James Joyce's Ulysses Documentary Part 1 of 9

[SukiTheHedgehog]

Related to him on my dad's side. Cool huh?

[SukiTheHedgehog]

Apparently I'm re

[Supertramp1966]

on principal that I finished it at all, but as they say in Vegas, I was "pot-committed". This was the first and last book by this man that I will ever read, top 100 book lists be damned.

[Supertramp1966]

Of course Joyce was a fatuous drunk. This is well documented and may even rival other alcoholic literary giants such as London and Hemingway, the former being the worse case senario. Finished ULYSSES recently and thought it was horrible. Maybe I just don't appreciate Joyce' "stream of consciousness" style of writing, but this book was even harder to read than Milton's PARADISE LOST (never thought I'd say that). Reading ULYSSES was a true war of attrition, and Joyce won. It was purely (contin.)

[nutsbutdum]

The "mrkrgnao!" scene would've been hilarious:)

[Dreyerize]

I read THE DUBLINERS

youtube.com Socialsecure

[skyhawk431]

This guy wrote some creepy-ass letters.

[PoetryETrain]

Thank you this has been added to our playlists here, and on facebook...

[boabysands123]

This film is called "James Joyce's 'Ulysses'" and the series was "The Modern World: Ten Great Writers". It was produced by LWT (London Weekend Television) in 1988.

[lyon1535]

I was reading Ulysses and found it easy to understand.

Then I got to the Oxen of the Sun chapter.

[TheSololobo]

Why is ulysses such a ravalation, I haven't read it please explain.

[GeorgesBarras]

@TheSololobo Read it, it'll change your view of what literature can be.

[TheSololobo]

@GeorgesBarras but why?

[GeorgesBarras]

@TheSololobo It reforms the epic into normality, venerating the average, peace-loving man; and the average peace-loving life. The stream of consciousness style lets us underatdn Leo Bloom more fully than almost any other literary character, and mirrors our own complexity - in love and the banal. And the English language is taken to its extreme, in every style, in every chapter.

[TheSololobo]

@GeorgesBarras Thank you very much.

[wreyoG]

@TheSololobo you will never read another book like it before or since...happy reading. it's definitely worth the experience

[seechanin]

Thank you for posting this film in its entirety.

[cottageorgan]

apparently he was a very good singer...Joyce that is not Hero. Trained to be an Opera singer in Trieste, I think.

[Stube437]

The opening scene in this vid isn't even in the book!!

[ScubasteveScaryEire]

@Stube437

Eh... Yes it is....

[Stube437]

@ScubasteveScaryEire not in realit time it's not....Stephen's mum has already died b4 it starts...that's what I meant.

[zoologistoyourbee]

The book.. that is all

[yltt123]

Beautiful

[ahumancondition]

thank you thank you thank you thank you  thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you

[jordancloudbuster]

John Lynch as Dedalus is so handsome in this. '88

[usernamecanon]

for some odd reason everytime i hear paul decocks i think of réné descartes

[akennelly]

Is it really as difficult to read Ulysses as evryone says, or is that an exagguration ? I am college student with a reasonably high standard of English, I suppose I'll try it at least

[akennelly]

@akennelly And just so everyone knows, I am aware I made gramatical errors in that comment ! they were really errors in typing, i only noticed afterwards

[dddilly]

@akennelly give it a shot. if you don't get it, who are these people who do? everyone's a first-timer in this life

[speakingtruly]

@akennelly Give it a try, you never know. Sometimes you understand just a part and when you reread something after a while, you understand different parts better. It all depends on the person. I've never studied literature, I'm just someone who enjoys reading. Yet, I understood this book, not all layers of it, I'm sure if I'd reread it in a few years, I'd understand different things I'm sure I missed now. Experience in life and reading helps understanding literature throughout your life. :-)

[shaveyourfingers]

@speakingtruly well said..awesome mate

[speakingtruly]

@shaveyourfingers Thanks. (I'm female btw)

[Supertramp1966]

@speakingtruly

I doubt reading it again would do this book any justice. I've read my share of "difficult novels" and yet I found this "masterpiece" to be complete nonsense. Just when I thought I had some idea where Joyce was going, he left me holding a book whose pages might as well have been blank. It's like reading the King James Bible....backwards.

[speakingtruly]

@Supertramp1966 I understand your point. We can't all like the same kinds of books. Not too long ago I read Kafka and wasn't too impressed. His work was allright, but not as fantastic as I had expected after all I heard and read about him. I guess what also counts is personal taste. So you do have an excellent point. I have no idea if I will ever read anything by Kafka again and even if I do, I don't know if I might like his work then. I probably won't.

[Supertramp1966]

@speakingtruly

Well, go figure. I like reading Kafka. I recently finished THE TRIAL and thoroughly enjoyed it. One man's garbage is another man's treasure, right.....

[martini4948]

Thanks!

[jamesaellis]

South Bank Show? What was the song he was whistling?

