Blooms & Barnacles

Why is Leopold Bloom so captivated by the “mysterious East”?

In this episode we discuss the Orientalist motif in Ulysses, with a focus on “Calypso.” Topics include what is Orientalism?, how Orientalism manifests in Irish culture, the blurred continuum between Irish and British culture, Edward Said, why the “Orient” is really a dream, the Whig interpretation of history, what Leopold Bloom has in common with Julia Roberts, Haroun al-Raschid, Turko the Terrible, Molly’s connection to the East, Disney’s Aladdin, hypostasis of Dedalus and Bloom, In the Track of the Sun, Samuel Coleridge Taylor’s “Kubla Khan”, dulcimers, and why Bloom’s heritage makes him “Oriental” in the eyes of some.

Leopold Bloom’s Journey Through the Orient

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This gland is your gland; this gland is my gland.

Bloom finally makes it to the butcher to buy his kidney! In this episode, we discuss the geography (or joggerfry) of Bloom’s neighborhood, Larry O’Rourke’s, Bloom’s idea to build a tramline from the quays to the cattle market, bartenders who become rich, the art of economics, Moses Dlugacz, why a Jewish butcher sells pork, the Woods family of 8 Eccles St., the stout “nextdoor girl,” whacking, Zionism, blurred cattle cropping, and Mr. Dlugacz’s “foxeyes.”

Agendath Netaim

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This week, we’re talkin’ ‘bout ‘tatoes!

Kelly and Dermot unpack the deeper symbolism behind Leopold Bloom’s idiosyncratic hobby of carrying a potato upon his person. Topics include Tayto crisps, Stephen and Bloom’s parallel lost keys, Bloom’s potato as a protective object, why the potato may actually possess magic powers, the potato as Odysseus’ moly, the potato as a panacea, the potato as a remedy for rheumatism, spud guns, potatoes as a fertility symbol, the potato as a mezuzah, the blasphemy of the potato, potato snobbery, the age of margarine, the potato’s role in Irish history, and amor matris.

Bloom’s Potato

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Who was Molly Bloom’s father, Major Brian Cooper Tweedy? Far more than meets the eye.

Topics in this episode include Michael Caine and Zulu, what the heck a footleaf is and other lovely minutiae, the origin of the Blooms’ jingly-jangly bed, Major Brian Cooper Tweedy and his military career, Molly’s time in Gibraltar and her memories of her father, Rorke’s Drift, Plevna, cheating at auctions, philately, sparrowfarts, Wolseley and Gordon in Khartoum, deception and lies, classism in the British military, and many shocking facts about Major Tweedy.

Ground Control to Major Tweedy

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Organ meats: the breakfast of champions.

In this episode, we cover the opening pages of Ulysses’ fourth episode, “Calypso.” Topics include who eats organ meats, how Bloom’s thoughts are different from Stephen’s thoughts, the humbleness of “Calypso,” what mundane actions tell us about a character, kidneys as a correspondent organ in “Calypso”, art as the office of purgation, Joyce as an artistic kidney, the cyclical nature of waste, Bloom’s kidney as a burnt offering, Bloom’s cat, Bloom’s compassion toward animals, the fate of 7 Eccles St., the first Bloomsday, why 7 Eccles St. wasn’t preserved, and how to knock on Bloom’s front door anyway. 

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This week we cover the parallels to “Calypso,” the fourth episode of James Joyce’s Ulysses and Book V of Homer’s Odyssey. Topics include how Leopold Bloom and Odysseus are similar, how they’re different since Bloom is really a sideways Odysseus, Bloom as a feminine man, the danger of nostalgia, the Blooms’ many secrets, Molly as a character especially veiled in secrets, so much etymology, the location of Calypso’s island Ogygia, Gibraltar, the color yellow, the fate of the lost city of Atlantis, Blazes Boylan, who should play Blazes Boylan in a theoretical film version of Ulysses, Bannon and his Photo Girl, “Seaside Girls,” and the Bhagavad Gita.

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In our last episode, we discussed people from James Joyce’s life who influenced the creation of Leopold Bloom. However, we left one question unanswered - why were none of these men from Dublin? Didn’t Joyce know any Jewish people in Dublin? Vincent Altman O’Connor’s research into this very question and the biography of his grandfather Albert Altman may very well be the answer to this riddle.

Topics discussed in this episode include Glasnevin’s many Joycean connections, the story of Albert Altman as a successful salt merchant and politician, Altman’s connection to the Invincibles, how Altman became an Irish Nationalist, the very many details from Altman family history that appear in Ulysses, a refutation of idea that Joyce didn’t know any Jewish people in Dublin, why Joyce may have had to conceal the identity of the “real” Leopold Bloom, why it is worth exploring real world parallels to the characters of Ulysses, Joyce as a political writer, the possibility that “Leopold Bloom” really did give Arthur Griffith the idea for Sinn Fein, Joycean misconceptions about Arthur Griffith, and coded psychotropographic allusions.

Who Was the Real Leopold Bloom? 

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James Joyce based many characters in Ulysses on friends, family, acquaintances, and enemies, but what about Leopold Bloom? Who were the real people in Joyce’s life who inspired the creation of one of literature’s greatest protagonists?

Topics in this episode include people who Joyce thought looked like Leopold Bloom, the story of Alfred Hunter, why Joyce chose the address 7 Eccles St., how many pounds are in a stone, the inspiration for Bloom’s kindly-curious personality, Ettore Schmitz (Italo Svevo), how true friendship influenced Ulysses, why Bloom is Hungarian, why he’s called Leopold, how Leopold Bloom embodies the quality of maturity.

Who Was the Real Leopold Bloom?

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They both lived in a Martello Tower, sure, but what else do James Joyce and Bono have in common?

We take a short break from analyzing Ulysses to take a look at one of Joyce’s early poems - “The Holy Office.” If you love 100+ year old gossip, strap in! This one gets dishy. Topics include the significance of the year 1904 in James Joyce’s life, the Irish Literary Revival, a young Joyce’s penchant for writing angry poetry, Joyce’s desire for artistic Truth rather than mere aesthetics, why you should care about “The Holy Office” and how it will further your understanding of Ulysses, The Goblin - Joyce’s unrealized literary magazine, Joycean trash talk, the laxative qualities of Joyce’s writing, how the Irish Literary revival actually reinforced Victorian class structure and cultural mores, Cheddar Goblin, and why Joyce saw himself as the Aquinas of Dublin.

James Joyce’s Poetic Rage

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This episode’s passage comes from p. 50-51 in my edition of Ulysses (1990 Vintage International), and covers the passage beginning “Come. I thirst.” and ending “…a silent ship.”

We did it!!! We finally finished “Proteus”! We’re covering the last page of Ulysses’ third episode this week. Topics include Dermot’s love of tall ships and the Master and Commander novels, why a ship isn’t always a ship, Biblical allusions galore, why Stephen invokes Lucifer, cockle hats and sandal shoon, how Stephen tamed Proteus, half-remembered Tennyson, Stephen’s terrible teeth, themes of decay and creation, Kinch the Superman, the symbolism of shells, Stephen the nose picker, heraldry, the appearance of the Rosevean, and a nautical representation of the crucifixion.

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