Dublin Time

On New Year’s Day, I mentioned that I plan upon read James Joyce’s Ulysses this year. I started last night. I have tried reading Ulysses before. This may be my fourth attempt. I tried reading it in 2011, and ran aground somewhere. In 2012, I went to a Bloomsday reading in Baltimore. I don’t believeContinue reading “Dublin Time”

A Cold Start to the Year

I didn’t make it to midnight to see the stake put through 2025’s cold, black heart. I fell asleep about 9, while listening to Hot Jazz New Year’s Eve on WAMU, and woke at 11 to Fred Astaire singing “They Can’t Take That Away From Me.” I turned it off, turned off the lights, andContinue reading “A Cold Start to the Year”

Frank Delaney, A Reminiscence

The author Frank Delaney has died. He suffered a stroke at his home in Connecticut on Tuesday, and he died on Wednesday. He was 74. Delaney was an occasional guest on Scott Simon’s Weekend Edition Saturday, and that was where I first encountered him. Fifteen-ish years ago — ah, I’ve looked, it was merely twelveContinue reading “Frank Delaney, A Reminiscence”

On Counting Down the Days to Bloomsday

This Saturday, June the 16th, is Bloomsday. A date on which the events of James Joyce’s novel, Ulysses, are celebrated. On June 16, 1904, Stephen Dedalus and Leopold Bloom wander separately and together through the streets of Dublin, and through them the reader explores the richness of life. This year’s Bloomsday will be particularly noted,Continue reading “On Counting Down the Days to Bloomsday”

On Attempting Ulysses Once More

Yesterday, a package arrived in the mail. It was the Dover edition of James Joyce’s Ulysses, a reproduction of the original 1922 printing by Sylvia Beach for Shakespeare & Company. Like many people, I have started Ulysses. Like many people, I’ve never finished Ulysses. I tweeted last night about the book’s arrival, and in theContinue reading “On Attempting Ulysses Once More”