The Guide to James Joyce's Ulysses
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- 19,99 €
Beschreibung des Verlags
From the creator of UlyssesGuide.com, this essential guide to James Joyce's masterpiece weaves together plot summaries, interpretive analyses, scholarly perspectives, and historical and biographical context to create an easy-to-read, entertaining, and thorough review of Ulysses.
In The Guide to James Joyce's 'Ulysses,' Patrick Hastings provides comprehensive support to readers of Joyce's magnum opus by illuminating crucial details and reveling in the mischievous genius of this unparalleled novel. Written in a voice that offers encouragement and good humor, this guidebook maintains a closeness to the original text and supports the first-time reader of Ulysses with the information needed to successfully finish and appreciate the novel. Deftly weaving together spirited plot summaries, helpful interpretive analyses, scholarly criticism, and explanations of historical and biographical context, Hastings makes Joyce's famously intimidating novel—one that challenges the conventions and limits of language—more accessible and enjoyable than ever before. He unpacks each chapter of Ulysses with episode guides, which offer pointed and readable explanations of what occurs in the text. He also deals adroitly with many of the puzzles Joyce hoped would "keep the professors busy for centuries."
Full of practical resources—including maps, explanations of the old British system of money, photos of places and things mentioned in the text, annotated bibliographies, and a detailed chronology of Bloomsday (June 16, 1904—the single day on which Ulysses is set)—this is an invaluable first resource about a work of art that celebrates the strength of spirit required to endure the trials of everyday existence. The Guide to James Joyce's 'Ulysses' is perfect for anyone undertaking a reading of Joyce's novel, whether as a student, a member of a reading group, or a lover of literature finally crossing this novel off the bucket list.
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"While reading (and, ultimately, finishing) Joyce's novel requires some measure of dedication, the rewards are well worth the effort," writes UlyssesGuide.com founder Hastings in his elegant debut. To help readers better understand Ulysses, Hastings breaks down the book by episode, discussing critical consensus and offering biographical context along the way. In the chapter on "Proteus," Hastings encourages readers to stick with the notoriously difficult section and goes on to elucidate the elusive tangle of Stephen Dedalus's stream-of-consciousness by "presenting the episode's main ideas and highlights." In "Eumaeus," Hastings prepares the reader to be underwhelmed by the encounter between Leopold Bloom and Dedalus, while in "Penelope," he provides a concise and accessible summary of the critical reception of Molly Bloom. Several maps of Dublin add context, as do the four appendices, one a chronology of Dedalus's day, the second of Bloom's day, the third a practical look at currency in Dublin and its comparative worth today, and the fourth a compilation of the novel's schemas. This is an excellent supplement to the classic.
