Comments on: Books for Bloomsday

By: mark valentine

mark valentine — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 08:26:08 +0000

John

Will do.

Martin

Let me have your address and I’ll send you a copy when out. But apropos of Burton, see also The Collector of Worlds (Faber) by the Bulgarian author Iliya Troyanov, an epic encounter with the character of Burton.

By: peacay

peacay — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 04:44:07 +0000

Ulysses Annotated isn't actually an annotated version of the text. It is ~600 pages of line/chapter notes. It is a kind of encyclopaedia of Ulysses. The other indispensable accompaniment, which fills in some of the puzzles that aren't addressed by reading Dubliners etc. -- but really, there are a trillion quizzical literary, operatic, scientific and historical tropes that only having a very extensive reading background will make properly clear -- is Ellman's incredible biography: James Joyce; itself a masterpiece, irrespective of whether one actually reads Joyce or not.

By: John

John — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 22:35:53 +0000

Mark: you can put me down for a copy of that as well.

By: Martin Jones

Martin Jones — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 21:45:54 +0000

Mark – ‘Richard Burton’? You have my attention… please direct me to more information about your fascinating-sounding story, and where it might be purchased.

By: James

James — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 21:16:19 +0000

I read Ulysses without accompaniment, and I think its difficulties are often overstated. It's a tremendously enjoyable and intelligible book even unglossed. That being said, much of the commentary on it is really good. I think Ulysses on the Liffey by Ellman is a great short companion piece.

By: mark valentine

mark valentine — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 19:11:08 +0000

John, I offer an alternative explanation for the many-tentacled complexities of Ulysses, in a short story, “The Seer of Trieste”, due out from Dublin’s Swan River Press in a month or two. It draws on an uncanny experience when I visited Trieste, where Joyce started the book (and there’s a Joyce exhibition and statue)…copies will be liberally distributed to anyone interested in Trieste, Joyce, Sir Richard Burton, weird fiction etc.

Mark

By: MÁRCIO SALERNO

MÁRCIO SALERNO — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:16:08 +0000

I’ve recently came across a translation of DUBLINERS, perusing a used boos store in Rio de Janeiro. I’ve read the original in high school, in 1981, but this translation isn’t bad, since I’m a translator myself, and I know how difficult it is to grasp Joyce’s hidden meanings and even twiting of words.
Anyway, Joyce is one of my main references in literature, wether reading, translating or writing something. Happy Bloomsday!

By: John

John — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 13:55:30 +0000

I’ve thought of buying the annotated version in the past but decided I prefer the text and notes to be separate, at least for reading. A great reference book, however. And yes, Ulysses would be my desert island book too.

By: peacay

peacay — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 06:51:15 +0000

Giffords' Ulysses Annotated [amazon] is really the bible of the secondary literature, but there is no shortage of commentary (I too like Burgess). I am most proud that the first of my seven+ reads of Ulysses was done naked - in terms of assistance - save for a little pop-up map of Dublin. I'll agree to disagree that the book has any failing. You can read it all your life and never completely plumb its depths. It would definitely be my desert island book. Yay Bloomsday!