[personal profile] kittenscribble
Back from Canada (obviously). Got to sleep as late as I wanted for the first time since Christmas break; absolutely luxurious. Am now in the midst of doing multiple loads of laundry at K's place; his basement is cold, so I like to blanket myself with clothes fresh from the dryer before I fold them. Mom used to take dryer loads and dump them over my sister and me when we were smaller. Now I do it to myself and the cat. The cat loves it.

I'm trying to keep notes on Ulysses as I read, for fear that the entire "novel" will resolve into an incoherent mess in my head. Chapter 1-6 were being read on the plane and so I didn't really stop to record impressions... but from 7 onward I figured I'd try to keep track of reactions. Heavy reliance on this synopsis, which I'm using to try to make sense of it all.


part 7 : AEolus. noon, the Newspaper; body part = lungs, art = rhetoric, color = red, symbol = editor, technique = enthymemic. I looked up "enthymemic" and for what. Syllogism with unstated third premise; tried to interpret entire chapter as such and came up blank. (headlines as possible enthymemes? doesn't hold water; headlines more a summary of action to come than unsupported statements.) Went hunting but not more than one or two enthymemes to be found throughout the whole chapter (one of which being annoying misogynist one from Stephen, woman brought sin into world? not even original); the rest is some showing off with headlines and a short story that goes absolutely nowhere. Made me want to take a break for lunch.

part 8 : Lestrygonians (wtf? cannibals?). 1pm, the Lunch; body part = esophagus, art = architecture, color = N/A, symbol = constables, technique = peristaltic. Was briefly enticed by technique that I had not even heard of but apparently is a made-up term by Joyce to symbolize his writing style, which resembles peristalsis (muscular contractions to force food down throat & through stomach). Tried to see such in part 8 (short sentences followed by long sentences?) but was disappointed; so far nothing but lots of descriptions of people in food metaphors - some pretty good, "suetfaced boy" along w/strained little interjections such as "dropped [it?] like a hot potato". Overall disappointment. What does this have to do with ppl eating themselves? as for me, I could very well regurgitate entire thing. argh.

part 9 : Scylla & Charybdis (rock & hard place ;). 1pm, the Lunch; body part = brain, art = literature, color = N/A, symbol = Stratford/London, technique = dialectic. This one I loved. Shakespeare. Hamlet analysis: Bard not as prince but as ghostly father, full of regret. Plays to the English major proclivities. Plus lots of ruminating (and, yes, rhetoric) on Will S's private life and that infamous secondbest bed, and thanks to H.f. for the primer on basic Plato vs Aristotelian philosophy or I wouldn't have gotten that bit at all. Wish Joyce would do this more often. Though it's easy to mix brain and literature with dialectic; I think this was Joyce's way of giving himself a break.

part 10 : Wandering Rocks. 3pm, the Streets; body part = blood, art = mechanics, color = rainbow (rainbow?), symbol = citizens, technique = labyrinth. Pretty decent, I suppose; not as lovely and ruminating as the previous but still mostly coherent. Transfers between POVs easy to follow, neat to see the interconnections. Didn't really follow the cleric's story and thought Dilly was Stephen's daughter at first; oops. Liked the vice-regal procession and what the citizens thought of that. Suppose I can see the Odysseus analogy in that the text definitely wanders.

part 11 : Sirens. 4pm, the Concert Room, body part = ear, art = music, color = N/A, symbol = barmaids, art = fuga per canonem. Just started this. hope it gets better soon. so far, can't make heads or tails out of it.

Date: 2006-01-07 09:42 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bkleber.livejournal.com
Mom used to take dryer loads and dump them over my sister and me when we were smaller. Now I do it to myself and the cat. The cat loves it.

Aww. SO very cute. Heeheehee....

Date: 2006-01-07 10:00 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] melindaloquita.livejournal.com
Mom used to take dryer loads and dump them over my sister and me when we were smaller. Now I do it to myself and the cat. The cat loves it.

*best mental picture ever* *glorious* and *yay for warm clothes*

scurrying off to do some laundry meself...

Date: 2006-01-09 03:34 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] examorata.livejournal.com
I read a lot of the Sirens chapter out loud, it gets very rhythmic for a while there. It took me a while to get into it though. I loved the Shakespeare chapter but also really enjoyed Lestrygonians, AKA The Lunch Chapter. I think what I like is how they sit side-by-side and are so different, earthy and sensible and high flying intellectualism.

Date: 2006-01-10 01:28 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kittenscribble.livejournal.com
Reading Sirens out loud is definitely helping. I like the rhythm of the sentences, though sometimes I lose him every now and then.

It's really amazing how Joyce totally switches styles. I liked Wandering Rocks after the Shakespeare chapter for much the same reason.

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