The Tower

Well done, Gents! One meeting down, eleven to go. (A more daunting thought may be one chapter down, seventeen to go ... or 23 pages down, 760 to go.)

I thought discussion went pretty well, but I'd be interested to know what other folks thought. Too much book talk? Not enough book talk?


From what I recall, the following topics/issues were broached:

• Stephen as Telemachus, son of Odysseus
• Mulligan and Haines as two "usurpers," trying to take over Stephen's story and literary/artistic aspirations (Mulligan) and Irish culture and history (Haines)
• Stephen in mourning and guilt-ridden over his mother's death and his refusal to honor her request that he pray for her
• The old milkwoman as a symbol of Irish sterility and emptiness
• Stephen leaving the tower (without the key)
• The blasphemous, irreverent mockery of Roman Catholicism
• Ireland/Stephen as servants of two masters: English (politcal) and Italian (R.C. Church)

I don't recall us discussing the various "bowls" that fuse in the chapter: Mulligan's bowl of lather, the bowl-shaped sea, and the bowl into which Stephen's mother vomited up bile as she was dying. Nor, I think, did we talk about Joyce's emerging use of stream-of-consciousness, or internal monologue; that is, despite what at times is a fairly straightforward narrative and narrative voice, at times the narrative falls into Stephen's own internal voice/language/consciousness. This will continue during the next chapter, and by the third chapter we'll be exclusively in Stephen's head. Finally, while the novel reenacts/revitalizes The Odyssey, it also touches on Hamlet throughout - witness the melancholy, intellectual Stephen, dressed in black and in mourning for a recently deceased parent (just as Hamlet is at the beginning of the play).

If anyone has any further issues/thoughts/questions, by all means, open up discussion on Chapter One below ...

St. Stephen Picks His Nose ...

On to Episodes 2 and 3 (pp. 24-51) ...

By means of introduction, these two episodes conclude the Telemachiad, or first of three parts of the novel. Part II (pp. 54-609) will primarily concern Leopold Bloom, while Part III will concern Bloom's wife, Molly.

Episode 2 is referred to as "Nestor," named for the wise old sage and friend of Odysseus whom Telemachus consults. This will be used for primarily ironic effect by Joyce's having the Nestor figure here be the small-minded, cynical Mr. Deasy, headmaster of the school at which Stephen teaches. (I neglected to mention that Episode 1 takes place at 8 a.m.; this episode takes place at 10). Episode 3 (now 11 a.m.) is "Proteus," in reference to a shape-shifting sea god of that name. Stephen takes a walk on Sandymount Strand, a beach just outside Dublin proper, and waxes philosophical on a number of topics, including sensory experience, consciousness, death, the body/soul dichotomy, and plenty of other things I'm sure I'm forgetting. By this chapter we are entirely in Stephen's head, with no semblance of an outside/objective narrative to ground us. This makes these 15 pages downright excrutiating to read. If you gmake it to the end of the chapter, I'd say you've already gotten further than most people who try to read Ulysses.

Practical information: Next meeting will be Thursday, May 17 at McLadden's on Lasalle Road in West Hartford. Let's say 7:00, unless people think there needs to be a time adjustment. Happy reading!