What is one to do when all around are the menaces of manipulation and murder? If you are Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus, you keep your head What is one to do when all around are the menaces of manipulation and murder? If you are Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus, you keep your head down, stay out of the way, and write a scorching history about it. Such is the tale of Robert Grave’s classic I, Claudius, a book that was a major inspiration for George R.R. Martin (it shows) and will surprise nobody to learn is the favorite novel of David Chase, the writer of the hit TV show The Sopranos (reading about G’ma Livia murdering and manipulating everyone in Rome makes you realize where Livia Soprano got her name). But, I gotta say, this was a hell of a book to be reading right when a social media trend showing that men think about the Roman Empire WAY more than you'd expect and found myself being asked at random how often I thought of the Romans and replying ”well pretty much constantly lately...why you ask?”
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But you know who else was thinking about the Roman Empire a lot? Tiberius Claudius Drusu...okay you can call him Claudius for short. Though if you were to ask around Rome you’d find he was more ‘known to my friends and relatives and associates as Claudius the Idiot', or "That Claudius', or 'Claudius the Stammerer', or 'Clau-Clau-Claudius', or at best as ‘Poor Uncle Claudius',’ Nobody liked him or took him seriously—even his own mother said he was ‘too stupid’ to love—but being ignored and undervalued can come in handy when anyone with even the hint of desire for power finds themselves poisoned or at the very least plotted against.
We can read this as an underdog tale in a way, and it makes for excellent historical fiction—so much so that it made Time Magazine’s 100 All-Time Best Novels list. Not bad for a book the author claims he only wrote for financial reasons to pay off a debt and broke into two volumes due to strict deadlines. Dense, yet rather readable with plenty of intrigue launching us into a deadly game of power struggles, I, Claudius also has some excellent humor and self-awareness that make for an all-around great read that will completely consume you. Just don’t consume the poisoned figs…
‘He's as stupid as a donkey - what am I saying? Donkeys are sensible beings by comparison - he's as stupid as ... as ... Heavens, he's as stupid as my son Claudius!’ Aww, little buddy Claudius, don’t take it too badly, you’ll be Emperor one day.
I’ll admit that this book took me a bit to get into the groove. It starts pretty slow and covers a LOT of history without making all that much forward progress to where I thought I’d read non-fiction with more bite and excitement to it. I am GLAD I read on because once this picks up it is a relentless stream of people ruining each other’s day and becomes quite the wild ride. Plus we get Caligula being Caligula, and after having read Camus’ amazing play about him, I was quite happy to read about him some more. At the center of this all is Claudius who is guided by historians Livy and Pollio to play the fool to stay alive and pursue the life of a historian. As anyone with knowledge of the Roman Empire knows, Claudius will one day become Emperor (his time as ruler is covered in the second book, Claudius the God and His Wife Messalina), something that is as baffling to Claudius even in the face of prophecy as it is to anyone around him. Though if he becomes Emperor ‘at least I'll be able to make people read my books now.’ So, win win I guess.
‘Augustus ruled the world, but Livia ruled Augustus.’ Much of the novel involves the long plotting of Livia, wife of Augustus, to ensure her lineage takes the throne and manipulating Augustus to get what she wants. Cross Livia and cross over to the land of the dead. Or get accused of horrible crimes, be exiled to an island, eventually freed, and THEN get dead. She can wait, she will get you. ‘Livia: a blight upon the nation as a mother, a blight upon the house of Caesar as a stepmother’ wrote Roman historian Tacitus, and so began the now debated stories of Empress Livia the great villain and serial poisoner, an angle that Claudius is all too happy to represent here. Claudius begins this book asserting he will be true to the facts, even at the expense of his own family members and will not leave out any details. And so we get a brutal account where almost nobody goes unscathed under Claudius’ watchful eye which, due to his status of being a fool, grants him a lot of access to the goings-on. But for real, every time he shows up someone is all ‘ah hell not that dipshit again,’ so you can’t really blame him for raking them over the coals of canonized history. ‘There are two different ways of writing history: one is to persuade men to virtue and the other is to compel men to truth.’
