I am motivated by two things: Curiosity and Drink.
Actually, there are many more things, among them reading. I dig reading, and don't do nearly enough of it. And much of what I do is comic books, gun articles and other ephemera.
But then there's Joyce's
Ulysses. I know very little about it, to be honest, except that it's experimental, it's daunting, it's one of the most important works of 20th century literature, and there's a yearly party around the world that aficionados throw pretty much everywhere. It's the Kilmanjaro of literature -- one of the highest peaks in the world, and unlike Everest, it stands alone.
And we're going to climb it, you and I.
In the next few weeks, I'd like to organize an intrepid group of explorers to work together and climb this mountain. It doesn't matter if you've never read it before -- or anything else by Joyce, for that matter. It doesn't matter if you
have read it before. An experienced climber or two on this journey would be nothing bet an asset. All that matters is a willingness to read the book, and a willingness to write about it.
You don't have to be smart, and you don't have to be prepared. (I haven't even bought my copy yet.) You certainly don't have to be smarter than the book. I hear this thing is a whopper, and sooner or later, it'll try to clobber all of us. But working together, we can reach the summit. Sure, some of us will freeze to death. Someone always does. (We'll call him "Icy Joe.") But most of us will get there, and we'll be richer for the experience.
I don't have a complicated plan for this. I just want to read the thing, and talk about it with people who are also reading it. It's a book club. And since scheduling is the downfall of any vast get-together of adults (well, scheduling and heroin), I think it's best to do this online. So:
- Anyone who wants to participate should let me know. I'll set it up so that they can post on Ulysses the Blog. (I'll need your email address... you can send it to grimmbeau at optonline dot net, and I'll send you an invitation to post.)
- We'll start reading in a couple of weeks. I'm in the middle of a book, and chances are, you are too.
- Participants should post on the blog whenever they want. Got something to say? Say it. It doesn't matter if it's a big thought or a small one. Trivial can be lively. And comment on each other's posts. Comments will be open to blog members and guests.
- Read at your own rate. I'd like every post tagged with both the poster's name and the chapter (Wikipedia says they're called episodes) of the book the post concerns. That way, people might be able to avoid spoilers.
Hopefully, some of us will be able to get together and celebrate Bloomsday (the anniversary of the day the action of
Ulysses takes place on). It's June 16th, a Monday this year, so it's not ideal, drinking-wise. But with enough advance notice, we might be able to hoist a few. Or whatever it is people do on Bloomsday -- but I'm planning on doing it at least partially in the bag.
Like I said, Curiosity and Drink. And reading, good company, and climbing mountains.
Who's with me?
Rob
Greg brings up an interesting point in the comments of the last post: It might make references easier if we're all reading the same edition. One paperback edition I've found -- the Gabler edition -- has every 10 lines unobtrusively numbered. (You can see them on Amazon's "Search Inside" feature.) It might make references even easier.