There is a group on Librarything that has decided March is best spent twisting one's brain up into knots with Ulysses, and I've been invited to partake in the insanity. On top of studying for my Japanese class more (read: studying for Japanese, period) and keeping up with my reading in other classes, finishing this 700 page behemoth is going to be a challenge indeed.
I'll be updating with reading notes daily if I actually manage to adhere to the schedule I've set for myself.
And without further ado, I will now read out loud, onto digital paper.
It feels like I'm climbing in hard mode. I'm zooming through my last semester in college and reading constantly for school, and yet somehow I think I can make some time to read Ulysses. I was never very good at knowing my limits.
I think I'll hold out on reading critically for the second time around and spend this one in blissful, leisurely ignorance.
Anyhoo, it's been interesting to see the things that have stuck for other people as they read, so I'm planning on doing something similar.
I don't have many expectations in terms of the content of this book. In fact, the most concrete facts I have now are from the court decision included at the front of my edition, in which is stated, "In respect of the recurrent emergence of the theme of sex in the minds of his characters, it must always be remembered that his locale was Celtic and his seasons Spring."
OK, Celtic, Spring, Sex. I guess I should start reading (and writing) in true stream of consciousness fashion.
... stumped on the second paragraph? Really? "I will go to the alter of God." Ok, after a quick flip through the pages it doesn't look too bad. Some Latin here and there, some French, some... I don't know what that is, but I'll deal with it when I get to it.
I think I should have picked up the 'Annotations to Ulysses' in the library. I've had too look up a term or phrase four times within the first page!
"The scrotumtightening sea." Hmm, I think I will enjoy this book.
"epi oinopa ponton" Wait... maybe not.
Someone who had the book before me has left little graphite signposts along the margins, but they're all illegible. Very depressing.
I don't remember enough of Portrait to recall Dedalus' mother dying, or his reason for refusing to pray for her. I'll have to look all that up later.
P. 12 "Liliata rutilantium te confessorum turma circumdet: iubilantium te virginum chorus excipiat." "May the crowd of joyful confessors encompass thee; may the choir of blessed virgins go before thee." Phrase spoken during the Recommendation of a Soul Departing. I can see where firm knowledge of the Latin mass would come in handy here.
"In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti." I know that one! Jesus be praised!
"Et unam, sanctam, catholicam et apostolicam Ecclesiam." "And I believe in One Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church"
p. 22 "The void awaits surely all them that weave the wind." I like this quite a bit. Malachi really is sounding more and more like the devil.
p. 24 Seems that Malachi is very witty but Sephen doesn't think him very wise. I guess even back in the early 20th century people who wanted to sound fancy quoted Nietzsche!
Stephen leaves thinking of the last rites again, but I don't know why.
And then the scene abruptly changes at the next page, so I think I'll take my rest here.
Seems like easy going so far, save the boulders of Latin and Catholicism strewn about my path, but I assume I'm moving quickly because I am at the base of the mountain.
The Bloomsday Book is making more solid the few suspicions I have about themes and roles and so on and so forth. It's a very nice, concise guide. I'm very glad I picked it up.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Semester 8 Rundown
It's now almost halfway through the semester. My schedule has solidified (but not my sleeping habits) and I have gotten into the general groove with my classes enough to make a pass at guessing my grade in each.
Japanese 401 - Advanced Japanese Reading
What was I thinking?! This is a class similar to the one that DESTROYED me in Japan, and by destroyed I mean that it caused so much mental anguish that I developed a severe case of insomnia and was wandering the city like a madman during class hours because I could no longer bring myself to actually go.
Well, it seems that history is repeating itself. The chances of me getting a good grade in this class are next to none.
Chado Practicum
Talk about a neat class! Twice a week about 15 of us make our way to a teahouse build by a prior grand tea master of Japan and learn the art of the tea ceremony through hands on practice. The class is fun, it's a real education, and you get to drink lots of tea.
