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Summer reading season is starting, but Harry Potter and
the Half-Blood Prince isn't out for another month. What's a geek to do?
Yes, in addition to Sandman graphic novels, The Lord of the Rings and, I am shamed to admit, even Piers Anthony, my sagging bookcase is filled with the likes of Milton and Melville. Because a bookworm is really just a well-read geek. So today let's celebrate the greatest novel of the 20th century, James Joyce's Ulysses. Bold, beautiful and banned when it was published in 1922, the dense novel, based loosely on Homer's Odyssey, details a day in the life of Leopold Bloom, a Jewish salesman in Dublin. With difficult language and unconventional structure, Joyce details the minutiae of Bloom's travels and encounters among "the great talkers of Dublin." "I want to give a picture of Dublin so complete that if the city suddenly disappeared from the earth it could be reconstructed out of my book," Joyce said of the novel. Ulysses is not an easy read. I struggled through it in college with the help of an excellent professor and copious notes. It still holds much that I wasn't able to assimilate. But if you have ever tried to read Ulysses, only to be thwarted by the arduous prose, now is the time to try again. Today is the 101st anniversary of the day Ulysses took place, known as Bloomsday among Joyce fans and Irish literati. In Dublin, Bloomsday has evolved into a daylong parade retracing the steps of Bloom's journey, from pubs to parks and post offices. Around the world, Joyce fans celebrate the legacy of Bloom and his young protege Stephen Dedalus with boisterous readings of the bawdy novel and brimming pints of rich black beer. In the desert, the Valley's Irish community celebrates Bloomsday at the Irish Cultural Center, which is hosting its first Bloomsday celebration. "It's really an Irish event. Ulysses is a travelogue, a guide to Dublin and a trip back in time," says Mary Moriarty of the Cultural Center. The Bloomsday celebration includes a screening of The Dead, John Huston's final film, based on the Joyce classic of the same name, and a screening of Bloom, the 2003 movie adaptation of Ulysses starring Stephen Rea as the wandering protagonist. After the movies, actors will read key passages from the classic book. Visitors are encouraged to dress in turn-of-the-century costume, and of course there will be plenty of Guinness and Gorgonzola sandwiches. Not that it won't take some effort, but between a film and readings and a pint or four, the taxing text should be opened to you. Moriarty hopes that in upcoming years the celebration will grow, perhaps into the sort of traveling parade that marks the Dublin celebration. We've got plenty of pubs and post offices, although where they will find a lighthouse in the Valley is a mystery. And after traveling with Bloom through the streets of Dublin, your trip to Hogwart's next month will be a breeze. 10 a.m. today, 1106 N. Central Ave., Phoenix. Free. (602) 258-0109 or www.azirish.com. MORE CHOICES Pub crawl Continue the party Friday with some oul' Irish craic and a pint of Guinness or Smithwick's, listening to the finest local Celtic bands. * The Dubliner, 3841 E. Thunderbird Road, Phoenix. (602) 867-0984 or www.dubliner pub.com. Onstage: Clare Voyants. * Fibber McGee's, 1989 W. Elliot Road, Chandler. (480) 722-9434 or www.fibbermagees pub.com. Onstage: O'Carroll's Gate. * Rosie McCaffrey's, 906 E. Camelback Road, Phoenix. (602) 241-1916 or www.rosie mccaffreys.com. Onstage: Blackwood. * Rula Bula, 401 S. Mill Ave., Tempe. (480) 929-9500 or www.rulabula.com. Onstage: Keltic Cowboys. Book crawl If you're not ready to delve into the dense literary world of James Joyce, here are two modern Irish classics worth your summer reading: * Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha Roddy Doyle's 1991 novel is a loving, exuberant look at the life of a 10-year-old boy surviving the rough streets of a working-class suburb of Dublin. Also worth picking up: Doyle's love letter to American rock-and-roll, The Commitments. * The Butcher Boy Patrick McCabe's 1992 novel distills the "troubles" in Northern Ireland into a chilling tale of a teenage Catholic boy who brutally murders a well-to-do Protestant family. The novel was made into a disturbing film starring Stephen Rea and Sinead O'Connor. CAPTION: 1) James Joyce CAPTION: 2) Maybe downing a pint will open your mind to the possibilities of Ulysses, written by James Joyce. If you're not the type to drink alone, join in the Bloomsday festivities at the Irish Cultural Center in Phoenix. |
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