Ulysses
James Joyce. Ulysses
fiction
fiction
Though a very long novel and far from the grasp of my full comprehension, Ulysses has become as integrated into the city of Dublin as Dublin is into Ulysses. The epic takes place in one day, June 16, 1904, which is now a celebrated festival known as Bloomsday after the main character, Leopold Bloom. Perhaps the most apparent detail of Dublin is the map laid out by the narrative, which is now incorporated into the city. For instance, keep an eye out for the brass plaques on the sidewalks of Dublin depicting scenes from the book, and if you visit the tower at the Guinness Brewery, signs on the glass will point you to significant spots in Joyce’s writing. In the midst of this day-long-epic lies the complicated history of Irish religion, politics, oppression under British rule, famine, self-destruction, ect. However, perhaps due to Joyce’s self-inflicted exile from his native island and his distaste for the sentimentality of Irish Nationalism and of the Irish Literary Revival, these issues lie below the surface and are dealt with less directly than by his contemporaries. That being said, an attempt at Ulysses will provide a unique understanding of today’s cosmopolitan Dublin. P.S. An annotated version and/or a Ulysses concordance might be helpful. ~ Josh Bryan
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