Pages 38-64

I watched a documentary on Ulysses last night and I didn't even understand that - and still over 900 pages to go. Still, now I know to expect less punctuation and some rudey bits as I get further into the book. There was also an appearance by Declan Kiberd, the dude who wrote the intro in my copy, which was very exciting.

I think I might write a thesis on Joyce's use of the word "snot" - snotrags, snotholes (hang on, maybe that was nosehole), and an excellent quote on page 64 - "He laid the dry snot picked from his nostril on a ledge of rock, carefully." Yep, he likes his snot alright. Who thought high literature could include snot jokes? Or at least, just snot.

Reading Ulysses is like reading poetry, just arranged differently. I am finding I have to take it very slowly, and make sure to read every word carefully - instead of just skimming over the "shape" of the words, which is apparently what we all do a lot. Unfortunately, taking it slowly still isn't helping me much.

Stephen Dedalus (I spelt it wrong yesterday, sorry) gives a class to some kids (about Greek mythology, from the sounds of it), and then has a long conversation with Mr Deasy (senior teacher) about various things. They disagree about Jews (Dedalus for, or at least open to the idea they might be OK, and Deasy against), which seems to make Deasy think that maybe Stephen isn't cut out to be a teacher at all. Deasy asks Stephen to take a letter to some journalists he knows, in hopes of bringing the problem of Foot and Mouth disease to the attention of the public, a topic about which Deasy is quite passionate. (There you go, you vets and farmers, a literary hero for you!).

Then Stephen goes on a long walk, ending up at the beach, and there's a lot of stream of consciousness stuff here which quite frankly I didn't get much of, but I'm pretty sure he's not a happy guy and thinks a lot about the cosmos and the pointlessness and anonymity of life and so on. Stephen seems to have some unconventional ideas about God, too, and spends some time thinking about Paris, from where he was called back to his Mother's deathbed. This is now the end of the first chapter; Stephen searches for his snotrag, can't find it and so leaves said snot on ledge of rock (see above).

Good bit:
Listen: a fourworded wavespeech: seesoo, hrss, rsseeiss, ooos. (Pg 62)