Marginalia: Odysseys & Oddities - Home at Last, Chaos Included

-

 This started as a Buddy Read of Ulysses with friends, and devolved into mania. Here are the notes and ramblings...

Ulysses Episode 15 – Circe
(Did we just mainline absinthe and fear?)

I don’t know why, but this line got me:
Paddy Leonard: "What am I to do about my rates and taxes?"
Bloom: "Pay them, my friend."
I laughed WAY too hard, for WAY too long.

Beyond that? WHAT is going on!?
  • Are we in an acid trip?
  • Did someone spike the Guinness?
  • Is this a weird, masochistic Bloom kink-spiral or just a psychological freefall?
And wow… this chapter is SO long. Long enough that I started wondering if I was hallucinating along with Bloom and Stephen.

This might be the most bizarre episode so far. It’s chaotic, exhausting, disturbing, and funny all at once, and I kind of respect Joyce for going full subconscious meltdown here.

But also: Joyce, my guy, what are you even on!?


The Odyssey: Book 13

Well… it’s kind of rude to punish people for helping travelers, but I guess I’m not a god, so what do I know?

Also: Athena continues to be the loveliest little schemer. Watching her line up plans behind the scenes is honestly one of my favorite parts of this whole epic.


Ulysses Episodes 16 & 17 – Hungover & Hyperverbal

So I’m combining these because… honestly? They felt like one very long comedown.

➡️ Episode 16 (Eumaeus): we’re at the cabman’s shelter, hungover, exhausted, listening to meandering tall tales and half-truths. Bloom’s in full Dad Mode. I was in full please let me nap mode.

➡️ Episode 17 (Ithaca): suddenly it’s the Inquisition. Endless questions. Endless answers. Many of them inane. One "not-question" literally said "Condense Stephen’s commentary," and all I could think was: Can we condense this entire episode, please?

Oh, and when we were reciting where the members of their party (during some event....) were and Paddy Dignam is listed as being "in the grave"? ðŸŠĶ💀 I was jealous. 😐

I know the style is intentional (sluggish, then hyper-detailed), but these two were probably the hardest for me so far. Well, maybe the last three.....


The Odyssey: Book 14 – Eumaeus the Swineherd

Eumaeus: "You expect me to believe anything you say? Nah. Try again, stranger."

Honestly, I respect him. Loyal to a fault, side-eyeing everything, and just trying to mind his pigs. The nod to Ulysses? Eumaeus is slow, guarded, and a little hungover from everything that came before."

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Marginalia: Death, Rebirth, and the End of Lowood

-
Image
And so we move from life at Lowood, to death at Lowood, and finally to the end of Lowood. These chapters are a lot and a little all at once: disease, loss, moral lessons, and a surprising amount of quiet resilience. ✦ Resurgam — Latin for “I shall rise again.” An interesting (and deliberate) choice to carve onto Helen’s grave. It’s simple but layered. It's both a Christian sentiment and a metaphor for Jane herself. Every time she’s crushed, she rises again. Still… poor Helen. Her calm acceptance of death hits harder than I remembered. Word of the Day:    Dissipated (of a person or way of life) overindulging in sensual pleasures. (Looking at you, later chapters’ “gentlemen.”) Bessie named her daughter after Jane! I did not remember that detail. What a lovely full-circle moment. Bessie was one of the only people in Jane’s early life who showed her any real affection, so this feels like a quiet little redemption for both of them. And now, we’re finally stepping out of Lowood and ...
Read more

Bite-Sized Bedlam: Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

-
Image
So. This started out promising. I enjoyed the imagery and the overall concept. It's an interesting way to retell a classic fairy tale. But, if I'm honest, I can't really tell you what happened. I was constantly confused, and I could rarely tell who was talking, even with the narrator giving us different voices. It's beautifully written, but the only thought I consistently had throughout was, "Should I finish this?" Lines That Lingered "A robber who steals a knife and cuts himself cannot cry out against the woman who kept it sharp." Overall Rating:  ★★☆☆☆ Enjoyment:  ★★☆☆☆ Ease of Reading:  ★★☆☆☆
Read more

Unabridged Ructions: Ulysses by James Joyce

-
Image
I read this book as part of a Buddy Read, which turned into a tandem read with The Odyssey . It was indeed "an odyssey"... Book Vibe:  Feral raccoon in a trash can Characters:  Stephen Dedalus, Leopold Bloom, Marion "Molly" Bloom, Malachi "Buck" Mulligan, Mr. Garret Deasy Reading Ulysses felt like being dropped in the middle of someone else’s brain and told, “good luck, kid.” It’s messy, brilliant, frustrating, funny, and gross. Sometimes all in the same paragraph. Stephen Dedalus broods. Leopold Bloom buys kidneys, carries soap forever, and quietly aches his way through Dublin. Molly Bloom gets the last word, and it’s glorious. In between, there are pints, puns, death, lust, racism, nationalism, boogers, birth, absurdity, and about a million narrative experiments that either left me in awe or completely lost. Joyce can make you laugh at the bleakest things, cringe at how human his characters are, and then, in one unexpected line, punch you straight in the...
Read more