JOYCE'S ULYSSES FOR EVERYONE: OR HOW TO SKIP READING IT THE FIRST TIME [Hardcover]

JOHN MOOD (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 16, 2004

Most scholarly writing about Joyce's Ulysses has concentrated on its parallels with homer's odyssey, catholic theology, Dublin's streets, Shakespearean references (especially hamlet} , all of which, and much more, Joyce included in his novel but emphasizing the interpretation of these overlays to the story has led to the book appearing almost impenetrable to readers who might otherwise enjoy it. Mood attempts to cut through these grids and go directly to the strengths of the novel: - its suspenseful double plot, its breathtaking wordplay, its eroticism and, above all, its constant hilarious comedy. One doesn't need to know a thing about the Odyssey to enjoy Ulysses thoroughly. The life of the young Stephen Dedalus is in a mess and he obviously needs an elder's advice. The older Leopold Bloom yearns to pass on his wisdom to someone younger. He also learns his wife Molly is going to commit adultery for the first time. These plots, not Catholic theology or Hamlet, is what the novel is "about". And the comedy, the sex, the heart-stopping suspense and the verbal fireworks are what drive the reader on. Mood's book makes this obvious on every page. One will never have difficulty reading Ulysses again. The late dean of American critics Leslie Fiedler said it would be "more useful [for beginning readers] than anything else I have seen". Best-selling Dublin novelist and memoirist Nuala O'Faolain said it is a "charming and funny account of Ulysses" and "quite authoritative as well." Tom Wolfe commented, "I certainly enjoyed your Joycean excursion, particularly the part about Joyce's interweaving of various narrative voices."

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Mood, a Ph.D. in literature and philosophy, taught at the university level for ten years. He published numerous scholarly articles (PMLA, Chicago Review. Philosophy Today) on existentialism (Nietzsche, Heidegger) and literature (Beckett, Swift, Frost, Sexton). He spoke at two international Joyce symposia (Trieste, 1971; Dublin, 1973). After leaving academia, he became a freelance writer popularizing astronomy, while continuing his literary interests, especially in Joyce and the German-language poet Rainer Maria Rilke. His book, Rilke on Love and Other Difficulties, has been in print with W. W. Norton continuously since 1975, making it the second largest selling book on Rilke in the entire English-speaking world. Now he turns his unique attention to Ulysses, which he hopes to popularize as he has Rilke and astronomy. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 124 pages
• Publisher: AuthorHouse (June 16, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1418451045
• ISBN-13: 978-1418451042
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,782,606 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Agenbite of inwit, no longer, June 18, 2005

By 

Gadfly-in-Residence (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: JOYCE'S ULYSSES FOR EVERYONE: OR HOW TO SKIP READING IT THE FIRST TIME (Hardcover)

I distinctly remember being feeling flushed with shame and failure back in 1979 when, after signing up for my first course in Irish literature, I found myself back at the "unofficial" section of the campus bookstore sneaking the Cliff's Notes for "Ulysses" into my shopping basket, keeping it concealed under a magazine until the work-study student at the cash register announced my purchase for anyone within earshot to wag a finger at me. I walked around for days feeling like my face bore those identifiable diagonal yellow and black stripes.

That was a time when study aids for Joyce's book--or, indeed, for any great work of literature--carried such a stigma. Today, as a teacher of literature, I know that study aids when properly used are gifts from caring scholars who genuinely love the literature about which they're writing and who want others to know how to love it as well. Far from being tawdry cheat sheets, they're micro-courses unto themselves about literary appreciation. Such are the happy circumstances of John Mood's most recent book, "Ulysses For Everyone." Without snobbery or self-aggrandizement, Mood makes Joyce's formidable book a work of public literature again; like Robin Hood, he reclaims Joyce from the esotoric academician and puts him back in the hip pocket of the lay reader. "Ulysses For Everyone" is neither propagandistic nor unreasonably dogmatic. Any student undertaking a thorough reading of "Ulysses" will find the book helpful but stimulating. Any teacher planning to present "Ulysses," even if only selected chapters of it for a survey course, will find Mood's book to be an unobtrusive guide to the book's characters, themes and plot points.

For those interested in finding out more about why John Mood wrote the book, or in finding out more about Mood himself, the following website might be of assistance:

http://members.cox.net/1happyalien/UlyssesForEveryone/UlyssesForEveryone.htm

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It really *is* for everyone!, November 11, 2004

By 

K. Jacobson (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: JOYCE'S ULYSSES FOR EVERYONE: OR HOW TO SKIP READING IT THE FIRST TIME (Hardcover)

I studied Joyce's great novel "Ulysses" in a college English course and enjoyed some of it. But frankly, I never could get all the way through it, try as I might. Now, along comes this short non-academic guide to the plots of the novel. It has motivated me to begintrying to read "Ulysses" again, and it works! I don't need to worry about all the Homeric, Catholic and other allusions, but just enjoy the stories and the lovely language. I highly recommend "Joyce's 'Ulysses' for Everyone."