Literature and Philosophy
Another great class. So far I have been introduced to Borges, Kafka, and Calvino through it. It would be nicer of more than say 3 or 4 people spoke in class, but that's generally how classes like this go. A few of us will be willing to put our opinions on the line, and the rest will either listen quietly, too afraid to say something wrong, will not know what the hell is going on and thus not speak, or, and these are always the frustrating ones, will not know what the hell is going on but not know that either and end up talking a lot anyway.
Luckly we have very few of that last catagory in the class.
Modern Japanese Society
This class is difficult to suffer though. The professor's lectures leave me cringing constantly, with her constant mangling of grammar and her tendancy to repeat the last pharase of whatever she says multiple times.
And example of the crap I have to sit through involves phrases like "As far as to the others, there were much warriors who did not acustom well to the change in government, the change in government."
For an hour and fifteen minutes I have to listen to that. I live in dread of this class, not just because I have to listen to this mangled English, but because I'm terrified that I may adopt some of it as part of my own broken speach. Truely terrifying.
Modern Chinese Politics
This is the exact opposite of my Japanese Society class. Unlike the Japanese class, where the professor is a 'native speaker' but does not know how to speak English, my professor in this class is not a native speaker but is well spoken. He has a heavy Chinese/UK accent, so that even the English he speaks isn't American English, but his grammar is perfect and his lectures easy to follow and easy to remember. I look forward to this class every week, but it can be a bit of a struggle to sit all the way through, considering the fact that it is about 3 hours long.
So that's my final semester. Two classes that drive me nuts for completely different reasons, and three that I love to death. I think that's an excellent ratio considering my previous years' experience.
Japanese 401 - Advanced Japanese Reading
What was I thinking?! This is a class similar to the one that DESTROYED me in Japan, and by destroyed I mean that it caused so much mental anguish that I developed a severe case of insomnia and was wandering the city like a madman during class hours because I could no longer bring myself to actually go.
Well, it seems that history is repeating itself. The chances of me getting a good grade in this class are next to none.
Chado Practicum
Talk about a neat class! Twice a week about 15 of us make our way to a teahouse build by a prior grand tea master of Japan and learn the art of the tea ceremony through hands on practice. The class is fun, it's a real education, and you get to drink lots of tea.
Literature and Philosophy
Another great class. So far I have been introduced to Borges, Kafka, and Calvino through it. It would be nicer of more than say 3 or 4 people spoke in class, but that's generally how classes like this go. A few of us will be willing to put our opinions on the line, and the rest will either listen quietly, too afraid to say something wrong, will not know what the hell is going on and thus not speak, or, and these are always the frustrating ones, will not know what the hell is going on but not know that either and end up talking a lot anyway.
Luckly we have very few of that last catagory in the class.
Modern Japanese Society
This class is difficult to suffer though. The professor's lectures leave me cringing constantly, with her constant mangling of grammar and her tendancy to repeat the last pharase of whatever she says multiple times.
And example of the crap I have to sit through involves phrases like "As far as to the others, there were much warriors who did not acustom well to the change in government, the change in government."
For an hour and fifteen minutes I have to listen to that. I live in dread of this class, not just because I have to listen to this mangled English, but because I'm terrified that I may adopt some of it as part of my own broken speach. Truely terrifying.
Modern Chinese Politics
This is the exact opposite of my Japanese Society class. Unlike the Japanese class, where the professor is a 'native speaker' but does not know how to speak English, my professor in this class is not a native speaker but is well spoken. He has a heavy Chinese/UK accent, so that even the English he speaks isn't American English, but his grammar is perfect and his lectures easy to follow and easy to remember. I look forward to this class every week, but it can be a bit of a struggle to sit all the way through, considering the fact that it is about 3 hours long.
So that's my final semester. Two classes that drive me nuts for completely different reasons, and three that I love to death. I think that's an excellent ratio considering my previous years' experience.
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