Opinions Please!
…not that I don’t have enough of my own…
Any way, I’ve been thinking that one way to get through a thick difficult book would be to read it aloud one evening a week at Veritas. That way I’m forced to get through it but not in a way that completely fries my brain and my love of literature. The vote is between reading Ulysses (I’ve never read it, I don’t have respect for what Joyce did with it, I think reading his prose will make want to tear the book up) or reading Orwell’s Essays (I don’t care what his political opinions are and the book is 1,585 pages!). So tell me, if you were going to come down and hang out on Friday nights and listen to me read, what would you prefer to hear?
OR 
February 22nd, 2008 at 8:14 pm
“Ulysses (I’ve never read it, I don’t have respect for what Joyce did with it, I think reading his prose will make want to tear the book up)”: I like Finnegans Wake more than Ulysses, but certainly respect Ulysses. How can you have no “respect for what Joyce did”? If you haven’t read it, what are your expectations? Joyce did not re=write the Odyssey, you know; he wrote an entirely new book. It reads beautifully aloud. And the Orwell essays you mention, by page count… surely a collection of essays is not something that must be read (or even *should* be read) in a single sitting… What exactly are your intentions here, to address the books, on the terms set down by their authors (which is surely the right way to address them), or to build up a page count?
But I do agree: in many cases, a good approach is to read aloud. And Joyce won’t let you down there.
February 22nd, 2008 at 9:03 pm
definitely i would go with the orwell. i dont know whether youre allowing yourself to skip anything, but i suggest that anyone read ulysses if they didnt want to–its like a very long prose poem. orwell will make himself interesting whether or not you align yourself with his politics.
on the other hand, if you cant back out maybe the joyce is the better thing to read aloud, if you pay attention–for the sound. it might make more sense aloud too.
February 22nd, 2008 at 9:05 pm
previous comment, should be “wouldnt suggest” rather than “suggest”
February 22nd, 2008 at 9:19 pm
Actually I know a bit about Ulysses and I’ve read portions of it. I think that Joyce worked very hard on it but what I think he did was write bad prose when he should have written good poetry. As to ‘how’ I manage to have no respect for what he did…that’s actually really easy…I just don’t. And I definitely agree that the books should be addressed on the terms you mention and that is how I will judge the book. The author on the other hand may be judged on what he aimed at not whether or not he hit the target.
Neither Orwell nor Joyce would be read at one sitting but spread out over many (kinda the point of reading them aloud). And it’s not that I’m worried about whether or not I agree with Orwell, just that I’m fairly indifferent. My question is which would be more enjoyable to listen to? And I take it that tinker is for Orwell and Charles is for Joyce.
Greene is my maiden name…so are we related tinker?
February 22nd, 2008 at 9:24 pm
probably. and probably were both descended from william the conquerer, too.
February 22nd, 2008 at 10:24 pm
Point taken…
February 23rd, 2008 at 12:29 am
dear reader of many books: coming over here from ron silliman’s blog, my heart breaks at the digression around joyce; it feels like refraction, or looking on the ground for pennies (please forgive this metaphor if you can) while the Lady is appearing over Lourdes. seriously, joyce is magical, ulysses is all music, if one can open and succumb to it. IMHO. really it’s so beautiful inside, better than a cathedral. everybody already knows what orwell said, because it soaked into the day and got here slow-like by newspaper. FWIW.
February 23rd, 2008 at 10:48 am
An English teacher acquaintance of mine suggests that the only way to read Ulysses is to read it aloud, because it makes more sense that way & works better for getting you into the book. I aim to try it myself this year. Hope you give it a try.
February 23rd, 2008 at 11:20 am
I’d at least try to make it over there for Ulysses. But no promises. My Fridays have been notoriously unpredictable lately.
Anemone
February 23rd, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Even if you don’t care about Orwell’s political opinions, I think you’ll end up loving his essays! They’re nothing like his fiction, and a lot of them are ‘travel’ essays. I don’t know anything about Ulysses, but it seems like essays fit naturally into a read aloud schedule.
February 23rd, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Ulysses. I love Orwell, but I don’t see the point in going to hear someone other than the author read something I’m perfectly capable of reading on my own.
Ulysses is on my tbr list this year and if I knew of a local read-aloud I’d certainly make an effort to attend. I have a friend who participated in a Bloombury read-aloud several years ago and she found it to be a fantastic experience.
February 23rd, 2008 at 8:01 pm
Ulysses… Peas…
February 24th, 2008 at 11:39 am
I just feel like leaving a comment because I don’t like even numbers.
I don’t care what you read I love being read to
February 25th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
definitely Ulysses
February 26th, 2008 at 10:38 am
Ulysses it is.