Perhaps my favorite aspect of the book is how self-aware it is. There are the metafictional aspects that the book you hold in your hand is supposed to quite literally be written by Claudius in a dialect he assumed would be more readable for future generations—he is given a prophecy at the start that gives the publication year of Graves’ novel as the date when his words will be discovered—and declares he will leave the manuscript somewhere it can be easily found. ‘For my experience as a historian is that more documents survive by chance than by intention.’ But most interesting is the way the novel frequently discusses issues of writing history, both as fact or fiction. Take Pollio’s statement for instance:
‘He has you there, Livy, on your weakest spot. You credit the Romans of seven centuries ago with impossibly modern motives and habits and speeches. Yes, it’s readable all right, but it’s not history.’
This fallacy of “presentism” often mars historical fiction or commentary. One might wonder if, by giving that a shoutout, Graves felt he could sneak in a few of the slights against Germans that appear in the novel, him fresh out of WWI and all, such as when Claudius writes ‘Never trust a German out of your sight, but never be afraid of him when you have him face to face.’ Graves can be forgiven for historical errors, as he is not trying to pass it off as history but openly writing a novel. But historians have to be much more careful, as the discussion between Pollio and Livy shows, with Claudius picking Pollio as his model for Pollio’s ‘accuracy and diligence.’
‘But there’s also a serious matter in question and that is, the proper writing of history. It may be that I have made mistakes. What historian is free from them? I have not, at least, told deliberate falsehoods: you’ll not accuse me of that. Any legendary episode from early historical writings which bears on my theme of the ancient greatness of Rome I gladly incorporate in the story: though it may not be true in factual detail, it is true in spirit. If I come across two versions of the same episode I choose the one nearest my theme, and you won’t find me grubbing around Etruscan cemeteries in search of any third account which may flatly contradict both — what good would that do?”
“It would serve the cause of the truth,” said Pollio gently. “Wouldn’t that be something?”
“And if by serving the cause of truth we admit our revered ancestors to have been cowards, liars and traitors? What then?”
I’ll leave this boy to answer the question. He’s just starting in life. Come on, boy, answer it!”
Now, one might question how accurate (within the fictional world of Graves) Claudius truly is? Is he trying to vilify Livia more than necessary, why does he spout off about Cato the Censor, what private grudges make their way into the pages to become history the way he saw it? I found all this a rather clever and fun texturing to the novel, one Graves no doubt was aware plays with history in a way that would probably trick less discerning readers into assuming it was factual, the truth and fiction so tightly blended. So if intrigue and murder are your thing, or if you find yourself thinking about the Roman Empire more than most would expect, I, Claudius is a book for you. Honestly, I wouldn’t have thought it was one for me, but that's why I love having a book club because I end up reading books I would have never picked up on my own and end up really enjoying them. This is quite the wild ride of historical fiction through the history of Roman emperors and Graves can certainly write with such intelligence and engagement that was hard to put down. Just don’t piss off Livia.
I was watching Jeopardy a few weeks ago when I first heard of Gibson (Technology for 200: “I coined the term ‘cyberspace’”) and the next morning on myI was watching Jeopardy a few weeks ago when I first heard of Gibson (Technology for 200: “I coined the term ‘cyberspace’”) and the next morning on my commute to work I heard another allusion to the Canadian author on NPR. A few days later, someone recommended I read Neuromancer so seeing as the stars were seemingly aligning to place a Gibson novel at the top of my ‘to-read’ list, I went out and bought this novel. I am glad I did. Not only did it remind me that I needed to read more sci-fi from time to time, but it was just good fun. It recalled my high school days of first watching Ghost in the Shell, or Bladerunner or even Cowboy Bebop. While Neuromancer, which brought cyberpunk to the main stream, may have its flaws, it delivers a good punch to the mind and will definitely keep you entertained.
