Tuesday, 17 December 2013, Pages 811 - 818, Ithaca, Episode 17

"... from the house of bondage to the wilderness of inhabitation effected?" {(17.1022) Gabler, p. 818 (Penguin)} is where we stopped at the last meeting of the reading group in 2013.

We are back in the world of "trivials" after the shock felt last week by the reciting of the antisemitic poem by Stephen. Bloom's thoughts wander again. Rather, he is occupied with the memories stirred up by the mention of the daughter of the Jew in the poem. Memories of Milly as a child (born on 15 June 1889) counting one, tloo, tlee, of her dolls, of her blond hair (though born of two-dark headed ones), of her adolescence, of the letter she had written on her 15th birthday (which was just a day preceding the current happenings), of his trying to teach Milly elements of biology and physics using an owl and a clock which he had got as matrimonial auguries, and of her giving him as a gift on his 27th birthday, a breakfast moustachecup of imitation Crown Derby porcelain ware.

Bloom's thoughts are intercepted by the temporary departure of his cat. This catapults Bloom's thoughts into wondering about the similarities and differences between the cat and Milly, in what becomes the pinnacle of labored writing.

This style of writing continues. Said in plain English, Bloom offers Stephen a bed, which is declined by Stephen. On the imminent departure of the much-cared-for-guest, Bloom is made to think of Mrs. Emily Sinico, mirroring the scene of a similar declining of an offer in the story, A Painful Case, from Joyce's Dubliners. Bloom does not give up on enticing Stephen. He would so love to continue the contact which would mean for him (Bloom) rejuvenation of intelligence and vicarious satisfaction. Among other things, he proposes that Stephen teach Molly Italian, that Milly coach Stephen in singing, that they both  (Bloom and Stephen) meet in a suitable place and engage in a series of static semistatic and peripatetic intellectual dialogues. Bloom, who would have gone through a number of disappointments to date, would really be depressed if his offers were rejected. Because he realizes that the society/human existence has reached a critical turningpoint which can only be saved by amending many social conditions, the product of inequality and avarice and international animosity.

Bloom, at this point, is - once again - his kind and lovable self. He is the Bloom we know!

All that remains now is to wish you all, co-readers of Bloom's saga, happy holidays and a great beginning to 2014!

Tuesday, 10 December 2013, Pages 804 - 811, Ithaca, Episode 17

Today we stopped at: "hypnotic suggestion and somnambulism", 17.849  (Gabler), p.  811 (Penguin)

After we were occupied in this chapter for a long time with apparently trivial questions
(e.g: what lay under exposure on the lower, middle and upper shelves of the kitchen dresser, opened by Bloom? (p. 788, Penguin), Who drank more quickly? (p. 791, Penguin), What is home without Plumtree's Potted Meat? (p. 800, Penguin)) and not so trivial ones (e.g. What to do with out wives. (p.802, Penguin)), we are catapulted into the world of antisemitism that was to engulf Europe within years after the publication of Ulysses. Joyce builds this up quite slowly, and talks at first of three seekers of pure truth, Moses of Egypt, Moses Maimonides, and Moses Mendensohn (p.805, Penguin). Then some Hebrew statements appear, only to be followed by names of books that are sacred in Judaism along with those that narrate Irish legend. 

As the conversation (?) moves on to the development of languages, from the Egyptian epigraphic hieroglyphs to Celtic writing, we are confronted with Stephen's auditive sensation and Bloom's visual sensation. (This chapter mentions very often such complementary elements, here e.g. auditive vs visual.) It is then that Joyce attributes (albeit in Bloom's perception) the appearance of Stephen to the 'known' appearance of Christ, leaving us with the question whether Stephen is the Christ of Ulysses.

In what looks like a very sudden step (a catastrophe, a turning point), Stephen starts to recite a legendary poem, which is seeped in antisemitism, though it is composed of such innocent looking words:

Little Harry Hughes and his schoolfellows all
Went out for to play ball.
And the very first ball little Harry Hughes played
He drove it o'er the Jew's garden wall.
And the very second ball little Harry Hughes played
He broke the Jew's windows all.
...

This recitation of Stephen leaves us with many questions:
1. How can Stephen, who has been so cared for by Bloom, recite such a poem in his host's place?
2. Why does he do it?
3. What does Joyce really mean with the words, "secret infidel" when he poses the question: "Why was the host (secret infidel) silent?" after asking, "Why was he host (reluctant, unresisting) still?"

Tuesday, 3 December 2013, Pages 794 - 804, Ithaca, Episode 17

We stopped at, " ... (a mendacious person mentioned in sacred scripture.), 17.687 (Gabler), p. 804 (Penguin)

Last week we had read about the first of the four separating forces between Bloom and his temporary guest, namely, name. Started today reading about the relation that existed between their ages. Joyce takes about half-a-page to tell us (not directly, of course) that Stephen was born in 1882, and that 16 years before in 1888 when Bloom was of Stephen's present age, Stephen was 16. This is followed by a long list of calculations of "what, when.." Soon, the thoughts (or is it the conversation between the two) turn to Dante of The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Not only with the introduction of Dante but also with many other hints, Joyce has created a kaleidoscope - arranging and rearranging the events of the day - in his creation of Ulysses.

Other things - apart from name and age - that are considered here in great detail are their educational careers, their temperaments (Bloom's is said to be scientific where as Stephen's is artistic), their parentage, art of advertisements, The Queen's Hoel in Ennis (where Bloom's father had committed suicide), and the big question of what to do with wives on long evenings! After considering many options including parlour games, Bloom favors courses of evening instruction specially designed to render liberal instruction, as she (his wife) usually interprets polysyllables of foreign origin phonetically: e.g. metempsychosis as met him pike hoses (page 77, Penguin)

While talking about parents, there is a hint about why Bloom asserts on page 745 (Penguin) that he in reality is not a jew: "... told him his God, I mean Christ, was a jew too, and all his family, like me, though in reality I'm not."

The problem I faced today was not really knowing whether what we are reading are mere thoughts in Bloom's and Stephen's minds or whether they are having a conversation. The thing that contradicts the former is the fact that there is an apparent connection, a kind of response, between these "thoughts". This would not have been possible if these were merely thoughts. On the other hand, what speaks against it being a regular conversation is the fact that Stephen has so far been an uninterested, reticent, guest. Let us hope that we will be able to find the answer to this question by the end of the chapter!