Dan captures the dynamic of this reading group well. At first for me, the waiting was the hardest part, but every time I had the courage to wait and let the discussion unfold I gained a new insight and had to recalibrate and expand my thoughts on what we had read for the week. I waited often enough to shed many of the academic preconceptions I had carried with me into the Catherine Project group.
There are a couple of aspects to the group that added to the energy and dynamics of our discussions. There was a core group who had recently engaged with Joyce's "Dubliners" together and they brought into the "Ulysses" sessions a keen passion for Joyce and an interest in Dublin that helped us all dig deeper into both the stylistic roller coaster of the longer novel and follow more closely the very pedestrian traversing of a fascinating city. Everyone in the group took great pleasure in reading passages out loud during our calls, either as solo riffs on what prose we found exciting, poetic, confusing, whatever or in group performances of some of the more theatrical episodes. The power of Joyce's language to my ears added greatly to my comprehension.
Many of us from the group expressed interest in reading Ulysses again. Perhaps next time we will figure out who is the "man in the brown macintosh."
Someone came over to my house recently and after examining my bookshelf asked... but what do you read for fun? The book was a lot of work, but when it was fun, it was the most fun. Thank you for being such a wonderful, enthusiastic guide!!
Does “nobody soloed” mean that nobody gave a long monologue? Or does it mean that nobody came in with their own thoughts every week and never really worked cohesively with the group?
The former. Nobody took over the conversation. People definitely came with their own ideas and shared them—but not in monologues that disregarded other people’s takes on the subject at hand.
I am a Joycean scholar currently leading a close reading group on Ulysses here on Substack. I am therefore interested in your content and how it compares with/intersects with my own articles, etc.
Dan captures the dynamic of this reading group well. At first for me, the waiting was the hardest part, but every time I had the courage to wait and let the discussion unfold I gained a new insight and had to recalibrate and expand my thoughts on what we had read for the week. I waited often enough to shed many of the academic preconceptions I had carried with me into the Catherine Project group.
There are a couple of aspects to the group that added to the energy and dynamics of our discussions. There was a core group who had recently engaged with Joyce's "Dubliners" together and they brought into the "Ulysses" sessions a keen passion for Joyce and an interest in Dublin that helped us all dig deeper into both the stylistic roller coaster of the longer novel and follow more closely the very pedestrian traversing of a fascinating city. Everyone in the group took great pleasure in reading passages out loud during our calls, either as solo riffs on what prose we found exciting, poetic, confusing, whatever or in group performances of some of the more theatrical episodes. The power of Joyce's language to my ears added greatly to my comprehension.
Many of us from the group expressed interest in reading Ulysses again. Perhaps next time we will figure out who is the "man in the brown macintosh."
Thanks for reading and commenting! Maybe we're all the man in the macintosh, snooping around and intersecting with Bloom at odd angles.
Nice piece Dan! You've made me want to read Ulysses.
We don't have to worry about Christopher Nolan making it into a movie, do we?
Thank you! If Nolan makes one, he’ll do it in real time: the movie will have a fourteen-hour runtime.
Beautifully written! Ulysses bested me last year. I think I need a group like the one you are describing when I tackle it again.
Thanks! I wholeheartedly recommend doing a reading group with The Catherine Project.
Thanks again for leading this group Dan!
I’m the servant of two masters one in NJ and one in NYC. Oh, and a third in Upstate NY who wants me for odd jobs.
Here’s to all the Joyce and all the great reading we’ve shared and much more to come.
Thanks for being part of it! And yes—more to come!
Someone came over to my house recently and after examining my bookshelf asked... but what do you read for fun? The book was a lot of work, but when it was fun, it was the most fun. Thank you for being such a wonderful, enthusiastic guide!!
Thank you for reading and for being part of this! The fun level was, as you say, very, very high.
Love this!
Thank you!
Does “nobody soloed” mean that nobody gave a long monologue? Or does it mean that nobody came in with their own thoughts every week and never really worked cohesively with the group?
The former. Nobody took over the conversation. People definitely came with their own ideas and shared them—but not in monologues that disregarded other people’s takes on the subject at hand.
I am a Joycean scholar currently leading a close reading group on Ulysses here on Substack. I am therefore interested in your content and how it compares with/intersects with my own articles, etc.