Down To Earth

Bloomsday

Normally I'm on holiday on this most auspicious of all literary days and, thus, reading a few pages of the greatest novel in the English Language (and possibly any other) of the twentieth century comes naturally. Today I've settled for listening to a bit of an audiobook version of Joyce's masterpiece which I downloaded (for free!) some three years or so ago.

I selected the opening of the Eumaeus episode, its sense of languid exhaustion suiting my mood. I recall more than one commentary on the novel not rating the chapter highly at all, usually complaining about the orotund, clichéd nature of the writing. In contrast, it's one of my favourite segments, precisely because of the humour of all those clichés. And because after the fireworks of Circe and all the Nighttown business we come crashing down to earth, enabling terrestrials like myself to make sense of what's going on.

Bloom himself is at his most touchingly humane (and touchingly tiresome), particularly in relation to his protective friendliness to Stephen. At that level this is simple stuff, and all the more powerful for that.