Classics Without All the Class discussion

Hey :)
Sorry if I made the thread under the wrong discussions' head but I didn't know where to put it (oops!).
I am planning on reading Ulysses by James Joyce starting early in October. I would love it if any of you would like to join in. It's a long book and they're always more fun with partners!

Synopsis:
In the past, Ulysses has been labeled dirty, blasphemous, and even unreadable. None of these adjectives, however, do the slightest justice to the novel. To this day it remains the modernist masterpiece, in which the author takes both Celtic lyricism and vulgarity to splendid extremes. It is funny, sorrowful, and even (in a close-focus sort of way) suspenseful. And despite the exegetical industry that has sprung up in the last 75 years, Ulysses is also a compulsively readable book.

William Blake saw the universe in a grain of sand. Joyce saw it in Dublin, Ireland, on June 16, 1904, a day distinguished by its utter normality. Two characters, Stephen Dedalus and Leopold Bloom, go about their separate business, crossing paths with a gallery of indelible Dubliners. We watch them teach, eat, stroll the streets, argue, and (in Bloom's case) masturbate. And thanks to the book's stream-of-consciousness technique--which suggests no mere stream but an impossibly deep, swift-running river--we're privy to their thoughts, emotions, and memories. The result? Almost every variety of human experience is crammed into the accordian folds of a single day, which makes Ulysses not just an experimental work but the very last word in realism.

Hi Ishita, Sounds like a fun plan to read it in group! I started reading Ulysses sometime back and never progressed after a few pages! (Was just too lazy... :p) Anyway, i guess would be more promising to read alongwith a few more!!!

Oh, is it? I've always heard great things about it! I did want to read Homer's Odyssey before this one but since I couldn't get my hands on it, i though- what the heck! I'll just read this and start that when I can.
Anyway, it's good knowing that you enjoyed it, I look forward to reading it.

Priyank- it is fun! I've had a few buddy reads in some of my other groups as well and they always make reading more fun (especially long books that seem tedious :P I know the feeling! Lol :D). Buddy reads have given me some very good friends around here too.
So if this sounds like a plan to you, let me and we can decide a date when to start :)

I am all in! :) Let me know whenever you wanna start.

What a coincidence! I'll be starting Ulysses in the next few days. I plan to read the long intro that came in my book this week and start the actual book next week. So I'm in!

Seems like the perfect timing Renato!
Do you think you' be able to manage starting this week? My colleges are closing for a little over a week starting the 2nd and I don't seem to have any plans. What do you say? :)

Priyank wrote: "I am all in! :) Let me know whenever you wanna start."

Okay then! :)

I will make sure I do that :)

It definitely is! Thanks for the link :)

That sounds such a perfect setting.. I wish I could do that too. And with a setting like that, I'm sure you must've enjoyed it a lot!

Now this makes me even more eager to start the book. Thank you, Badger :)

Ishita, I'll try, but I can't promise it cause it'll be a busy week... I don't mind being a week late though... also, as I have other books going on, I planned to take Ulysses till the end of December so it wouldn't be too tiring. So that may not fit in with your plans! Let me know what you have planned.

And I finished The Odyssey - simply amazing, I recommend it to everyone wanting to read Ulysses or not - a couple of weeks ago, so if you need background info/references about it, I can certainly help. :-)

It's okay, Renato. We don't have to go hand in hand. Start and read at your own pace, I understand and it's completely fine. We don't have a defined plan or a schedule as such (nothing that I know of atleast!). We'll start it this week (hopefully!) and take it slow. There's no time limit, the idea is to really sit back and enjoy the book, lol!

As for Odyssey, I do have to read that book. Maybe later! And I'll make a note of that too. Thanks :)

We can discuss the book in parts as we move ahead. Join in if you can :)

Priyank, let me know if you can start it on the 2nd :)

Yep! we can start from 2nd. So, how are we planning to do this? Weekly discussions?

Badger- we'd be glad to have you along the discussion :)

Priyank- yeah, maybe that's a good idea. We can read as much as we like during the week and discuss on Saturdays.
Any changes in our schedule or plans, or anything else we'd like to share or something, we can either communicate here or feel free to PM me. Even if for anything else :)
I look forward to it. It'll be my first classic BR in the group :D

Hi Ishita - Its my first BR :) !!! But, what i was thinking of, is if we can have weekly chapter targets and discuss on Saturdays - just to keep everyone on same page. Whaddya think?! ( i somehow feel if we just read as much as we can, then i will again just lazily drop the whole thing without any target set )

Oh, okay- seems better! Let's do it that way :)

One question- how many chapters does your book have? Mine contains 4 long, LONG, chapters. About 200 pages each.

Oh, I think you are referring to parts. So, Ulysses has a different kind of structure to it, where the novel is divided into 3 parts and each part is further divided into episodes. There is no numbering of the episodes, as there is for parts, but, can be distinguished as starting from a new page. Also, noteworthy, is that all the episodes are written in different literary styles; that's what makes Ulysses a tedious read as there is no continuous style maintained throughout the book. We can target reading 2 episodes per week.

