Red Right Blog |
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Rants, Rates, Slags, Slates. Manic-depressive posts from Red Wright-Hand. Because there are thousands of worthless blogs out there and who am I not to add to their number? Total US troop deaths in Iraq to date (09/01/07) since 03/20/03: 3739
From 05/02/03 through 06/28/04: 718 Myeloma (etc.) Blogs
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Arts & Letters Daily
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Wednesday, June 16, 2004
QUICK, WHILE IT'S STILL JUNE 16TH: I am going to risk sounding pompous, I am going to risk sounding troglodytic. To begin, my credentials: I first read Ulysses in its entirety almost 20 years ago (this book by Stuart Gilbert helped) and the novel remains one of my very favorites, a work of art so thumpingly good (and comical) that I still enjoy any one of its randomly-turned-to pages, continue to quote certain lines from memory, continue to believe that its 17th chapter is the greatest sustained achievement in English prose ever. That being said, the present so-called "Bloomsday centennial" is something of a crock. Anything that promotes James Joyce and his unique accomplishments is fine with me, but...TODAY IS NOT THE CENTENNIAL OF BLOOMSDAY! Ulysses was originally published in February 1922, which, I will argue, means that the fictional day in June 16th, 1904 it celebrates (as opposed to the real-deal calendrical June 16th, 1904) is REALLY ONLY 82 YEARS OLD! I know, I'm anal, I'm a party-pooper, I need a good therapist, but nevertheless, THE FICTIONAL BLOOMSDAY OF ULYSSES IS REALLY ONLY 82 YEARS OLD. ITS CENTENNIAL WILL PROPERLY OCCUR IN 2022. Just you try it on.... |