tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6145452263098688113.post4640209149034585522..comments2024-01-20T18:08:44.444-05:00Comments on You Can Never Have Too Many Books: From a Death of a Joyce Scholar to Joyce's Ulysses, how one book leads to another.....Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09095246748581382752noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6145452263098688113.post-23745413717216957072011-04-27T11:25:24.683-04:002011-04-27T11:25:24.683-04:00Emily: do you think that because Ulysses has such...Emily: do you think that because Ulysses has such a mythic hold in literature now, such a high place in the Great Novel echelon, that readers like you and I, who really should be able to approach this with more joy than we do, are afraid that we won't understand it? I do. And then I end up thinking that's a pity, because even if Joyce wrote this to show off his learning and to create a multi-layered reading experience, he still wanted his book to be read. So even though I am reading it very slowly, I am reading it. <br /><br />By the way, I read parts of the Faerie Queene in university, and enjoyed what I did read. That's another work I've been meaning to get back to.....<br /><br />Pat: I love your comment! I have Drood sitting here on my TBR shelf, very accusingly now since I meant to read two years ago. I love that this book led you to so many others by him! I'm hoping to read another novel by Dickens this year. I just watched LIttle Dorrit (the latest BBC production), and really enjoyed it, on Dvd. I love that no matter how much we do read, there is always another experience just around the corner, another author to discover. It's even better when we discover that the classics can be read and enjoyed, isn't it?Susanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09095246748581382752noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6145452263098688113.post-82906970101014455202011-04-15T07:27:46.804-04:002011-04-15T07:27:46.804-04:00one book surely can lead to another and even one o...one book surely can lead to another and even one out of ones comfort zone. This happened to me when I read Drood. Next I knew I read more books using Dickens as a character and then finally read a huge biography on Dickens. never in my life did I ever think I'd read a book by Dickens or his biography!... but as you said.. one book and lead to another!DesLilyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02582481597658080464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6145452263098688113.post-57367903755104419912011-04-05T15:54:58.738-04:002011-04-05T15:54:58.738-04:00Oh, I'm just afraid of Ulysses -- sure my brai...Oh, I'm just afraid of Ulysses -- sure my brain won't be able to wrap itself around it in all its erudite-ness. But, you know, almost every time I've felt afraid of something like that, I've ended up loving whatever it is (The Faerie Queen springs to mind).Emily Bartonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13971084813206845680noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6145452263098688113.post-61712963520243372422011-04-04T00:19:33.743-04:002011-04-04T00:19:33.743-04:00Carrie: Thank you! The mystery really was fun, a...Carrie: Thank you! The mystery really was fun, and Ulysses is intimidating until you (or I) approach it like I think Joyce partly wrote it as: a sea of voices, a babble, through a day in Dublin. Some of the language is amazing.<br /><br />Emily: LOL!!! and why don't you want to ever read Ulysses?? Not that everyone should, I'm curious why you are so dead set against it, it sounds like me with Middlemarch, when I thought I hated George Eliot because of an early reading of Mill on the Floss, when really I loved, adored Middlemarch when I finally read it two years ago. This is a feat, if I convinced you to try Ulysses at least! Thanks :-)<br /><br />Stephanie: The mystery is fun, and very enjoyable. It's a good way into reading Ulysses, in fact! When I wonder what is going on, I remind myself, this is a day in the life of Dublin, through the thoughts of everyone Stephen and Buck Mulligan meet. Then I realize it is going to be confusing, just like walking the streets of Dublin mid-day! So I'm enjoying the story and not worrying about all the things in the subtext I am missing. Luckily I'm reading it for pleasure and not for a class! lolSusanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09095246748581382752noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6145452263098688113.post-47313420019321693422011-03-28T17:04:27.636-04:002011-03-28T17:04:27.636-04:00This book sounds more interesting (and comprehensi...This book sounds more interesting (and comprehensible) than Ulysses. I'd be interested to see what you make of it once you tackle this giant.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6145452263098688113.post-17073406036604080442011-03-28T11:01:03.044-04:002011-03-28T11:01:03.044-04:00Okay, you've made me want to read both books. ...Okay, you've made me want to read both books. That's quite a feat, seeing as I have always claimed I will NEVER read Ulysses.Emily Bartonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13971084813206845680noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6145452263098688113.post-69078116511881460562011-03-27T22:19:48.606-04:002011-03-27T22:19:48.606-04:00Sounds like such a fascinating read! And any book ...Sounds like such a fascinating read! And any book that leads you to another one is great in my book - though I must admit that I'm a bit intimidated by Ulysses. :) I'll add a link to this review on the main Ireland Challenge page.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com