Gibson is clearly ahead of his time. As I learned from Jeopardy, Gibson coined the term cyberspace in a short story of his back in the early 80’s. He created futures heavily reliant on the internet and virtual reality far before either would be actualized and it is impressive how he wasn’t far off the mark. In Neuromancer, which was the first novel to win Science Fiction’s triple crown of the Hugo, Nebula, and Phillip K Dick awards in 1984, washed up hacker Case is given a second chance after a double cross lead his former employer to inject a drug that would disable him from ever jacking into cyberspace again. His second chance into cyberspace comes with a job veiled in secrecy involving a powerful AI and some sort of elaborate break-in. Teamed up with a program of a dead friends personality and a mysterious woman named Molly, who Case is able to ride along with seeing the world through her eyes as he can literally hack into her brain and become a passenger in her body (begin mind melt), Case slowly pieces the job together as the danger and stakes rise.
It may not come across as the most ‘fresh’ story, or set of ideas, but that is due to this novel being a major influence on countless books and films to come. Back in 10th grade English, I remember classmates complaining that Shakespeare was riddled with clichés. Our teacher countered this saying that it only seems cliché since Shakespeare was the one who created this cliché in the first place. The same can be said of Gibson and Neuromancer. Here you will find discussion of cyberspace and the Matrix - a full realistic programmed world where the AI program Wintermute often brings Case to have a private discussion, that pop up constantly in later sci-fi works. The anime Ghost in the Shell may have found influences in this work and has several connections, and the film The Matrix has some obvious ties to both of these. It was hard not to just picture the lobby scene from the Matrix when reading Molly’s invasion of Sense/Net. This isn’t intended to be a rip on the film, seeing as Gibson himself was quoted as saying that The Matrix was “an innocent delight I hadn't felt in a long time” and also called Neo his favorite sci-fi hero ever (Wikipedia as a source doesn’t fly in the classroom, but it’s always a good one-stop research shop). It is also amusing to note that when Gibson first saw Bladerunner in 1982, he damn near gave up on Neuromancer figuring his audience would just regard it as a rip-off. Thankfully he finished and received a much better critical reception than he anticipated. It should be interesting when they finally get around to making this into a film (imdb.com claims one is in the works for a late 2012 release, but apparently a film for this has been in some sort of works since the 80’s without any camera finally getting the ‘record’ button pushed) if the general population, especially those who aren’t well-read, will cry that it is a cheap Matrix rip-off. That would be some irony. Also, you will find the origins of many band names (the title of part 4 is The Straylight Run to name one) and other film names.
Gibson does an excellent job creating this cyberpunk futuristic world, complete with new drugs and drug addictions, a strange blending of futuristic weapons and old ninja weapons, space stations, weird gravitation, and many others. He completely immerses the reader in his world and does not bother with slowing it down and feeding it to you and instead just keeps ticking off his invented names and ideas and letting the reader put them together as they go. Ice, for example, first caused me to scratch my head and wonder “what the hell is ice” before realizing it is a sort of anti-virus firewall of sorts. This technique gave the novel a better feel than others I have read where the author keeps removes the reader from the world to gloat about how creative his ideas for something are by overly describing it and its uses. It is occasionally humorous how his 1980’s ideas of the internet come across compared to the actual modern day internet, although his Tron-like virtual world where you immerse yourself into a visual internet seems much more badass than the internet I am looking at right now. As a reader you have to suspend your knowledge of what the actual internet and computers are like to fully appreciate and believe in Gibson’s vision, but this is altogether not distracting and can cause some giggles like watching an old Planet of the Apes film.
