This is the second of 4 discussions that we are dedicating to Joyce’s “Ulysses” that will culminate on the 120th anniversary of Bloomsday next June 15th. We have divided the novel in four roughly equal parts. The second discussion will focus on episodes 9 to 13, from Scylla and Charybdis to Nausicaa.
Ulysses is a modernist novel by Irish writer James Joyce. It is considered one of the most important works of modernist literature and has been called "a demonstration and summation of the entire movement."
Ulysses chronicles the appointments and encounters of the itinerant Leopold Bloom in Dublin in the course of an ordinary day, 16 June 1904. Ulysses is the Latinised name of Odysseus, the hero of Homer's epic poem the Odyssey, and the novel establishes a series of parallels between the poem and the novel, with structural correspondences between the characters and experiences of Bloom and Odysseus, Molly Bloom and Penelope, and Stephen Dedalus and Telemachus, in addition to events and themes of the early 20th-century context of modernism, Dublin, and Ireland's relationship to Britain. The novel is highly allusive and its prose imitates the styles of different periods of English literature.
Since its publication, the book has attracted controversy and scrutiny, ranging from an obscenity trial in the United States in 1921 to protracted textual "Joyce Wars". The novel's stream of consciousness technique, careful structuring, and experimental prose—replete with puns, parodies, and allusions—as well as its rich characterisation and broad humour have led it to be regarded as one of the greatest literary works in history; Joyce fans worldwide now celebrate 16 June as Bloomsday.