Every Journey Begins With A Single Page
Some years ago, when I had this thing called free time, I purchased a used copy of Ulysses, by James Joyce. At the time, this book had been on the edge of my imagination, a tome I had heard discussed, usually accompanied by groans. Most people admitted to never having read it -- at least not beyond the first few pages -- yet at the same time it was held as one of the seminal works of western literature. Chancing upon it that night, I took it home and decided to read for myself.
Life being what it is, I read the first few pages, put it down and never picked it up again. Years ensued, children were born, households were moved cross country, the Red Sox won the World Series, and Ulysses sat untouched next to Fear of Flying, until today.
It probably would have remained on the shelf and been sold in bulk with our other books by my heirs, but this weekend past I enjoyed a performance of "All The Great Books (abridged)" by the Reduced Shakepeare Company. Ulysses was prominently featured in a very amusing bit and my interest was rekindled. I vowed to read, or at least attempt to read, this book, for much the same reason that people climb Mt. Everest. But unlike climbing Everest, it only cost me $10, and I will only risk my sanity.
In a way, I've been training for this all my life. As a child I read "The Chronicle of Narnia" at least 3 times through. In high school, I read "The Lord of the Rings" (including the Hobbit) twice, and also read the NIV bible twice including the slog through Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. I've read War & Peace 1 7/8 times (I lost it with a few chapters left the first time through and couldn't remember it when I tried to restart, so I took it from the beginning.) Finally, I also managed to peruse an other weighty classic -- Atlas Shrugged, though I must confess I skimmed over John Galt's 40-page speech. (Note to Ayn: I had the point by then.)
A quick glance through Uylsses confirmed half-remembered comments that it contains sentences that can run on for pages, but I figure if I survived the literary desert of Numbers twice, I can make it through a trackless novel.
Ulysses is 782 1/2 pages long. At a page per day, that's a little over 2 years (2 years 52+ days). That seems like a reasonable and attainable goal. Every day I will read a page, and write about it here. This is mostly to keep me honest and to keep track of the characters and where I am in the story.
Life being what it is, I read the first few pages, put it down and never picked it up again. Years ensued, children were born, households were moved cross country, the Red Sox won the World Series, and Ulysses sat untouched next to Fear of Flying, until today.
It probably would have remained on the shelf and been sold in bulk with our other books by my heirs, but this weekend past I enjoyed a performance of "All The Great Books (abridged)" by the Reduced Shakepeare Company. Ulysses was prominently featured in a very amusing bit and my interest was rekindled. I vowed to read, or at least attempt to read, this book, for much the same reason that people climb Mt. Everest. But unlike climbing Everest, it only cost me $10, and I will only risk my sanity.
In a way, I've been training for this all my life. As a child I read "The Chronicle of Narnia" at least 3 times through. In high school, I read "The Lord of the Rings" (including the Hobbit) twice, and also read the NIV bible twice including the slog through Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. I've read War & Peace 1 7/8 times (I lost it with a few chapters left the first time through and couldn't remember it when I tried to restart, so I took it from the beginning.) Finally, I also managed to peruse an other weighty classic -- Atlas Shrugged, though I must confess I skimmed over John Galt's 40-page speech. (Note to Ayn: I had the point by then.)
A quick glance through Uylsses confirmed half-remembered comments that it contains sentences that can run on for pages, but I figure if I survived the literary desert of Numbers twice, I can make it through a trackless novel.
Ulysses is 782 1/2 pages long. At a page per day, that's a little over 2 years (2 years 52+ days). That seems like a reasonable and attainable goal. Every day I will read a page, and write about it here. This is mostly to keep me honest and to keep track of the characters and where I am in the story.
posted by DBugger32 | 9:52 PM
2 Comments:
Wow. I decided since you have commented on my blog, (thanks for the firefox tip, by the way) that I would seek out yours. Little did I realize I would discover a fellow book-obsessive. Good luck with this one. I've never even wanted to attempt Ulysses. The bane of my literary ambitions remains Anna Karenina which I can't bring myself to restart years after putting it down in mind-numbing boredom with the soul-saving credo that "Life's too short, and there are too many other great books to read!" Although, I've recently been contemplating beginning again with an award-winning new translation. The prevailing idea being that, with the Russians, translation is everything. No such excuse for Joyce though, so... go with God. P.S. The Fountainhead is one of my favorite books of all time... Rand is best when she combines philosophy with plot and character instead of a rant. Also, I couldn't seem to underline or italicize anything in this comment, so... oh, well. All the books would have been underlined, and the "wanted" before Ulysses would have been italicized!
Book obsessive? Hmmm. Never thought of myself as such. Just like a good read.
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