“Commemorating the life and legend of Irish writer James Joyce on Bloomsday, every June 16, we take a moment to honor and celebrate all we’ve gained from his works. The significance of June 16 is taken from his 1922 novel, Ulysses, which takes place on June 16, 1904, and follows a day in the life of the story’s protagonist (Leopold Bloom). It is also the day Joyce went on his first date with his then wife-to-be, Nora Barnacle. Either way, National Bloomsday commemorates these two occasions every year on June 16. The story of Leopold Bloom is recognized as one of the most important works of modernist literature and has been largely considered a catalyst for the entire movement. Today, people in Ireland and Joyce fan’s around the world celebrate with festivals, readings, dramatizations, pub crawls, and more to honor a man who changed literature forever.” ~~ from National Today website
More information at: Blooms Day
This novel, for reasons that I don’t quite understand, frequently comes out on top of the best novels of any time period written in English. For that reason I have tried to read it, but found it nearly impossible. However, as an audio book it works very well. I have actually listened to it twice. First time I did not totally follow the story line, and spent a fair amount of time lost. The second time I made a better connection with the novel. I have vaguely thought about treating it like I treat some of the more difficult works of literature, like the Odyssey, the Iliad, the Divine Comedy, the Aedneid, Shakesphearean plays, etc. I found these works to be more accessible if I read them as I was listening to the audio book. Sometimes, though, it is hard finding matching translations. Given that the audio book for Ulysses runs 32 hours, it would be the work of more than a few days.
And so it goes. Have a Guinness on me… if you can track me down. I’ll be watching fireworks with Leopold.
And to hear from another party on Bloomsday: Pearl Before Swine – June 16th