Introduction

I’m not going to detail a back-story regarding Joyce, Ulysses, or the environments of either. I leave that to Stuart Gilbert. I begin with my initial impressions to the chapter, some of which might be wildly misplaced, as I am a first-time reader of Ulysses. I will continue with my own personal assessments as synthesized through the reading group assisting me along this journey. Considering this is a blog, I will not overly scrutinize my writing and labor over the edits, as would normally be my practice. I apologize ahead of time for the many typos, grammatical shortcomings, and all out curious points bound to end up in this blog. My goal is to provide additional, perhaps a unique perspective from the mind of a modern metafictional writer, in the hopes to increase your joy while reading Ulysses. I’ve begun this blog while at Aeolus, so that I know I am in it for the long haul. I will regress to catch us up on the earlier chapters, as I took copious notes in the margins, and I’ve continued to read Ulysses using two different approaches: one pass with Gilbert, read like a Biology or Chemistry text. The second pass for the flow and feel of the paragraphs. Our book group has decided to tackle these shorter early chapters within two-week clips. As such, even though our group was interrupted by Hurricane Ike, we will likely spend an additional eight months with Joyce. In the end, I will proudly reflect upon the year I spent Reading Ulysses!

-Ara 13 -