Ulysses: Final Post

Finally finished! It was a tough ride. There were sections I loved and others I really struggled with. Joyce is undeniably talented, the chapter where he walks the reader through the entire history of the English language proves that. But his style isn’t my favorite and I frequently felt lost in his ramblings. I’m glad I read it and I’m also glad it’s done! Once again, please check out Adam's awesome episode break down here. 

The supplemental material in my book explains some of the background on the censorship of the book and includes a letter from Joyce to his Random House publisher. It also includes the monumental 1933 decision to stop people from banning the book in America. The ruling changed the way censorship was approached in our country.

I absolutely loved some of the comments from Judge M. Woolsey, the man who made the decision. To me, his summary of the book captures so many of my feelings perfectly.

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“Ulysses is not an easy book to read or to understand. But there has been much written about it, and in order properly to approach the consideration of it it is advisable to read a number of other books which have now become it’s satellites. The study of Ulysses is, therefore, a heavy task. The reputation of Ulysses in the literary world, however, warranted my taking such time as was necessary to enable me to satisfy myself as to the intent with which the book was written.

It is brilliant and dull, intelligible and obscure by turns. In many places it seems to me to be disgusting, but although it contains, as I have mentioned above, many words usually considered dirty, I have not found anything that I consider to be dirt for dirt’s sake.

Joyce has attempted — it seems to me, with astonishing success — to show how the screen of consciousness with its ever-shifting kaleidoscopic impressions carries, as it were on a plastic palimpsest, not only what is in the focus of each man’s observation of the actual things about him, but also in a penumbral zone residua of past impressions, some recent and some drawn up by association from the domain of the subconscious. He shows how each of these impressions affects the life and behavior of the character which he is describing.”

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The very final episode of the book is a crazy onslaught of thoughts from Bloom’s wife Molly’s point of view. She flits from thing to the next with no real pattern. She is just thinking, so her thoughts are unfiltered. It’s oddly refreshing even if it’s hard to follow. How many of us have had the same thing happen as we randomly think about our day? I could immediately relate.

Joyce’s honesty his characters really struck me in the final few chapters. He writes about Bloom’s flaws and fetishes in detail, something that just wasn’t done before. Yet by the close of the book you feel a bit hopeful about his marriage. There was something powerful about that. No matter how gross or strange Bloom was, he might have found his equal in his wife Molly.

BOTTOM LINE: Reading Ulysses was an experience. I struggled with it. I was blown away by the lovely language at times and at others I was completely weirded out. I can’t really compare it to anything else and that alone makes it a unique book. I am so glad I read it and I also don’t think I will ever read it again!

“Still you learn something. See ourselves as others see us.”

“Life, love, voyage round your own little world.”

Banned Books Week: Lady Chatterley's Lover

Lady Chatterley’s Lover

by D.H. Lawrence

★★

Lady Constance Chatterley marries her husband shortly before World War I. He returns from the war paralyzed from the waist down. Their relationship continues to stagnant in the countryside until she has an affair with their gamekeeper, Oliver Mellors. The book was considered incredibly racy it was published in 1928. The full novel wasn’t even published in England until 1960. I decided to read this because it’s one of the most banned books of all time.  

 

To me, the novel was a gross simplification of love. Physical love is part of relationships, but it’s not the only element. Lawrence seemed to think that without the physical connection there was no way that Constance and her husband Clifford could ever love each other. Her superficial connection with Oliver never rang true to me. 

Oliver Mellors’ character was hard to stomach. He’s racist, homophobic, selfish, and quick to lose his temper. The only thing Constance actually has in common with him is their mutual physical attraction. It’s hard to believe Lawrence’s premise that this is the most powerful relationship she can have. It would be more believable if Constance had an affair with him, began to understand the importance of the physical side of relationships and then found someone that satisfied both the physical and mental desires that she had.

BOTTOM LINE: It’s a classic and I’m glad I read it, but it’s definitely not a new favorite. Lawrence writes some beautiful passages, but the characters and the plot fell short.

The book was banned in countries all over the world. There was even a trial because of the content. You can read more about it here. 

Past Banned Books Week Posts 
2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, and 2011.

Banned Books Week

Every year I "celebrate" banned books week. It's a wonderful reminder that living in a society that has the freedom to choose what we read is important. It's something we should never take for granted and we should fight to protect it! This year I will be rocking my new Out of Print banned books tote.

This year Banned Books Week is from Sept. 27 - Oct. 3. Grab a book that has been banned or read some more information about current censorship here.

So celebrate your freedom to read this week and check out this list of frequently banned and challenged books to see how many you’ve read.

Past Banned Books Week Posts 
2014, 2013, 2012, and 2011.

Image from here with more great quotes.

Book Blogger Book Swap: Round 1

 Allie of A Literary Odyssey recently started The Book Blogger Book Swap. A few times a year she partners participants (anonymously) with another blogger to exchange a package of books and goodies. The gifts are chosen based on a short survey we each filled out (wish list books, favorite things, food preferences, etc.). Anyway, I got my first box!!!

It was just awesome! Jenna of JMill Wanders filled it to the brim with so many things I love. There were the first three books in the Fairyland series, which I've been dying to read. Since getting the box I've already made it halfway through the first book and I love it. She also included a Harry Potter onsie for my little soon-to-be reader who is due in January! 

