Dublinwale: A tale of two readers
This is the story of two Dubliners. One is a professor, the other is an engineer. One is a former New Yorker, the other is an Irish native. Both share a passion for the same novel.
James Joyce's Ulysses is contained into a single day, 16 June, and that date is celebrated worldwide as Bloomsday, named after the novel's hero—Mr. Bloom. To celebrate the city novel, this reporter is in Dublin for Bloomsday 2025, and the Delhiwale column briefly becomes Dublinwale.
Sam Slote is among the world's most renowned Joyceans. He is a Professor in the School of English at Trinity College Dublin. His book Annotations to James Joyce's Ulysses is the most authoritative guide to understand the notoriously difficult novel. The wall-sized book rack in his office is crammed with the different translations of Ulysses, including Dutch, German, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Persian, Arabic, and Malayalam.
John O'Connell is an electrical engineer working in Telecom, but also conducts walking tours to Joyce's Dublin. A volunteer at the James Joyce Tower and Museum, he often dresses up as Mr Bloom, complete with a hat and a fake moustache. He believes that Ulysses is Dublin's very own Sistine Chapel.
This afternoon, Sam Slote is sitting in his office, working on his annotated book's next edition. More particularly, he is busy with some specific question of punctuation in episode 17. His tone is gracious and delves deeply—yet effortlessly—into the intricacies of the novel. This sort of precision and care for detail is essential to a scholar of Ulysses, where everything is likely to carry narrative and symbolic weight.
This afternoon, John O'Connell is crossing the Grattan Bridge over the Liffey, leading a walking tour. In the Dublin rain, he's excitedly pointing at a building in front of which a minor character makes a fleeting appearance. This sort of precision and care for detail is essential to a guide of Ulysses, where every street corner possibly has a role to play.
Sam Slote says that he read Joyce's final novel, Finnegans Wake, before the Ulysses. This is surprising because the world is full of Joyce fanatics who adore Ulysses and have read it many times, but just couldn't climb the heights of Finnegans, considered a super-difficult book.
John O'Connell says that when he first read Ulysses, 'I didn't really get it then, but I knew there was a genius driving the bus.' On finishing the dreaded Finnegans Wake, he announced his accomplishment in an office meeting. The colleagues, he recalls, looked bemused.
For his everyday use, Sam Slote carries a 1986 Gabler hardbound edition of Ulysses, published by Bodley Head, bearing a grey cover.
For his everyday use, John O'Connell carries a 2000 hardbound reprinting of the 1986 Gabler edition of Ulysses, published by Bodley Head, bearing a green cover.
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Hindustan Times
6 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Dublinwale: A tale of two readers
This is the story of two Dubliners. One is a professor, the other is an engineer. One is a former New Yorker, the other is an Irish native. Both share a passion for the same novel. James Joyce's Ulysses is contained into a single day, 16 June, and that date is celebrated worldwide as Bloomsday, named after the novel's hero—Mr. Bloom. To celebrate the city novel, this reporter is in Dublin for Bloomsday 2025, and the Delhiwale column briefly becomes Dublinwale. Sam Slote is among the world's most renowned Joyceans. He is a Professor in the School of English at Trinity College Dublin. His book Annotations to James Joyce's Ulysses is the most authoritative guide to understand the notoriously difficult novel. The wall-sized book rack in his office is crammed with the different translations of Ulysses, including Dutch, German, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Persian, Arabic, and Malayalam. John O'Connell is an electrical engineer working in Telecom, but also conducts walking tours to Joyce's Dublin. A volunteer at the James Joyce Tower and Museum, he often dresses up as Mr Bloom, complete with a hat and a fake moustache. He believes that Ulysses is Dublin's very own Sistine Chapel. This afternoon, Sam Slote is sitting in his office, working on his annotated book's next edition. More particularly, he is busy with some specific question of punctuation in episode 17. His tone is gracious and delves deeply—yet effortlessly—into the intricacies of the novel. This sort of precision and care for detail is essential to a scholar of Ulysses, where everything is likely to carry narrative and symbolic weight. This afternoon, John O'Connell is crossing the Grattan Bridge over the Liffey, leading a walking tour. In the Dublin rain, he's excitedly pointing at a building in front of which a minor character makes a fleeting appearance. This sort of precision and care for detail is essential to a guide of Ulysses, where every street corner possibly has a role to play. Sam Slote says that he read Joyce's final novel, Finnegans Wake, before the Ulysses. This is surprising because the world is full of Joyce fanatics who adore Ulysses and have read it many times, but just couldn't climb the heights of Finnegans, considered a super-difficult book. John O'Connell says that when he first read Ulysses, 'I didn't really get it then, but I knew there was a genius driving the bus.' On finishing the dreaded Finnegans Wake, he announced his accomplishment in an office meeting. The colleagues, he recalls, looked bemused. For his everyday use, Sam Slote carries a 1986 Gabler hardbound edition of Ulysses, published by Bodley Head, bearing a grey cover. For his everyday use, John O'Connell carries a 2000 hardbound reprinting of the 1986 Gabler edition of Ulysses, published by Bodley Head, bearing a green cover.
