Ulysses for dummies
With the magic of the
Internet, James Joyce's historic masterwork has been
efficiently reduced to 18 captioned cartoons:


1. June 16, 1904. 8:00 a.m. Stephen Dedalus, a
young schoolteacher, speaks to his friend,
"stately, plump" Buck Mulligan, in the
disused watchtower on the Liffey where they live. |

2. 9:00 a.m. Stephen teaches at Mr. Deasy's
school. God is "a shout in the street,"
Stephen says. |

3. 10:00 a.m. Stephen mopes on the strand. |

4. 8:00 a.m. Leopold Bloom, an advertising
salesman, eats breakfast. |

5. 9:00 a.m. At the post office, Bloom gets a
love letter addressed to his alter ego,
"Henry Flower." |

6. 11:00 a.m. Bloom attends the burial of Dignam,
an acquaintance. He rides to the cemetery with
Stephen's father, Simon. |

7. 11:00 a.m. In the "Aeolus" episode,
Bloom visits a newspaper editor to place an
advertisement. |

8. Lunchtime. Bloom stops in at a pub for a bite
to eat. |

9. 2:00 p.m. At the library, Stephen discusses
Shakespeare with friends as Bloom stops in to
look at an old newspaper ad. |

10. Mid-afternoon. A portrait of Dublin finds
Stephen and Bloom crossing each other's paths
twice. |

11. Afternoon. Stopping at a pub, Bloom responds
to the love letter he received earlier. |

12. Afternoon. Bloom, a Jew, engages in debate
with a one-eyed anti-semite who attacks him
physically. Bloom escapes in the nick of time. |

13. Afternoon. Bloom spies on a pair of girls who
are relaxing on the strand. He masturbates. |

14. Evening. Stopping at a maternity hospital to
visit a friend, Bloom encounters Stephen, who is
preparing to go out on the town with Dr. Mulligan
and others. Worried, Bloom takes Stephen under
his wing. |

15. Night. Bloom and Stephen visit a brothel.
Stephen destroys a lamp with his walking stick. |

16. Night. Bloom asks Stephen to accompany him
home. Stephen agrees, and sings a song by
Johannes Jeep. |

17. Night. Bloom is unable to convince Stephen to
spend the night. Bloom sees Stephen out, and
together they urinate in the garden. |

18. Sunrise. Bloom goes to bed, waking his wife
Molly, who thinks about how much she loves her
husband. |
"Ulysses for Dummies"
used to be here, until it
was suppressed by litigation from the "...for
Dummies" book writers, but now (for a time) appears here.
To actually read Ulysses, get
the Don Gifford concordance, and a handy guide like the concise Blamires or
the luxurious McKenna or the
venerable Schwarz, or
even the obtuse Gilbert, and
yes, because you'll need them, the Cliff's notes.
|