The last round-up for this year I think and since Christmas is only a couple of days away and most sensible people are thinking of hibernating (those in northern Europe and along the East Coast of the US anyway) we’ll keep it short and sweet.

First up is a nod to literary blogger Lisa Hill who continues to keep pace with me and my far less illuminating reading of the great book. She makes for a good read when I’m lost!

A blog post from Cathy Furlani makes me glad I’m not a student of any sort right now. Some professors are just cruel. She doesn’t mention which books she’s been given, but any two by Joyce sounds like a bad dream to me!

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Or not. It IS December and it is down to that fact that I put the case that no one has said anything remotely interesting about James Joyce this week. I think everyone including my good self deserves a break and it is rather the time to be thinking about how better you might have spent 2009. You’ll never see it again!

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“Once more into the breech dear friends, once more” though that might be an after-effect of my reading of Scylla and Charybdis! A quick once round the internet dance floor of all things Ulssean without so much as a by-your-leave.

LitGraphic,a traveling exhibition of graphic works pitches up at the Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio and its arrival is noted by The Columbus Dispatch. I’d like to have seen the Lynd Ward stuff myself so I’m envious of anyone nearby who is able to go and see it. Graphic storytelling in a museum – whatever next?

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Another week of gossip, news, blogging and nonsense in the offing, but first NEW PAGES in the comic! Go see them – then come back here and read this.

Now I’m not saying there’s any rivalry between Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales and France but the news this week is all about the French cheating on the Irish and spoiling the Emerald Isle’s World Cup dreams. I say if you want to know the real deal on that you’d better to speak to an Irishman – rather you than me frankly. Nothing to do with Ulysses of course, unless you’re wondering how many of the Republic of Ireland National football team have read it?

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Back once one more dear readers to give you a little look-see around the interwebs regarding what the talk is on our favourite subject.

Blogger Laura Valerie mentions in her ‘to read’ list my current and my last ‘most difficult book to read’ right above one another. I’ll just say that Focault’s Pendulum though weighty in its own right is a cinch next to this beast! And speaking of Umberto Eco he manages to give Joyce more than a name check in this Spiegel interview that has been publicised all over this month. November has been quite a month of Joyce for blogger Veronica Frydel too. She tackles the novel and posts once, twice and thrice on her blog. Good luck with the journalism Veronica. (more…)

Back on the trail for all thing Joycean and Ulyssean I round up all the odds and ends that baffle and entertain – not to mention occasionally educate.

Reviews of Declan Kiberd’s Ulysses & Us abound, but whether readers find it useful or not is a question still to answered. The blog A Momentary Taste of Being comments but also leads to further posts on our favourite subject – all worth at least a glance through. Talk of depression on ManicDDaily won’t lighten the mood but here’s a blogger looking to Joyce for solutions to writer’s block! I wish him the best of luck, but I could swear Joyce was more likely a cause of and not a solution to. See what you think. (more…)

Here’s something of an oddity where the twin interests of comix and Irish history meet. The 1916 Easter Rising that attempted to set Ireland free told as a graphic novel apparently – though only 48 pages long. The short graphic tale with the long title Blood Upon the Rose: Easter 1916: The Rebellion That Set Ireland Free covers the story from the early planning to the final executions and includes the tragic romance between Joseph Plunkett and Grace Gifford. A review is to be found here.

It’s all over now but I’ve book-marked it for study later – one womans attack on the great novel blogged for posterity in Who Says Pleasure Reading Can’t Be Masochistic? (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…)

Once more my weekly round-up of links, articles, conversations and general stuff pertaining to Ulysses and James Joyce himself – and sometimes even not. Here’s an old article from Newsweek that explores the idea and purpose of re-reading novels, something I’ll no doubt have to do myself after I finish my first go through the great book.

And what book can’t be improved by pleasant surroundings and an flagon of ale. There is an aspect to this novel which is more social than academic – something which is hinted at by this post from Chuck Boyd’s blog Chuckography. Must try that tour myself one day.

Although taking this tour through Las Vegas might be more exciting – Davy’s Locker where neither James Joyce nor Frank Sinatra ever drank.

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Someone somewhere is reading about Ulysses, talking about Ulysses and more to the point here, blogging about Ulysses. The ways people find to draw this novel into casual conversation over the internet are numerous and always inventive. Witness exhibit A the trail runner – my foos won’t moos! In this weekly spot I’ll highlight some of the most interesting blog entries, conversations and news articles from around the internet. Most of them will directly relate to Ulysses, some to Joyce in general, and even a few maybe to the workings of literature, graphic novels and even webcomics.

I’ll try and keep them as relevant as possible, but there might be strange alleyways to duck into or dark corners to investigate along the way. Bear with me.

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