You can look at the different schema at the following link :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_...

Oh hey, I didn't know that! Thanks for telling me. 2 episodes a week sound good. Um, I'm skipping college today so I'll try to start today, you can start whenever you can and let's meet again to discuss this Saturday? :)

And thanks for the link!

Awesome! :)

So I guess.. Happy reading, partner! :)

Hey guys, can I join as well? I have had the book for almost an year now but have not built up the nerve to start it. Would love the company. My pace might be slower though.

Hey Tia... Sure and welcome :) The more the merrier!!!

Cool, thanks! :) Starting tomorrow right? This was great timing :)

The blasphemous does it, Badger!

Tina, welcome aboard! Perfect timing :)
Don't worry, take it at your own pace.

Ugh, I couldn't find the thread!
So, did you guys finish the 2 episodes yet?

Just first one yet.. :( how about you?

We're also reading this in another group, and that one has quite a few participating. We just finished episode 4 this week.

Oh that's nice Laurel :)
Looks like we're not much slower than you. What reading pace have you decided upon?

Priyank, unfortunately, I couldn't start it this week :( I had a busy week with so much pending work that needed be done.
However, I do plan on starting it today. I am gonna set a schedule to help me complete my target from next week on. But I do plan on completing episode 4 by next week!

Hi Ishita... Thats perfectly fine :)... Also, i think 4 is a little too aggressive... I might not be be to complete 4 by next week... Lets try to complete 2 by next week... 3 is good, but lets target 2 :) what do you say?!

Hi, Priyank! How you doing?
Aye I meant till episode 4 :P meaning on schedule considering we planned 2 a week. But let's see :)

We're doing one episode a week.

i didn't get time to start either, but will definitely start today.

Hey Ishita... Am doing ok :) hw are you?! Since even Tia hasnt started, lets finish till episode 2 next week...

Okay then let's do 2 :)

I'm doing good, Priyank :)

Sounds good guys! thanks! So we plan to finish Telemachus and Nestor by this Saturday right? I started reading yesterday :)

Yes :)
Sorry, I took the Sunday off :P and Monday too, apparently :P
I'll start tomorrow :)

I completed the two episodes. What about you guys?
I must say, am really compelled by it! Although the correspondence to Homer's Odyssey, it might be a little difficult to catch on to.
Now I wonder if it would've been better if we read that one first..

And did you know Stephen was the main character in The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man? Wonder if that would've helped understand his character better..

Anyway, I hope you guys are liking the book because I really am! I also understand why people find it so difficult to read. The writing is impressive but extremely difficult to latch!

Badger, thanks for suggesting those books before reading Ulysses. I've been wanting to read it and have been following this thread thinking I should pick it up. I will for sure read these before I tackle this bad boy! Very helpful.

I also read A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man before starting on Ulysses and found it to be very helpful as I can understand how Stephen is, how he became who he is. The book depicts his development since his early childhood (I wrote a review by the way, if anyone's interested: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...).

About The Odyssey: so far, I've read the first section of Ulysses (episodes 1, 2 and 3), and although there are clear parallels to Homer's work, it is not mandatory to understand those in order to get what's going on in Joyce's. So don't worry about it.

As for the reading, episodes 1 and 2 were more or less easy to understand, but in episode 3, Joyce's stream of consciousness fully kicked in and it got a little harder. I'm reading The New Bloomsday Book: A Guide Through Ulysses and it has been of great help. There's a correspondent section for each one in Ulysses and it summarizes the plot for the episode and explains Joyce's references and meanings.

Badger- now I'm really starting to regret it after the way you put it. I had only ever read the excerpt of Homer's. And with Stephen? Well, I could tell that he must've been an extremely thought through character. His quiet, his behavior, they're all extremely intriguing! And not to mention, after his show of aesthetics on his mother's deathbed, It got me all the more interested in him: for there is bound to be a reason he's so messed up!!

Yeah, maybe you're right. I did find the first two quiet easy and even short. I've went over through the other episodes and they seem like the real deal! Also, I didn't find a lot of difference in the writing Schema in these two but there seems to be considerable ahead.

Renato, that makes me a little less intimidated, thanks.

About Odyssey- I've heard it wasn't compulsory but that it definitely helps enjoy the book more when you've read that one first! I did go to the bookstore for that one but couldn't get it- went out of stock!

I could understand these episodes without the guide too but it was anyway more helpful since it explains the references rather clearly! And ever since that incident, Stephen has piqued me the most. I thought the reason must've been disclosed later but now I know it's not!

Actually, I only got to know about Stephen being the main character of that book. Had I known earlier, I would've read that one first but now if I pick that up and put this down, I'll slack on this one. So I'll continue with this for now and read that immediately after this. It might atleast help me understand Stephen a little a better!

Also, I am reading The Synopsis of Ulysses alongside too. It does cover his references an connections, and the summary for the plot, though not in so much detail. I think I'll switch to this one too. Thanks, again :)