The characters are a bit flat and Gibson doesn’t employ the best use of language, but we are reading sci-fi here, not The Sound and the Fury so this is forgiven. Also, the ideas are enough to keep your mind working and there are a few mind-bending moments (I loved the concept of The Flatline and when Case sees himself through Molly). The flat characters are forgiven because there is a space station full of dub-listening, ganja-smoking, shotgun-toting Rastafarians and Gibson’s use of dialect for them kept a smile across my face. I fully endorse picking this up despite its flaws. If you were a fan of anime or The Matrix, this will give you that same dorky joy (I don’t embrace my dork-joy enough anymore) and you can see the origins of many sci-fi plots and concepts. But don’t just take my word for it, I’d recommend reading Mike Sullivan’s or K.D.’s reviews (and literally any of their other reviews, always spot-on) and Time also included this on their "Top 100 of the century" list. I will definitely read another of Gibson's books in the future. 3.5/5...more
It's only possible to betray where loyalty is due.’
‘Give me a girl at an impressionable age and she is mine for life,’ states Miss Jean Brodie, the tiIt's only possible to betray where loyalty is due.’
‘Give me a girl at an impressionable age and she is mine for life,’ states Miss Jean Brodie, the titular character of Muriel Spark’s best regarded novel The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. This slim and seductive masterpiece tells the story of the ‘Brodie set,’ the young girls who were the pupils of Miss Brodie in Junior school and continue their relationship with her, for better or for worse, through the years that follow. This is a story of obsession and obedience, a dark look at the trope of inspirational figures and an examination of how individuality and group dynamics form a messy battlefield of power struggles that can give rise to fascist tendencies. Nearly flawless in its brevity and wit, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie succeeds through its elusive excursions into morality and interpersonal relationships across multiple character studies that are highly nuanced and evade tidy conclusions.
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Dame Maggie Smith in her Oscar-winning role as Jean Brodie (1969)
I have a distinct memory surrounding my first read of this book back in 2009. I had picked it up at the Ypsilanti, Mi library and consumed it in one sitting on a warm spring day, sipping wine and near-feverishly pacing back and forth on my apartment balcony for the final chapter—this novel sinks into you and holds a power over your mind not unlike the titular teacher over her pupils. This is a novel that benefits from a re-reading, and many aspects of this struck me with more impact reading it again in 2022. The book struck me as refreshing, a book where the problematic aspects of the characters are certainly of its time, but in a way that really benefits the literary dynamics and emotional resonance of the novel.
In a substack essay by Brandon Taylor, he reflects on what D.H. Lawrence termed ‘moral’ or ‘immoral’ novels. ‘Morality in the novel is the trembling instability of the balance,’ Lawrence wrote, ‘when the novelist puts his thumb in the scale, to pull down the balance to his own predilection, that is immorality.’ The way Sparks crafts her characters with a realism of flaws and foibles, an instability of right and wrong, brought to mind Taylor’s reflections on the moral novel. While it is easy and correct to condemn Brodie for her flirtations with fascism, we also find her ‘quite an innocent in her way’ as well and sympathetic to her fight against the obdurate Calvanist moralizing and the undue campaign to oust her. There is a delicious irony in that she bests the oppressive system only to be brought down in secret by one of her own in what may very well be more an act of revenge instead of earnest concern to add another layer of complexities to what is ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ in the novel. Returning to Taylor, I enjoy what he says about insatiable and complex ideas such as this:
‘moral fiction is not fiction that affirms your ideology about power systems and oppression. It does not make you feel like a good and righteous person. It may have no lessons for you to tweet about or put on Instagram or explain readily, wittily at dinner parties…Moral art…implicates and complicates your notions of good and bad. Moral art may call you a liar to your face. It reveals the shallowness of your thought…Moral does not mean good or lawful. Moral means true. Moral means you take your finger off the scale...’
This is, I believe, the type of fiction Sparks set out to create with Brodie, something that—while admittedly risking intentional fallacy here—may have inspiration from her time in 1944 working as a propagandist for Political Warfare Executive and the conflicts of her christian morality where the ends should not justify the means with a looser wartime morality where, perhaps, some might say they do. The way Sparks looks at how Brodie teaches the children to become a force to be reckoned with as a group but while preaching individuality (also praising Mussolini), while simultaneously using Mary Macgregor as a scapegoat and whipping post for the girls to rally around and, thusly, unify themselves more, is a hodgepodge of cruelty and being inspirational. We see here how the lessons of Brodie become propaganda, and give ‘the feeling that if you did a thing a lot of times, you made it into a right thing.’ Though one can’t help but also read the constant terming of the Brodie set as ‘the crème de la crème’ and not think of the ideas of the Übermensch.
