until we’re caught up.
turbidus is also regularly posting clips during the countdown. While we may sometimes duplicate, you’re quite likely to find material there that I haven’t posted, and vice versa.
A documentary about Joyce and Nora in Italy, and the writing of Ulysses.
As we approach Bloomsday, June 16, I will be trawling the internet for daily gobbets of Joycean interest, culminating in a series of podcasts to begin on the glorious day itself. Each segment features Frank Delaney taking a short passage from Ulysses and exploring its multitude of references with insight, eloquence, passion, vast expertise—and a good dose of fun. Since they are broadcast weekly, and began on Bloomsday 2010, I will post one a day until we’re caught up.
turbidus is also regularly posting clips during the countdown. While we may sometimes duplicate, you’re quite likely to find material there that I haven’t posted, and vice versa.
RTE, Ireland’s public broadcasting service, used to air short animations about two Dublin pensioners, featuring lifelong friends, Bernie and Mary. The craic is glorious, and it echoes what Joyce heard and wrote about in his novels. Clips from Auld Ones are scarce on YouTube, but I managed to find these. The first is a trailer for the second season, followed by bits from three other episodes.
As we approach Bloomsday, June 16, I will be trawling the internet for daily gobbets of Joycean interest, culminating in a series of podcasts to begin on the glorious day itself. Each segment features Frank Delaney taking a short passage from Ulysses and exploring its multitude of references with insight, eloquence, passion, vast expertise—and a good dose of fun. Since they are broadcast weekly, and began on Bloomsday 2010, I will post one a day until we’re caught up.
turbidus is also regularly posting clips during the countdown. While we may sometimes duplicate, you’re quite likely to find material there that I haven’t posted, and vice versa.
teamdave created this splendid animation of Joyce reading from Finnegans Wake. Please visit his blog for more tasty gobbets, including what Google’s audio transcription service makes of the novel – here and here.
I’m having a grand time listening to the installments of 
BBC coverage starts at 9:10 am and continues in 7 episodes through to at least midnight. The 
Beautiful Railway Bridge of the Silvery Tay 