A stately, plump good morning to Ulysses readers everywhere.
Over the last day or two, several messages have arrived here informing me (and asking me to inform you) of a new podcast. It’s hosted by the bestselling Irish novelist, journalist and broadcaster Frank Delaney, and it’s called Re:Joyce! A Podcast Exploring the World of James Joyce’s Ulysses.
Delaney says he’ll add new episodes on a weekly basis. Since Episode 1 covers only the book’s first paragraph, the project could take Delaney quite a while to complete.
In the introduction, he confesses that at first he was one of the many readers so daunted by the book that he had to give up. Eventually, though, he concluded:
Reading Ulysses is one of the pleasures of life. It is a vast, entertaining, funny, absorbing, exciting, enjoyable novel, a book to get lost in, a book to take to a desert island, a book to keep by your bedside, and discover each day something new, a book to be quoted from, recalled, discussed, contemplated, bequeathed, bestowed, but above all to be relished, savoured, a work of intelligence and delight.
Delaney is the author of the 1984 book James Joyce’s Odyssey: A Guide to the Dublin of Ulysses, which I have not read but will now seek out.
Guides can certainly be helpful in unraveling Joyce’s densely-packed allusions and jokes. The ones I routinely recommend include Ulysses Annotated: Notes for James Joyce’s Ulysses by Don Gifford and Mythic Worlds, Modern Words: Joseph Campbell on the Art of James Joyce.
You can also follow @frankdelaney</> on Twitter.
Happy Bloomsday!
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