Stately, plump Buck Mulligan came from the stairhead, bearing a bowl of lather on which a mirror and a razor lay crossed...
Are you one of the many who have been meaning to get round to reading James Joyce's Ulysses, but found yourself intimidated by the 700-odd pages novel's reputation for linguistic acrobatics?
Ulysses in 80 Days is a book club launched by a group of determined readers who plan to tackle Ulysses in 80 days in summer 2022, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of its publication - and are inviting anyone interested to join them.
The brainchild of Trinity College Dublin immunologist Prof Cliona O'Farrelly, the virtual book club will break the novel into 80 manageable chunks of 6-8 pages a day, from June 1 until August 19th 2022.
The initiative will work as follows: at 7am on each day, a message will be posted on the dedicated website, and on Twitter as well as emailed to members who have signed up on the website, giving the first words and the last words of the section to be read that day, together with the line numbers (from the Gutenberg Press edition, available for free online - the relevant page numbers of several printed editions will also be posted). TikTok fans are encouraged to take part as well.
Members can be listeners as well, if an audio version of Ulysses is preferred - listen to (and download) RTÉ's full dramatised production here.
By Bloomsday (which marks the date in 1904 when the novel is set) on June 16th, 2022, readers will have reached the middle of it's 8th "episode", Lestrygonians, and will be 'in' Davy Byrne’s pub in time for Leopold Bloom’s famous lunch of a Gorgonzola sandwich with a glass of Burgundy.
On that day, readers and listens will be invited to raise a glass together to celebrate reaching the quarter way mark, as they enter the more 'challenging' episodes of the book.
The last episode, [number 18, 'Penelope'], featuring Molly Bloom’s legendary eight-sentence soliloquy, will be read over ten days in August. Day 80, the last day of the literary journey, falls on August 19.
Prof. Cliona O’Farrelly said: "We believe Ulysses is for everyone, not just academics. We’ll be inviting people from around the world to join us on our reading journey by email, Facebook and Twitter. We aim to complete the whole book in 80 days and so will tackle approximately 6-8 pages a day - surely something anyone might accomplish during the bright summer months."
Find out more about Ulysses in 80 Days here.
