The Ulysses Reading Diary - 1
March 15, 2007
5:40pm
Started Ulysses...yes,yes, James Joyce's Ulysses...for the nth time. But under different circumstances. For instance
a) reading for the first time from my own copy
b) flitted through the first 20 pages easily. Seemed to get most of it too, which is surprising
c) am reading it on a bet
I bet JM hasn't started reading yet. I must preen if he calls. Haines has just offered Dedalus a cigarette...
March 17, 2007
11:00am
Am so groggy. Haven't slept all night. The cough is killing me. Why oh why did I have to read Ulysses first thing this morning. I feel awful. Two pages is enough to make me nauseous.
March 18, 2007
4:15pm
At page 53. Could not read much in the last two days. The cough is so troublesome. The hours have been long, disturbed. Nothing much has happened yet in the book. Unless of course the density of the sentences are meant to make you miss. Each line is loaded with allusions. Some, surprisingly, I do understand. Bloom hasn't made an appearance yet. Maybe he will in Chapter 2?
Thankfully, my copy of Ulysses is set in a comfortable font size.
March 20, 2007
9:50pm
Spent all day at the hospital welcoming my newest nephew. Am a mami all over again. I was idiot enough to carry Ulysses along hoping to read a bit during the wait. Remember to tell everyone never to attempt reading the book in a hospital. Manguel's Through the Looking Glass Wood was a happy consolation. Otherwise I would have had to be content looking at the rooftop.
March 21, 2007
8:15am
How did I get to 100 pages of Ulysses without skipping lines? I am queasy again. Is there any way I can put off the bet without meeting the deal? Think...
10:40am
What a wonderful coincidence! JM called. I waited for him to tell me he hadn't started reading yet. And he did. He mentioned that we could possibly push the deadline to May 31st. I think I was too gleeful. He then tossed Apr 30th. I told him if he got through the first 50 pages without once complaining, then I shall consider the new dates. We shall take stock on March 29. The man suggested a reading guide for the book! On second thoughts, it is not such a bad idea...
Man goes for a walk around Dublin. Nothing Happens
The book is pretentious hogwash, a classic because the pretentious, intellectual mafia say it is. Don't waste your time on this drivel.(JM, hear hear!)
Paul Burns, Liverpool England
"The Ulysses Reading Diary - 1"
More to come? Hear, hear.
I have a question: What do you do when Ulysses turned up on your doorstep under the disguise of a birthday present, and you didn't have any plans of reading it? (Erm... make that two questions ;-) )How do you convince yourself that it isn't all that bad to not read it, because you didn't ask for it in the first place? If I were to have a diary entry for every 30 pages of Ulysses I read, there'd be exactly ONE entry.
Posted by
Krithiga |
11:20 PM, March 21, 2007
Come on - give me some hope. There is already so much hype about the book and none of your friends seems to encourage. I agree it is a difficult book to read but the stakes are high if we miss the deadline, so it's worth putting an effort.
All the very best for May 31st deadline - let's keep it that way... Yes you have technically 2 months and 10 days to finish the book
Take Care - JM
Posted by
Anonymous |
8:23 AM, March 22, 2007
Best of Luck with Ulysses. Me too finding it tough to finish off some books. I guess I need to get into a bet like situation like you.
Posted by
Anonymous |
5:17 PM, March 22, 2007
@K:
>>What do you do when Ulysses turned up on your doorstep under the disguise of a birthday present, and you didn't have any plans of reading it?
Place the book in your top shelf!
>>How do you convince yourself that it isn't all that bad to not read it, because you didn't ask for it in the first place?
If you placed it in the top shelf, as suggested, you'll soon forget its existence and therefore would not need to convince yourself at all ;)
@JM: Not bad...you seem to have agreed to May 31st. Why don't we move it to June 16th, Bloomsday and all. Might be more appropriate. Btw, am in consultation with a Ulysses diehard. Will share tips if I receive them. I am fair, remember...
@Anon: Thank you. And Good Luck to you too. Though, I am beginning to wonder if betting works for all kinds of books. Ulysses seems like a disaster or maybe I am just being pessimistic.
Posted by
Echo/Lavanya |
1:00 PM, March 24, 2007
i have a copy of this book. i bought it before 2 years- when Madan (vikatan) referred this book as one of the best novels in the century- started reading and obviously, unable to follow it. And started again. Started again and again and again. Getting even more worse, I never crossed a chapter. After seeing this post, am again thinking of going for it again, after finishing "the testament of gideon mack" and "black swan green". After winning the bet, you can formulate a strategy or write a how-to-book: How to read ulysses in 31 days?. Good luck. :)
Posted by
MSV Muthu |
12:32 PM, April 10, 2007