Is anyone interested in a Ulysses reading group?
I recently attended the James Joyce Summer School and left Dublin with such a love for Ulysses. I spent one week studying the novel and talking to great people about it and, honestly, I miss that experience. I live in Chattanooga, TN, so finding a Ulysses reading group will be hard to do. If anyone is interested in participating in an online reading group, please let me know. We could read it slowly, maybe concentrating on one episode a month while keeping conversations going about our experience with reading it. Also, if you've been thinking about picking it up, but have been intimidated or just haven't found the motivation, a reading group is a great way to approach such a huge text. You'll be spurred along by everyone's discussion and you'll get to see various points of view as you move along.
My research project, the reading group, and what the book demands on the reader
By the way, I would suggest you to read Dubliners and the Portrait before reading Ulysses.... So you'll learn about Dublin, Stephen Dedalus before reading Ulysses... And it would also help you to accompany the progressive development of Joyce's technique and treatment of his subject.
I'd also suggest you to get a copy of Ulysses Annotated, by Don Gifford. According to my experience, many people give up reading Ulysses because they think it is a common book. In fact, some people get scared when they reach a chapter like Proteus - it demands so much on you, that it is very easy to give it up. No other book, besides Finnegans Wake, demands so much on your previous knowledge.
Joyce was not kidding when he said that the perfect reader for his books would be a life-long one, with the ideal insomnia.
There's a Rapidshare download link for Ulysses Annotated somewhere, but I don't know if it is allowed to post things like that here...
As I said to Victoria by private message, probably I would not have too much time to participate on the group because 2009 is going to be very busy for me... However, I'd like to accompany it, if it happens, because it has to do with my research projects on Literature and Translation Studies (I'm analyzing the Portuguese translations of Ulysses - one of them was made by my teacher =) ).
If you know anything about this reading group, tell me..
If you want the link to Gifford's Ulysses annotated, try to look for it at Google. Otherwise, send me a p.m. or e-mail me at wolfsheim1 ((at)) gmail (dot) com.
---
Jonathas