HAPPY BLOOMSDAY
One hundred and five years ago, June 16, 1904 is the day Leopold Bloom roamed the back streets of Dublin in James Joyce's weaving narrative of the everyday, "Ulysses". Today is Bloomsday, the 105th anniversary of the events of the novel. All over the world Joyce fans will gather to celebrate the extraordinary tale of an ordinary day. There will be Bloomsday theatre, Bloomsday reenactments, Bloomsday walks, Bloomsday breakfasts and many a Gorgonzola sandwich with Burgandy wine at the legendary Davy Byrne's on Duke Street, off Grafton Street.
If you're feeling more than a little bit lost with all of this Irish literary talk, you'd not be alone. Many an accomplished reader has thumbed the pages of "Ulysses" (726 in the revised paperback) to never quite make it to the end. The novel was banned for 12 years in the US (and Britain) in 1921 for obscenity and it's many of these lewd sections of the book that makes it as famous and talked about today as it was fifty years ago. In fact, one quite rare signed original copy just sold for a staggering $442,900, the highest price ever paid for a 20th century first edition. "The book is unopened and unread, except for the famous last chapter which contains all the naughty bits," said Pom Harrington who arranged the sale.
Finally, for anyone who thinks they may contract ADHD by attempting to read "Ulysses", help is at hand thanks to Tim Collins, author of the upcoming "Little Book of Twitter". Collins summarizes and tweets the abbreviated masterworks so concisely, you now can read "Ulysses" in less time than it takes to pick up and put down a South Florida newspaper. Here is his Tweet on "Ulysses":
Ulysses: Man walks around Dublin. We follow every minute detail of his day. He's probably overtweeting.
Get more from Tim at twitter.com/survivalguide.
Now nothing could summon the literary dead like the Joycean masterpiece being 'Tweeted' down to 140 characters. Sorry James.
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