Such has been my experience at least. My great fear is, as you put it, being "that guy" who thinks he's "special for the mistakes he makes." Even more so as someone advocating for risk-taking re form and style.
I love your article on minimalism and maximalism and how much they are a function of the writer's voice. It's interesting to compare Joyce's voice in "Ulysses" to his voie in "The Dubliners" or "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man."
Cormac McCarthy has a decriptive but plot driven voice in "The Road." In "Blood Meridian," we get the usual McCarthy who seems to have a love affair with dressing carnage is beautiful and terrifyingly Shakespearean prose.
To get the full effect of the opening of Ulysses you need to know that Mulligan is mocking the Catholic mass. "Introibo ad altare dei" - "I shall go up to the Altar of God" aren't just any latin words from the bible, they are the fist words uttered by the priest. To which the altar boy would have answered (the latin phrase meaning) "The God who gives joy to my youth." This isn't common knowledge anymore but would have been familiar to many if not most of Joyce's readers. (As it was to me, since I had been an altar boy back when dinosaurs walked the earth and the mass was still said in Latin.) Mulligan isn't just mocking the mass with his ersatz rituals, he's also mocking Stephen, whom he considers too serious. And finally, Joyce is implicitly tell his readers that reading this book is going to be a sacred experience, like going to mass. No doubt many readers were scandalized and put the book down immediately.
I know very little about that, but I suspect it varies from place to place & context to context. By which I mean that, for example, in the USA it was both banned by the Catholic Church and declared obscene under U.S. law. This article in the current issue of he New York Review of Books is about "The LIttle Magazine," which published Ulysses in installments in the US — and was sued by the federal government for doing so. https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2024/12/19/insouciant-pagan-journal-the-little-review/
Oh. Just a feeling. I don't know that for a fact. I have the version of the book that recreates the original The Little Magazine publication which is fun, but I'm not yet at the point where I know what the differences are.
These posts always leave me feeling overwhelmed by my own inability yet hungry to grow in the vocation. Hurts so good.
I think considering our own style and what we wish it be overwhelms us all
Such has been my experience at least. My great fear is, as you put it, being "that guy" who thinks he's "special for the mistakes he makes." Even more so as someone advocating for risk-taking re form and style.
Someone is reading Act 1 if my WIP now, and I am so much that person
a very engaging read, thanks
I appreciate it.
What happened to the stateliness and the plumpness of Buck Mullligan? Are there different versions? What am I missing?
Good catch. The first two words were lost in an overly designed facing page.
Ah I see. I thought perhaps different versions of the book were released that I knew nothing about. Thanks for this.
I love your article on minimalism and maximalism and how much they are a function of the writer's voice. It's interesting to compare Joyce's voice in "Ulysses" to his voie in "The Dubliners" or "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man."
Cormac McCarthy has a decriptive but plot driven voice in "The Road." In "Blood Meridian," we get the usual McCarthy who seems to have a love affair with dressing carnage is beautiful and terrifyingly Shakespearean prose.
Thank you for this thoughful article.
Thank you again. Your generosity with your comments inspires me to keep plugging away.
To get the full effect of the opening of Ulysses you need to know that Mulligan is mocking the Catholic mass. "Introibo ad altare dei" - "I shall go up to the Altar of God" aren't just any latin words from the bible, they are the fist words uttered by the priest. To which the altar boy would have answered (the latin phrase meaning) "The God who gives joy to my youth." This isn't common knowledge anymore but would have been familiar to many if not most of Joyce's readers. (As it was to me, since I had been an altar boy back when dinosaurs walked the earth and the mass was still said in Latin.) Mulligan isn't just mocking the mass with his ersatz rituals, he's also mocking Stephen, whom he considers too serious. And finally, Joyce is implicitly tell his readers that reading this book is going to be a sacred experience, like going to mass. No doubt many readers were scandalized and put the book down immediately.
The justification for banning it seemed always phrased in terms of sex, but I suspect it was more about being religiously offended.
I know very little about that, but I suspect it varies from place to place & context to context. By which I mean that, for example, in the USA it was both banned by the Catholic Church and declared obscene under U.S. law. This article in the current issue of he New York Review of Books is about "The LIttle Magazine," which published Ulysses in installments in the US — and was sued by the federal government for doing so. https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2024/12/19/insouciant-pagan-journal-the-little-review/
Oh. Just a feeling. I don't know that for a fact. I have the version of the book that recreates the original The Little Magazine publication which is fun, but I'm not yet at the point where I know what the differences are.
Oh, excellent! Bravo!
Thank you!