Yes, it’s the 16th of June, better known to James Joyce geeks like me as Bloom’s Day. The day is named in honor of Leopold Bloom, the advertising sales rep and Freemason who is one of the major characters in Joyce’s novel Ulysses. The novel also brings along Stephen Dedalus, the protagonist of his earlier novel Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.
For those unfamiliar with this work, Ulysses is Joyce’s stream-of-consciousness novel in which he metaphorically features the events from the Odyssey in a single day – June 16th, 1904, in Dublin. (The day he met Nora Barnacle, the woman he would eventually marry after living together for decades)
Bloom represents Ulysses/Odysseus, Stephen represents Telemachus and Leopold’s wife, Molly Bloom, represents Penelope.
The novel is jam-packed with allusions to all manner of mythology (including sly references to the ancient Semitic myth which was the forerunner of the Odyssey, that’s why the character representing Ulysses is Jewish), Irish history and politics as well as a great deal of mystical and literary philosophy. Anyone into the Rosicrucians and their teachings should love spotting all the hidden meanings.
When I was in my teens and early twenties Ulysses was my favorite Joyce novel, but after that Finnegans Wake became my favorite. Anyway, I figured I’d use one of the few photos of James Joyce in which he does not look like the love child of Floyd the barber and Wally Cox. Enjoy!
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A great novel by an excellent writer, my dear wise friend. His works are all remarkable. Thank you for reminding this valuable Mr Bloom’s day. 🤙🙏🖖
Thank you very much for such kind words! Have a great weekend!
Hmm. Not an author I’ve ever picked-up. Reasonably well-versed on Ulysses [witness a piece from long ago, https://spwilcenwrites.wordpress.com/immigration-interview/ that you either missed or dissed] because, I suspect, when I had time to spare in my yute, both he and his titles sounded foppish. After reading your excellent review, I may just have to trip to my local libarry to see is they got some his writing. Thankee, Balladman.
Thanks! And I went to check out that piece of yours. Hilarious! I left a comment there, too.
Well, shux, I do manage [If I sayso meself] to poke out a decent piece now and again. Thanks for investing the time and speciality for mumbling your assessment. Appreciated. And the Libarry is open tomorrow. I might sneak over there and look up this boy called Sue [Joyce]. I’ll have to check with the Boss to see what my schedule looks like.
I see. And don’t forget Joyce Carol Oates, too! Or Joyce DeWitt.
A James Joyce fan–I’m proud to know one. I can never figure out what the words coming off his pen mean! It’s safe to assume–I suspect–you aren’t into cozies…
Thanks for dropping by! Actually, I do like some of those kinds of mysteries, especially ones from the 1800s and early 1900s, like Lady Molly of Scotland Yard and the gypsy woman Hagar who solves mysteries.
I’ve not yet read anything by Joyce but I do have “Dubliners” sitting on my reader waiting for me to get to it, so we’ll see how that goes! 😁
I hope you enjoy the short pieces in Dubliners!