This is a grim read for a Friday morning but at least it is a chapter with more elements in a reasonably straight forward manner. Straight forward for Ulysses that is, but still there is no real problem discerning the narrative – I’m almost beginning to enjoy it!

Before I forget, there are lines occasionally which seem to echo previous words, spoken or thought, but for the first time reader it’s sometimes difficult to locate and divine the meaning of the repetition, or if it even occurred at all. So before I wade through the facts and try to put them in proper order – could anyone tell me anything about the line “I do not like that other world she wrote”. (more…)

Always nice to get press and here’s a terrific interview with Rob on Newsarama – one of the biggest (if not the biggest) sites for comix-heads there is. Not only is it a great advertisement for the site but it’s also just a great interview in its own right. Thanks go to Steve Ekstrom for asking some smart questions and of course to Rob too for answering them. Read it for yourselves here.

Oh my word! If there’s one thing worse than trying to understand this book – it’s got to be doing my annual accounts. However money does factor heavily in the novel so we must all grit our teeth and test our knowledge of money matters in Joyce’s ULYSSES. Since I haven’t read the novel in its entirety you may possibly forgive my 1 out of 10 score! I know — I must do better, but I’ve a feeling Stephen would have been sympathetic to my plight. How will you get on? Continue on to our first quiz. Complete it successfully or miserably (like me) and who knows? We’ll more than likely do another. We think you’ll enjoy these quizzes and to be honest we’ve not accounted (geddit?) for you not enjoying them so get on with it and let us know how you do! (more…)

More news and oddments from around the wonderful world wide web-o-sphere! Let’s get the painful stuff out of the way first – and finally a real Joycean I’d like to meet! *Winks* After that opening the rest of this post may seem rather dry, but I’ll try my best.

An amusing piece from today’s Guardian on the lasting impact (or not) of literature on the popular consciousness. Can anyone imagine a future where Dan Brown is regarded as ‘one to study’? No? Me neither. But will Joyce be on any ‘list’ one hundred years from now. Fashions turn so who really knows. And do auction prices only go up? Apologies for this late link again from the Guardian. (more…)