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Chapter 17 / ITHACA - Qs & As: Hi all! Is anybody reading the chapter 17? Anything to say? I am starting it to night. Greetings Chandra All that comes to mind immediately is the fact that, although every initial or head thought has an answer, not all of the initial or head thoughts are questions. With so deliberate a writer as Joyce, there must be a reason for this. Bob Williams Incredible! How else can one describe this marvellous book, this marvellous writer! The closer I get to the end (less than 100 pages to go!) of Ulysses, the more I am convinced that it is a book that is one of its kind. Joyce must have loved writing this chapter. I can almost hear him chuckling, gleefully. The biggest surprise so far has been to realise that Bloom is just 38 years old. I cannot pin point now what gives one this idea, but I had all along assumed him to be at least 50. That is why the constant question I had, 'What is Stephen to Bloom / What is Bloom to Stephen?" If the difference is not about 25 years, and is in fact only 15, then this puzzle is somewhat solved for me. 309 questions and answers, I am told are in this chapter. Also read that Joyce tells us a lot about these two characters, and he tells us little. I agree with the first half of that opinion, not with the second, though. Stephen's vulnerability, Bloom's tolerance are underscored once again in this chapter. And Bloom's discourse on Water - What in water did Bloom, waterlover, drawer of water, watercarrier returning to the range, admire? - is simply hilarious. Well, it is more of a Joycean discourse than a Bloomean. One thing there bothers me though - its capacity to dissolve and hold in solution all soluble substances including millions of tons of the most precious metals. Take this sentence with a pinch of salt, fellow readers! The style is so Joycean that I took some time to decipher the following: What additional didactic counsels did he similarly repress? Dietary: concerning the respective percentage of protein and caloric energy in bacon, salt ling and butter, the absence of the former in the lastnamed and the abundance of the latter in the firstnamed. What is saltling btw? Another nice Q/A: What, reduced to their simplest reciprocal form, were Bloom's thoughts about Stephen's thoughts about Bloom and Bloom's thoughts about Stephen's thoughts about Bloom's thoughts about Stephen? He thought that he thought that he was a jew whereas he knew that he knew that he knew that he was not. Read it aloud, put in the mental commas/breaks, then laugh! Now, I need some help deciphering the following two: (a) His mood? He had not risked, he did not expect, he had not been disappointed, he was satisfied. (b) What satisfied him? To have sustained no positive loss. To have brought a positive gain to others. Light to the gentiles. I interpret (a) as 'he had not risked' returning home early as if he had returned early he would have had to confront Molly and Bolyan (and would not have know how to react), 'he did not expect' to find Boylan still at home (as obviously he does, later), 'he had not been disappointed' (this I cannot understand, I would have expected him to be disappointed with Molly's behaviour, unless of course, Bloom is so decent that he sees the inevitability of Molly's behaviour) and 'he was satisfied' (which is answered by (b)). But do tell me why is Bloom not disappointed? With what? (b) is intriguing as the meaning of the last part escapes me. What 'Light to the gentiles' did he bring? And what is this not suffering any positive loss, and having brought a positive gain to others .- is the reference here solely to money? That he rescues Stephen's purse and returns it to the owner? Or are there lots of hidden meanings hiding in these sentences? Do write, and say what else to look for in this chapter! Greetings Chandra I had always assumed that this series related to the gambling on the race that Throwaway won. In this context "light to the gentiles" would be an ironic reference to Bloom's imparting what Bantam Lyons took to be a tip on the race. Bloom is allowed to know things that he should not have known whenever it suits the author's purpose. He has, for example, somehow learned the precise time of Molly's assignation with Blazes: the text never makes clear how or where he learned this. He also shows that he was aware that the newsboys had mocked his walk (Aeolus). As for Bloom's appearance, this has always vexed and puzzled me. There is a drawing by Joyce of Bloom. Joyce was a gifted amateur, somewhat better than a doodler, a caricaturist of some if inconsiderable ability. He was, in short, more controlled than in charge of this medium. For this reason Joyce's cartoon Bloom appears to be very fat (only the head is shown). This in no way agrees with the account in Ithaca of Bloom's weight and other bodily descriptions. (The ridiculous chest size seems to have originated from Joyce's copying an error in a Sandow's advertisement.) Joyce later remarked that his ideal of an actor to play Bloom was George Arliss. This actor was, as I remember, rather skinny. Bob Williams HOME! |