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Sunday, June 03, 2007
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Countdown to Bloomsday Longtime readers know I do this every year -- as June 16 approaches, I follow various James Joyce stories and generally attempt to whomp you up to fly to Dublin, or at least do something Joycean in your hometown, in celebration of Bloomsday. There was a distinct moment, while I was teaching Ulysses last semester, when my enthusiastic class seemed to get it -- seemed to sense the biggest truth about that novel, its effort to draw every bit of us, to show us absolutely everything that we are, physically, mentally, spiritually, the worst and the best, so that we can know, and accept, what we are. I found this exciting, the dawning compassion on the faces of some of my students as they got past their disgust with some of what is shown of Leopold Bloom and Stephen Dedalus, and moved ahead into something more humane, more amused, more self-aware. A writer for the Toledo Blade remembers last year's Bloomsday in Dublin. For more than 50 years, people have gathered here for festive readings and breakfasts, lectures, and performances. And in case you thought the fun was only for former English majors, don’t fret: there’s plenty of alcohol and general merriment for all. Former English majors don't drink? ... True, this one doesn't, much. There's my summer ritual of many pina coladas (this is rather pathetic, I guess), and I have wine with dinner occasionally... But I don't think I'm typical of former English majors. They probably drink more than most people. Emulating their favorite writers... ...like James Joyce, who, if I'm remembering the Richard Ellmann biography correctly, could really put it away, and was occasionally found lying in gutters. Then there's Stephen Dedalus, who spends all of Ulysses getting blasted, and is well on his way toward becoming an alcoholic. The Blade writer says that "attending Bloomsday in Dublin is considered a must in the book, 1,000 Places to See Before You Die by Patricia Schultz." I didn't know that. Having attended Bloomsday in Dublin, I know how wild and wonderful it is; but keep in mind that the lines to all the events are long. You need to be determined. The Blade writer watched last year in Dublin as a group of actors played out scenes from Ulysses. While reading the book had been torture back in college, hearing the novel’s difficult language read out loud and seeing the action played out, it suddenly made sense. Somehow, it wasn’t hard anymore. |