There was an Out of Print banned books tote, which couldn't be timed any better. I celebrate the freedom to read during Banned Books Week every single September and now I'm going to do it in style!  

Let's not forget the delicious dark chocolate with blood orange and raspberry. I tried one of them before I even finished opening the whole package. I'd never had blood orange before and I think I'm in love. Plus a Doctor Who bookmark and something called Biscoff, which is a cookie spread (kind of like Nutella). How did I not know that was a thing?!? 

On top of all those goodies she also sent me an electronic version of the new season Orphan Black so I could catch up! After all that I am sure that I've been spoiled. : )

(Ollie shoving his nose into the box to try to smell 

ALL OF THE THINGS, while I tried to open it.)

The whole package was amazing and so thoughtful! Things like this remind me of why I love being a part of the blogging community. Yes, sometimes I get behind in my posts. Sometimes life gets in the way of visiting all the blogs I want to comment on. But in the end, it's the people I've met while blogging that make this it so rewarding.

Photos by me.

Banned Book Week: Go Ask Alice

It’s Banned Book Week!!! As I may have mentioned in the past, banned book week is a big deal to me.

As Heinrich Heine said, “Where they burn books, so too will they in the end burn human beings.” I know that banning a book isn’t the same as burning it, but it’s not far off. Anytime we decide to restrict what others are allowed to read, we are treading into dangerous territory. Reading gives people the opportunity to explore new worlds and ideas and forbidding that should never be an option.

 

So celebrate your freedom to read this week and check out this list of frequently banned and challenged books to see how many you’ve read.

 

This year, in honor of banned book week, I read “Go Ask Alice” a book that has been banned countless times since the 1970s. The reasons cited for banning include profanity, explicit references to runaways, drugs, sex, and rape.

Go Ask Alice

by Anonymous

★★

 

This fake diary of a teenage girl explores her downfall by drug use. At the beginning we see a self-conscious girl who isn’t sure where to turn. By the end she’s tumbled beyond society’s ability to help her because of the bad influences by friends. This book rocked the literary world decades ago when teens everywhere thought they were reading an actual diary.

 

The book has an oddly childish tone and never sounded like a real teen to me. There are too many times when the girl says how wonderful her mother is or how sorry she is for her actions. In my experience, most teenage girls are a bit more critical of their mothers. It felt like something a mother would write to make her daughter scared of drugs.

 

It was hard for me to take seriously because it just felt so forced. I know that when it first came out people thought this was a real diary and if I’d read it at that time I’m sure I would have had a completely different reaction. But instead I went into it knowing that it was later revealed to be a work of fiction.

 

BOTTOM LINE: Not my cup of tea. I know a lot of teens struggle with drugs, but there are other books I’ve read that deal with that issue is a more convincing way.

 

“Sometimes I think we’re all trying to be shadows of each other, trying to buy the same records and everything even if we don’t like them.”

 

Image from here.

Banned Book Week: The Chocolate War

(My satchel with my "I read banned books" pin)

It's Banned Book Week and in honor of that I've reviewed a banned book I recently read and I've listed a few of my favorite banned books that I've read in the past. As my favorite button (above) on my satchel says “I read banned books.” There’s something disturbing about a society that tries to control what people read, so of course, my first instinct is to go read it.

My top ten favorite Banned Books:

1) The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
2) To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
3) Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
4) One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
5) The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
6) The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
7) Harry Potter (series) by J.K. Rowling
8) Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
9) Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
10) All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren

Favorites when I was a kid:

1) A Wrinkle in Time - Madeleine L'Engle
2) James and the Giant Peach - Roald Dahl
3) The Giver, by Lois Lowry
4) Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
5) The Wish Giver by Bill Brittain

The Chocolate War
by Robert Cormier
★★★

This young adult book is frequently cited on banned book lists and honestly, that was the main reason I read it. Oddly, there’s very little in this book that I can point to as a possible reason to ban it. There’s very little language, there’s some violence and the main characters are teenage boys, so there are a few sexual thoughts, but very little in the grand scheme of banned books. Regardless, this one won’t be on any favorites lists of mine.

Jerry Renault is a freshman at a private high school run by Catholic priests. One of the teachers, Brother Leon, is a power-hungry, ruthless man and he decides he’s going to make the students sell double the number of boxed chocolates than they have in previous years in order to make himself look good.

The Vigils are a secret society within the school. A meathead jock is the front man, but the true leader of the group is Archie. He is the brains of the operation and he develops the random tasks that the group forces the students to do. Things get out of hand when the Vigils decide to make Jerry refuse to sell the chocolates for 10 days.

The thing that is starling about this book is the vindictive, cruel nature of the Vigils, especially the calculating character of Archie. It was strange to me because it seemed like they had no real motivation for their actions. It’s not just physical brutality, it’s the psychological and emotional strain they put on their fellow students.

The boys’ savagery is similar to that of the characters in Lord of the Flies, but because their circumstances are not extreme, it’s even worse. It’s almost understandable in wild jungles of Lord of the Flies, because the boys are reduced to their basic natures to survive. In The Chocolate Wars, they are living in a civilized world and every decision they make is thought out and intentional, which makes it even crueler.

In the end I didn’t even feel like rooting for the main character, Jerry, because it all seemed so silly and pointless. I was glad he was standing up for himself, but at the same time, it seemed stupid that he should have to fight against something so ridiculous.

For another view, check out the great review at Your Move, Dickens.

*Photo by moi