See, the thing is though, you can’t help but enjoy reading Brodie ‘flattening their scorn underneath the chariot wheels of her superiority,’ but also feel remiss about cozying up to her character. Particularly as the group dynamics and her leadership is symbolic of how fascism can crop up under the guise of innocent ideas and activities and take hold of impressionable sorts who are most likely to idolize an authority figure. Sparks uses all her skills to make you like these characters even when you know you shouldn’t. She’s teasing you and breaking you down, not unlike the individual wills of the students. This is also Taylor’s point on moral fiction : this is a book about morality because nothing is clean-cut, everyone is a mixture of good and bad, as are all social dynamics. This is reality, and Taylor writes about how ‘moral fiction does not signal. That is propaganda.’ You don’t get to read this book and feel smugly superior to anyone for having the right morals, which is fitting as the novel is most critical on those who behave in this way. This is a glorious mess of morality and that is what I noticed most and loved during the reread.
‘Sandy looked back at her companions and understood them as a body with Miss Brodie for the head. She perceived herself, the absent Jenny, the ever-blamed Mary, Rose, Eunice, and Monica, all in a frightening little moment, in unified compliance to the destiny of Miss Brodie, as if God had willed them to birth for that purpose.’
The complexities of this book are outstanding, and expertly done as the novel is so succinct there is little room to hide the mechanics of it all. While written in a third person narration, it slowly becomes apparent that we are getting a narrative through the lens of a central character and any objectivity is suddenly on shaky grounds. Particularly with the knowledge of a Judas in the group, with the back and forth of the timeline teasing out tension and unveiling at a perfectly measured pace. While Brodie claims the title and is, for much of the novel, the focus, it is also about a usurping of power as we watch Sandy employ manipulations she learned from her teacher to take center stage and even becomes Mr. Lloyd’s lover. But at all times each student is what Brodie has made them, best exemplified when all of Lloyd’s portraits of the girls resembles both the girl and Brodie at the same time.
‘The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry,’ wrote poet Robert Burns, and we also witness the same occur to Miss Brodie. There is a wonderful irony present here, as Brodie rages against the Calvanist doctrine of predestination, creating her group of six and directing them on her own path as a rebuttal, only to watch her plans come undone. Even her own affair with Mr. Lowther comes to a quick end. In contrast, Sandy rejects Brodie’s teachings of individualism and free will, ending up a Catholic nun to carry out a larger plan of faith. The novel is rife with religious symbolism, turning Eidenburg into Spark’s near biblical narrative.
‘[M]y prime has truly begun. One’s prime is elusive. You little girls, when you grow up, must be on the alert to recognise your prime at whatever time of your life it may occur.’
There is much to explore in this novel, one so morally labyrinthian and nuanced while coming in just under 140pgs. The prose is flawless, like a siren seducing you in before emotionally dashing you on the rocks and forcing you to confront the many ambiguities in the book. But most of all, Jean Brodie is such a memorable character and written in such a way that questions if she is wise or manipulative, or is she good or bad, become beside the point as each aspect of this novel is so slippery. The film is quite good too, though it does take a more sympathetic approach towards the student who betrays than I believe was present in the novel (and preferred the ambiguity more). A quick read, but one that stays with you. It did with me for over a decade, and I suspect it will continue for many more.
