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Mar. 5th, 2003 03:31 pmGuess what? I'm still reading Ulysses! I'm just finishing up the "Nausicaa" chapter, in fact. "Nausicaa" has always been one of my favorite chapters. Joyce does such a great job with Gerty MacDowell. He's able to perfectly capture the self-absorption and melodramatic point of view of a teenage girl. And then he gets to do more of Bloom's stream-of-consciousness that he does so well... It's quite a virtuoso chapter.
It's interesting that I seem to be posting less frequently now that I'm working on Ulysses. I usually only like to post when I have something to say, and that usually means that I have to have made significant progress in a book since my last post. I have to have at least made enough progress to allow me to develop some new thoughts that are interesting enough to set down. Ordinarily I read pretty quickly, and can make enough progress to have something to post every couple of days. With Ulysses, however, the reading is much more difficult and goes much more slowly. Not only that, but I'm trying to only read the book when I have a solid block of time that I can dedicate to it, so that means that I'm also reading less frequently. All of that adds up to fewer posts in this journal. I think that's just going to have to be the way it is until I'm through with this book.
It's odd to be involved in what is so obviously a "reading project," as opposed to my usual reading, which I do strictly for pleasure. I'm enjoying reading Ulysses, but not in the same way that I enjoy everything else that I read. I like the intellectual stimulation of reading something so difficult, I like being familiar with various aspects of the book from my previous reading, I appreciate Joyce's amazing talents, and I honestly do find much of the book to be beautiful and touching, but the whole thing is just a very different experience. It feels very distinctly like something that I am setting out to accomplish rather than something I am just doing for fun.
It's interesting that I seem to be posting less frequently now that I'm working on Ulysses. I usually only like to post when I have something to say, and that usually means that I have to have made significant progress in a book since my last post. I have to have at least made enough progress to allow me to develop some new thoughts that are interesting enough to set down. Ordinarily I read pretty quickly, and can make enough progress to have something to post every couple of days. With Ulysses, however, the reading is much more difficult and goes much more slowly. Not only that, but I'm trying to only read the book when I have a solid block of time that I can dedicate to it, so that means that I'm also reading less frequently. All of that adds up to fewer posts in this journal. I think that's just going to have to be the way it is until I'm through with this book.
It's odd to be involved in what is so obviously a "reading project," as opposed to my usual reading, which I do strictly for pleasure. I'm enjoying reading Ulysses, but not in the same way that I enjoy everything else that I read. I like the intellectual stimulation of reading something so difficult, I like being familiar with various aspects of the book from my previous reading, I appreciate Joyce's amazing talents, and I honestly do find much of the book to be beautiful and touching, but the whole thing is just a very different experience. It feels very distinctly like something that I am setting out to accomplish rather than something I am just doing for fun.