[CARNLOU]

Has anyone ever seen a film called "Nora"? Ewan McGregor is in it, he plays Joyce. Now, it's not really a film about Joyce... it's more about Nora and Joyce's relationship over the years... I just thought I'd post to see what people might think of it... I think it's an OK film, although I do worry about its accuracy.

[painfulsweetness]

david suchet plays as leopold bloom?

its surprising

i love poirot too

[MrDAEDALIUS]

Excellent, excelente. Tankyou.  Gracias.

[martini4948]

Thanks...

[Ramanujan88]

Joyce's words are heartbreaking. In all sorts of ways. Read them to myself often, feel like crying or drinking milk. Our teacher read part of Ulysses to us the other day, felt like sex. There's surge into existence, but also this sorrow. I'm not sure what it is yet...

[priapus56]

There is only one way to give youself a semblance of a chance of becoming familiar with this monster of literary art...buy the unabridged recorded version and sit down and listen to it..several times.  Otherwise..forget it. (No I don't own a recorded bookshop!)

[Flyingpig437]

it wasn't writen for that was it?

[GarrettDeming2199]

@priapus56

Hmm, OR you could do what most people who know the book do, and READ it!

[priapus56]

@GarrettDeming2199 ..Well, as large parts of the book are not punctuated, as other parts need to be read in a variety of accents, as the dramatic qualities of many parts need to be carefully interpreted if their meaning is to be revealed; I think the average reader would benefit greatly by listening to a carefully directed and produced recording. Of course, smart arses like you who have sophistication, knowledge and literary experience have no need of such an aid.....or do you?

[GarrettDeming2199]

@priapus56

Not trying to be combative, I'm just saying it was written as a novel for a reason - if it was meant to be heard aloud he would have done a theater piece. And I don't honestly think Joyce meant his novel to be intended for the "average reader" - in "My Brother's Keeper" by his brother Stanislaus, he asserts that James felt people with liberty to choose turn to literature for "enlightened understanding of intellectual and emotional problems," and that great lit are fables.

[GarrettDeming2199]

@priapus56

So Joyce, considering himself always an artists and a poet, meant to illuminate intrinsic truths in the mundane, and his penchant to write "plotless sketches" (also from "Brother's Keeper") necessarily eliminates a large number of readers without the sophistication to appreciate what he tried to do. It's not a pretension thing - if I've never studied physics, I'm not going to start with quantums. Similarly, if one is not a reader of heavy literature, Joyce is not yet for them.

[misfitforyou]

@GarrettDeming2199 lol!!!!!

[GarrettDeming2199]

One last bit... Even readers who DO tackle large and challenging books on a regular basis do, in fact, need aid, which is why good editions have extensive footnotes/endnotes. Still, in my apparently not-so-humble opinion, the best way to enjoy Joyce is to read him and read him and study his life and those he read him and then read him again and then ask questions of others who've read him and then read him again... tedious, perhaps, but certainly not a charge for the "average reader."

[FierceSwitters]

God amongst Men.

[Flyingpig437]

Not exactly the most riveting scene!

[Dionysos37]

This whole film is possibly the best approach yet to dramatizing key "Ulysses" scenes---the man playing Bloom is a fine actor, though for me, this Stephen isn't grim and desperate-looking enough. There's no Buck Mulligan; Molly's final soliloquoy is very rushed, and inevitably many key things are missing. BUT this really will help many get into and enjoy the greatest book in English! Thank you for posting this film....

[fozziex]

Thanks Dionysos. I think its probably the best approach yet to dramatizing some of the key scenes too. When I first saw it really helped me understand a lot. I thought it was great for portraying the books sense of humour as well.

[IrishClaudius]

no it has none of the darkness and surreal mystery of the city in which it is set

[herbs814]

@Dionysos37

there's mulligan's voice calling Stephen to come and take a look at the snotgreen sea the scrotumtightening sea

[Dionysos37]

The song being sung is Yeats' lyric "Who Goes With Fergus?"

[adolf1788]

where can i get the ful moive of ulysses by janes joyce ??

[kyrillp]

nowhere. kubrik may claim that you can film anything you can write but this is plainly not so as Ulysses demonstrates. All attempts have been pityful

[jawmo1]

@kyrillp

Kubrick in fact DID film "Ulysses" ... he called it "Eyes Wide Shut."

[kyrillp]

Not sure what Eyes Wide Shut has to do with Ulysses. Is Nicole Kidman supposed to be Molly?

[jawmo1]

Well, think about it. Bill is obsessed with thoughts of his wife's infidelity. He has vicarious sexual relations with a female. There is a bizarre ritual humiliation of Bloom/Bill , whose job is of a deliberately workaday variety. And whereas Alice only fantasizes of an affair (unlike Molly), they both end their respective works with a "bang."

YES

FUCK

[erickardito10]

:P

franz ferdinjand ulysses ;)

[Pr0x1mo]

Is this the same song that Pippen sings in LOTR return of the king, when he's singing for the Stuart of Gondor after he sends his son to his death.