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Bloom as a jew: Joyce show a Dublin in which most of the Dubliners are more or less prejudiced. Amusingly the only men who show appreciation for Bloom are two men that Bloom looks down on, Nosey Flynn and Charley M'Coy. The rest of the men in Dubliners look down and snub Bloom and regard him as a Jew. But Bloom only assumes Jewishness when his feelings are aroused and he has to take a stand against the virulent nationalism of the Citizen later in the book. Bloom is not circumcised, he has never been bar mitzvahed and his mother is very possibly a gentile. If the last is true - and it is ambiguous - Jews would not consider Bloom to be a Jew. In Schwaber's Cast of Characters - a book that I recommend - Schwaber sees Bloom's adoption of Jewishness as a defining of his character but a spiritual rather than a factual condition. On the general readability of Ulysses it's important to bear in mind that Joyce deliberately wrote a book that required rereading. The traditional author keeps his reader informed of what he needs to know. Joyce does not. He creates in the same way life does. You as the reader have to figure things out as you go along exactly as you have to do in your own life. Joyce is only concerned with his characters' need to know. This different order of priorities is what makes the book difficult but also highly rewarding. Best Bob Bob, I love the way you said that reading and understanding Joyce is similar to what one does with one's own life. What a nice approach! About Bloom being a jew. There is a very important play called 'Andorra' written by a Swiss playwright Max Frisch. In that Andri who is not a jew is told from his childhood that he is a jew and is told what he can become and cannot, because he is a jew. The entire village is busy convincing him all the time that he is a jew. Then comes the day when the truth comes out that he (an adopted kid) is not a jew. Andri does not want to believe it. The priest tries to convince him that he is not a jew, and that it is the truth. Andri says: "Wie viele Wahrheiten habt ihr?" How many truths do you have? A famous sentence in the Swiss literature! Would be interesting for me to read about Bloom. Chandra |