Indian Express
18 hours ago
- Indian Express
Bloomsday: why the world celebrates James Joyce's Ulysses on June 16
Each year on June 16, the streets of Dublin turn into a living novel, and Joyceans around the world raise a toast to a literary monument that many have started, few have finished, and none have forgotten. At over 2,65,000 words long, sprawling across 18 episodes and written in a dizzying array of styles, from stream-of-consciousness and newspaper parody to erotic monologue, James Joyce's Ulysses has both enthralled and exhausted generations of readers. Published in 1922, Ulysses is famously difficult, often topping lists of the 'most unfinished' books in the English language. Its reputation is legendary. Readers joke about stalling at page 46, scholars make careers out of decoding its references, and fans fiercely debate the 'correct' way to read it. And yet, despite — or perhaps because of — its formidable complexity, the novel has inspired an international day dedicated to celebrating it: Bloomsday. Bloomsday is a celebration of the day on which Ulysses is set: Thursday, June 16, 1904. Named after the novel's protagonist, Leopold Bloom — one of the book's protagonists, who spends the day wandering through Dublin, thinking, observing, remembering, and variety of people and events — it is observed in Dublin and across the world through public readings, walking tours, performances, lectures, and even Edwardian dress-up events. What sets Bloomsday apart from other literary anniversaries is its immersive, citywide character. Dublin becomes the novel for a day. Fans visiting Dublin can for instance, visit Sweny's Chemist, where Bloom buys lemon soap; walk to Davy Byrne's pub, where he has his iconic gorgonzola sandwich; or stop by Glasnevin Cemetery, featured in the Hades episode among other iconic destinations. Not just Dublin. In Paris, New York, Melbourne, Trieste and yes, even New Delhi, Bloomsday is commemorated with dramatised readings, theatre, music, and lectures. Literary circles in India, including universities, embassies, and theatre troupes like Kaivalya Plays, have also embraced the day in recent years. As the Irish Embassy in India tweeted this year: 'Bloomsday Mubarak!' Literature lovers gathered for readings from Dubliners, quizzes on Irish writing, and giveaways of Irish books. Why this date? Joyce chose June 16, 1904 for Ulysses because it was the day he first went walking with Nora Barnacle, the woman who would later become his lifelong partner. It was a deeply personal day for him, and he immortalised it in literature. The first informal celebration of Bloomsday took place in 1924, and the tradition has only grown since. In 1954, a half-drunken but earnest pilgrimage across Dublin by a group of Irish writers formally marked the 50th anniversary of that fictional day, giving rise to Bloomsday as we know it. Though the novel takes place in just one day, its scope is vast. Ulysses captures not only the minutiae of Bloom's daily routine: from visiting a funeral to buying a soap, but also dives deep into the thoughts and memories of its characters. Reactions to the novel, from the beginning, were sharply divided. TS Eliot, the influential poet and critic, hailed it as 'the most important expression which the present age has found,' declaring that it was a book 'from which none of us can escape.' Arnold Bennett, a prominent English novelist and literary critic, found it 'more indecent… than the majority of professedly pornographic books,' but still admired its originality and called Molly Bloom's final monologue 'immortal.' Virginia Woolf, modernist novelist and contemporary of Joyce, was more conflicted. She initially dismissed the book as 'illiterate' and 'underbred,' but later admitted to experiencing 'spasms of wonder, of discovery' amid 'long lapses of immense boredom.' However, Bloomsday isn't only for experts, bibliophiles or literature professors. It's a celebration of the everyday: walking, eating, thinking, mourning, laughing. Everything that makes us human. Whether you join Dubliners, join a reading group, or just try to recreate a gorgonzola sandwich in Bloom's honour, you will participate in a global tribute. So the next time June 16 rolls around, maybe raise a toast to Leopold Bloom, to James Joyce, and to the millions who believe that one day in one city can contain the entire world. Happy Bloomsday! Aishwarya Khosla is a journalist currently serving as Deputy Copy Editor at The Indian Express. Her writings examine the interplay of culture, identity, and politics. She began her career at the Hindustan Times, where she covered books, theatre, culture, and the Punjabi diaspora. Her editorial expertise spans the Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Punjab and Online desks. She was the recipient of the The Nehru Fellowship in Politics and Elections, where she studied political campaigns, policy research, political strategy and communications for a year. She pens The Indian Express newsletter, Meanwhile, Back Home. Write to her at or You can follow her on Instagram: @ink_and_ideology, and X: @KhoslaAishwarya. ... Read More
The Hindu
19 hours ago
- The Hindu
On the novel Ulysses
Daily Quiz | On the novel Ulysses Copy link Email Facebook Twitter Telegram LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit YOUR SCORE 0 /7 RETAKE THE QUIZ 1 / 7 | Apart from the book being set on June 16, how is the date important in Joyce's life? DID YOU KNOW THE ANSWER? YES NO Answer : It is the date of first sexual encounter with Nora Barnacle, his wife-to-be SHOW ANSWER 2 / 7 | Made of 18 Episodes, the book is divided into three parts. If the first Part II is Odyssey, what are Part I and III? DID YOU KNOW THE ANSWER? YES NO Answer : Telemachia and Nostos SHOW ANSWER 3 / 7 | What was the working title of Ulysses and it originally began as a novel focused on which character already created by Joyce? DID YOU KNOW THE ANSWER? YES NO Answer : 'Stephen Hero' and Stephen Dedalus SHOW ANSWER 4 / 7 | Name Episode 15 which Joyce scholars say is roughly the length of the first eight episodes of the novel combined. DID YOU KNOW THE ANSWER? YES NO Answer : 'Circe' SHOW ANSWER 5 / 7 | What does Bloom eat for breakfast that has become very famous now? DID YOU KNOW THE ANSWER? YES NO Answer : Grilled mutton kidneys SHOW ANSWER 6 / 7 | Serving as a motif, which song features in both Bloom's and Molly's memories? DID YOU KNOW THE ANSWER? YES NO Answer : 'Love's Old Sweet Song' SHOW ANSWER
