Ulysses and my daughter's debut of story writing
I was re-reading an old issue (November 2006) of the magazine "Smart Money" this afternoon and came across an interesting article about the gathering of a group of Wall Street financial executives. It was not a congregation for any kind of finance studies or analysis, but an assembly of book club - a James Joyce book club. The seven-year-old group was eight months into Ulysses, "the notoriously convoluted, nearly impossible to parse 644-page work" - I couldn't agree more.
What was it about this tale of 1904 in Dublin which inspired these finance professionals to forgo hours of precious workday time for the literary hard work? More than one of these high flyers claimed the experience was like climbing Mount Everest - "deciphering it brings a sense of achievement." Perhaps, though I can readily pursue a similar quest by consuming my time otherwise, like pumping my muscles to bulging out loud in the gym and aspiring to hit pure shots for a euphoric round of golf.
Nevertheless, for the inspiring comments from these people, I shall attempt the next to impossible again, with my copy of this James Joyce classic I bought from Bangkok last year (for just HK$50 - a clearly good value for money if I could devour it), which I could go no further than 10 pages.
But what I am looking forward to devour with more eager anticipation is a story Kristie has written at school - something about herself planting some seeds - apparently to be published in the school's newsletter this week. I was told that her teacher has also invited her to present her own story in front of an assembly, which she confidently accepted. I feel so proud of her, and already foresee many of her ingenious stories on my blog before long.
What was it about this tale of 1904 in Dublin which inspired these finance professionals to forgo hours of precious workday time for the literary hard work? More than one of these high flyers claimed the experience was like climbing Mount Everest - "deciphering it brings a sense of achievement." Perhaps, though I can readily pursue a similar quest by consuming my time otherwise, like pumping my muscles to bulging out loud in the gym and aspiring to hit pure shots for a euphoric round of golf.
Nevertheless, for the inspiring comments from these people, I shall attempt the next to impossible again, with my copy of this James Joyce classic I bought from Bangkok last year (for just HK$50 - a clearly good value for money if I could devour it), which I could go no further than 10 pages.
But what I am looking forward to devour with more eager anticipation is a story Kristie has written at school - something about herself planting some seeds - apparently to be published in the school's newsletter this week. I was told that her teacher has also invited her to present her own story in front of an assembly, which she confidently accepted. I feel so proud of her, and already foresee many of her ingenious stories on my blog before long.
Comments