St. Pat`s and Ulysses

Forget about celebrating St. Patrick's Day in a pub. This year, a Rutgers-Camden scholar is encouraging Emerald Isle enthusiasts to take on the Irish tradition that many attempt, but few achieve: reading James Joyce's legendary tome, "Ulysses."

Dr. Timothy Martin, an associate professor of English at Rutgers University's Camden campus and a leading Joyce scholar, says if one begins the Irish epic on March 17, one could finish it in time for the 100th anniversary of Bloomsday on June 16 -- the day the entire novel takes place.

Symposiums are being coordinated by Joyceans worldwide to celebrate the centennial, with the major gathering scheduled in Dublin, where Martin will deliver a paper on "Ulysses" as an operatic novel. Local organizations like the Rosenbach Museum in Philadelphia honor the day annually.

And similar to a St. Patty's Day party, reading "Ulysses" is a group activity. In fact, it's best to read it with friends. "Most first-time readers need support from others, and fellow neophytes will help put the inevitable confusion and discouragement into a common perspective," says Martin, who authored the book "Joyce and Wagner: A Study of Influence."

To read "Ulysses" for the first time requires a new sense of what it means to read. It involves losing the idea that a book can be fully understood, and acceptance of the notion that our understanding of any work is always somewhat limited.

Martin recommends newcomers read the German-edited "Gabler" edition and supplement it with a guide book like David Hayman's "Ulysses: The Mechanics of Meaning," which provides general plot summaries and brief essays on main characters, prominent themes, and various allusions.

Several of Martin's former students are beginning to read "Ulysses" now and have contacted him with their own methods of tackling the tome. Other students of the Irish literature scholar have become scholars on the subject themselves. Eileen Radetich, a Rutgers-Camden English program graduate, and is now a faculty member at Camden County College, where she has organized the lecture series "Broaching Bloomsday: A Centennial Celebration," which featured Martin as a speaker.

The Rutgers-Camden scholar credits Joyce's "Ulysses" for engaging so many for so long because, aside from its literary complexity, he says, "it's just extremely funny."

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Author: Press Release-Rutgers