April 27 will be the 200th anniversary of Ulysses S. Grant’s birth.
And the head coach wants no sissies,
So he reads to us from something called ‘Ulysses’.
Gawd, that book was sooo difficult to get through!
It figures that the academics would pick one of the most difficult books ever written as the “best” one.
It may also be the greatest unread novels of the 20th Century. So many people have that book in their library still in mint condition because the pages were barely opened.
It's the kind of book people like to have to show others how sophisticated and well-read they are.
Another book in that category might be "Infinite Jest" by David Foster Wallace. I got 40 pages into it before I shelved it forever. I think the footnotes alone in that book are longer than most other books. Maybe I'll make another attempt when I retire.
I didn’t mind reading it, a lot of it I just sort of scrolled through. To me the very best part was when the man sings in the bar, or pub I should say. Si-pold!
I would rather watch ULYSSES with Kirk Douglas and read the poem by HOMER.
Fortunately I didn’t have to study it in school, I had bought the book not knowing how challenging it would be to read, luckily the Omaha public library had it on tape and I also bought the annotations. So I was able to follow along with the cassette tapes. Very interesting book, not one I would re-read but fascinating.
I had to wade through that tripe in a university summer class. Made it about 80% through.
I could swear at one point in his press conference the other day Biden was reading random pages from Finnegan’s Wake.
To quote from a Britcom, “’Useless’ by James Joyce!”
Which domestic problem as much as, if not more than, any other frequently engaged his mind?
What to do with our wives.
What had been his hypothetical singular solutions?
Parlour games (dominos, halma, tiddledywinks, spilikins, cup and ball, nap, spoil five, bezique, twentyfive, beggar my neighbour, draughts, chess or backgammon): embroidery, darning or knitting for the policeaided clothing society: musical duets, mandoline and guitar, piano and flute, guitar and piano: legal scrivenery or envelope addressing: biweekly visits to variety entertainments: commercial activity as pleasantly commanding and pleasingly obeyed mistress proprietress in a cool dairy shop or warm cigar divan: the clandestine satisfaction of erotic irritation in masculine brothels, state inspected and medically controlled: social visits, at regular infrequent prevented intervals and with regular frequent preventive superintendence, to and from female acquaintances of recognised respectability in the vicinity: courses of evening instruction specially designed to render liberal instruction agreeable.
Ulysses was a novel?
I thought it was an exercise in mental illness.
We are all individuals. How can one’s brain follow the “stream of conscience” of another’s brain.
Gave up both times.
Main problem - I do not care what happens to any of the characters.
I think Dubliners and A Portrait of the Artist are both literary classics, but, once again, I do not have strong feelings about the characters, which means I am not personally invested, just artistically invested.