4.5/5
‘Nothing infuriates people more than their own lack of spiritual insight.’...more
Often considered one of the ‘greatest novel of the 20th century’, James Joyce’s masterpiece, Ulysses, is both a feat and feast of sheer literary brillOften considered one of the ‘greatest novel of the 20th century’, James Joyce’s masterpiece, Ulysses, is both a feat and feast of sheer literary brilliance. Reimagining Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey as the travels and trials of an everyday man through the crowded streets and pubs of Dublin, Joyce weaves strikingly versatile prose styles and varying perspectives to encompass the whole of life within the hours of a single standard day, June 16th, 1904. This day, dubbed Bloomsday, is celebrated with increasing popularity in modern times, which is a testament to the lasting greatness of the novel (and to the desire to drink and be merry of all people). Instead of taking a daily life and elevating it to mythical proportions, Joyce has taken mythology and reversed it, shrinking it into an average day, which in turn gives each character and action a heroic sense about them. In this way, even besting a drunken nationalist spewing anti-sematic sentiments at a bar can be seen as a legendary conquest. Ulysses is an epic in its own right, setting the bar for literature up to the stratosphere as we immerse ourselves in Joyce’s dear dirty Dublin.
While one must have their wits about them to navigate this laborious labyrinth of literature, the task is highly rewarding. It is very understandable that so many people do not finish this novel, or just plain dislike it; this book can be downright frustrating. Combining the heavy use of cryptic and dated allusions, obfuscating narration, an enviable vocabulary and pages of dense prose to decipher, Joyce intentionally set out to create a literary odyssey of words to conquer saying ‘I’ve put in so many enigmas and puzzles that it will keep the professors busy for centuries arguing over what I meant, and that’s the only way of ensuring one’s immortality.’ Readers should be warned this is a tough novel. Often times this novel inspired such frustration that it was tempting to slam the cover for good, and it wasn’t until the second half that I was finally able to recognize that this novel had written its way into my heart. Upon reflecting back after completion, only then did I realize that this truly is one of the greatest books ever written and I have come to love it. Perhaps this is akin to the feeling those who run marathons or climb mountains feel; the adventure is a long, arduous struggle where one must keep focus and positive to battle through, yet the pride and elation of completion more than makes up for the struggles. I do not wish to make this book seem like it is only for masochists though, as there are more than enough rewards to reap along the way. This is some of the finest displays of writing I have ever encountered, and offers a broad range of style. Many people fail to mention that this book is downright funny as well. There are countless little jokes, such as characters running from a bar so they can fart loudly unheard, endless sexual jokes and quips, and many funny characterizations. It should be noted as well that there is no shame in seeking aide for this book. Originally I didn’t want to, but there are so many esoteric allusions and puzzles that an annotation guide and a few essays really helped my understanding. This is a novel to teach to yourself, not just read – there are people who spent years at universities digging through this book and it is still widely debated. Even the great Ulysses (or Odysseus depending on who your asking) had to seek aide in his epic journey.
The variety of style in this book is highly impressive. Each of the 18 chapters, aside from being thematically built around a corresponding episode of The Odyssey, has its own unique set of techniques and lexicon, often parodying the styles of newspapers or current women’s magazines, traditional Irish mythological styles, a chapter dissolving the world into scientific properties, the famous stream-of-consciousness, 200 pages of jocular hallucinations in play format, and a dizzying array of prose from flowery language to the language of flowers. Joyce had such a love of style that there is even an entire chapter devoted to alternating writing styles as he parodies many famous authors throughout history (calling all fans of David Mitchell or If on a winter's night a traveler) in a swirling scene of drunken debates. The language is often quite playful, lyrical and full of puns. He even uses sentence structure to convey motion, such as Gerty’s limp: ‘Tight boots? No. She’s lame! O!’. If just for the use of language alone, this is one of the most spectacular books ever written and practically killed my dictionary. Also, it is interesting that C.G. Jung diagnosed Joyce as having schizophrenia based on reading this book due to the rapidly changing styles and the use of playful rhyming and jangling speech. Joyce's daughter did in fact have schizophrenia.
