Powering through Ulysses Together

OLLI Study Group 674, Fall Semester 2024) 

- time 11:45 to 1:15 PM each Thursday

For 10 weeks (no class on Thanksgiving Day,

Last Class on December 5

First Class on September 26

           The study group leader is Bob Kolodney (emali bobkolive@gmail.com)

ON THIS WEBPAGE:

• Course Information

• Text for Course

• Commentary on Brain Science and Psychology Developments

• Resources

• Before and After Ulysses

• Food for Thought and Discussion

We will read and discuss an abridged version of Ulysses consisting of the script of highlights previously used in 2016 for an OLLI Bloomsday reading (script is embedded below). 

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this 5-class study group is to share the enjoyment of reading Janes Joyce’s Ulysses.  Ulysses is certainly Joyce’s master work, although there is much to be said for just about everything that he wrote.

SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE (HOPEFULLY): For people who have not read Ulysses, there will be some background about the author and his writing, and some direct experience of the book. It should be fun because Joyce was a genius with a fine sense of humor.  The script of highlights that we will use provides a good sample of Ulysses, and a good way of getting into the book.  

For those who have made New Year's resolutions to read Ulysses, this study group can serve as a painless tool to access the book.  For some books it is a disadvantage to be too familiar with them before reading.  This is not the case for Ulysses. Even substantial pre-reading preparation will not enable a complete mastery of the book nor foreclose the surprises that will inevitably arise.

For those already familiar with Joyce and Ulysses this is an opportunity to re-experience something pleasurable.  It is remarkable that even upon multiple readings Ulysses always seems to present something new - passages that do not seem to have been present before or new interpretations, relationships or references.  

THE NATURE OF ULYSSES: This eternally renewing quality of Ulysses is not surprising because the author purposely mined the book with ironic puzzles and riddles. In a sense reading and re-reading Ulysses is like reviewing the work of a mischievous poet.  The vast academic industry that Joyce has spawned is partially reflected on the Yale Modernism Lab  website (links provided below).  An enormous amount of high-octane brain power has been focused on the the works of James Joyce over the past 100 years.

Some (obviously-deluded) people even think that repeated consultation of Ulysses is more rewarding than the bible.  Works with a high degree of literary richness bring us back to them again and again. It seems that a principal reason for this is that our consciousness has only a limited processing power (of about 150 bits per second) - so that we become fully occupied/overwhelmed/fascinated when we encounter variety, complexity and demonstrated skill.

Our sampling of Ulysses is, of course, not a substitute for the entire book, and it is a challenge to choose highlights because there are many fine passages.  Joyce was constantly experimenting,  and it is remarkable how little filler there is, if any. 

CLASSES: In each class we will progress through the script - with reading and discussion.  Study group participants will be invited to read passages aloud. At one or more of the classes we may be joined by a Joyce authority (including Michael Groden, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Western University; Robert Aubry Davis of PBS fame; Christopher Griffin, Professor at Washington-area universities and an Irish expert for Smithsonian journeys).

Birthday Celebration: Tuesday, February 2 is Joyce’s birthday and we will have a celebration that will involve extended reading and a film (program at JJ Birthday Celebration). The celebration will begin at 3:30 PM, 15 minutes after the end of our class on that day.  

GUIDE AND TABLE: There is a Guide to Fruitful Reading of Ulysses on the Bloomsday by OLLI website as well as a summary Ulysses table.  A short TED ED introduction to Ulysses video and a Ulysses Table are posted under the JJ Birthday Celebration program (on the Birthday Celebration webpage).

Text for Course (Script from 2016 Bloomsday by OLLI Celebration) -

                                                              Scroll in Place or Open in upper right Corner:

SOME ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

• Marathon Ulysses performance of the Irish radio station RTE available at RTE RECORDING (this high quality reading helps to bring the book to life) 

• Michael Groden's Guide to reading Ulysses (Groden is a highly-qualified, trustworthy guide)

• Yale Modernism Lab (try the Joyce Page , or for orderly chapter by chapter analysis, commentary and references the Telemachus Page - from which you can go to other chapters by arrow-marked scrolling)

• Ulysses Guide by Patrick Hastings

• Ulysses Annotated, by Don Gifford and Robert Seidman (the classic reference of annotations on Ulysses)

• For Positive Psychology perspective: The Hope Circuit, A Psychologist's Journey from Helplessness to Optimism by Martin Seligman