One of Ulysses most discussed features is Joyce's technique of placing the reader within the minds of the characters. It is not a typical first person narration, however, as the characters are seemingly unaffected and unaware they have a reader riding along in their thoughts. Information comes across in broken and random spurts, and Joyce does not bother with clarifying these thoughts to the reader. Much like William Faulkner, Joyce leaves the reader unaided to piece together his massive puzzle. Often the subject of a thought can switch between several people without any indication, as with Boylan and Bloom in Molly’s soliloquy, and many chapters take pages to realize who the person speaking is. While initially following Stephen and then Bloom second by second through their routine, the novel soon fractures into smaller chunks of concurrent narration, to further fit all of life within the day and to offer a broader, more varied perspective on the events that transpire. The idea of the ‘parallax’, which is essentially a scientific term that different perspectives will have a uniquely different view of the same object, is often on Bloom’s mind, and is a major theme running through this novel. Through the multiple points of view, the reader is flooded with alternative, and often conflicting, images of the characters. The readers must then decide themselves what is the whole picture.
The various speakers are another testament to the versatility of the pen employed by Joyce. Each speaker has a drastically different tone and vocabulary, as well as structure (most notably Molly). There are times when the reader may wonder if Joyce’s opinions on the Jewish people and women may be rather negative, but then he will surprise you with a completely opposing statement. Women, and sexuality in general, are a major topic in this novel, and it is no surprise many have dismissed Joyce as a misogynist as many of the women in this novel are viewed strictly in regards to their sexuality. There are many female roles who are only used to further this idea, often by having many characters be prostitues. Through Bloom we see an unapologetic image of women as a sexual objects, and a male opinion on how women view sexuality. However, with Molly, Joyce offers a highly contrasted opinion on how women view their own sexuality, how women view men’s sexuality, and even how women view how men view women’s sexuality. Molly even fantasizes about having a penis and what it would be like to mount a woman. So while some ideas may be offensive to a reader, they must view it with an open mind and in the context of the novel and characters. Also, Joyce was aware of the overzealous censorship of novels in England and America and often wrote passages that blew past the lines intentionally to irk these censors. No wonder the novel was banned in American until 1934 when the Supreme Court over-turned the ruling in a landmark obscenity trial.
Shakespeare’s Hamlet plays just as much of a role in this novel as the Odyssey. This further emphasizes the parallax, and Joyce’s goal to keep the life of his characters grounded in reality by not aligning any of the characters in a clear cut way. Hamlet is often discussed amongst the intelligentsia of Dublin, and a critical scene involves Stephen’s interpretation of the play revealing many themes of the novel at hand. From the ideas of Stephen’s role as Telemachus searching for a surrogate father in Bloom’s Ulysses as well as the ongoing thoughts over adultery all reveal themselves early on through Stephen’s lecture on Hamlet. However, this scene also demonstrates that Stephen is a Hamlet figure as well as Bloom being a figure of the deceased King, and that Molly may also fit the role of the betraying Queen as well as Penelope. There are many other roles in this novel that have more than one character that could fill them, such as how both Buck Mulligan and Blazes Boylan are both ‘usurpers’. It is interesting to note here that many of the characters, Mulligan in particular, are based from people Joyce interacted with in real life. ‘The supreme question about a work of art is out of how deep a life does it spring.’, is said at a timely manner when Stephen explores how the characters of Hamlet all correspond to Shakespeare’s own family, much like how these characters correspond to those around Bloom and to those that were surrounding Joyce. Stephen is also highly representative of Joyce himself. He was the hero of Joyce’s semi-autobiographical novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, and in this novel we see him continue his quest of artistry. He even sides with an unborn child in a debate over whether a mother or child’s life is more important during birth, signifying his ideas that art, something we create, is of the utmost importance. A touch of metafiction as well as a compounding use of themes is one of the many ways this book stole my heart.
Joyce avoids distinct lines anywhere he can with this novel. Characters such as Bloom are walking contradictions and a paradox to those around him. He is Jewish, but also baptized. He is a father figure, but also displays many motherly traits and desires causing the more masculine characters to harbor a bit of disdain for him for being rather ‘womanly’. He is very caring and generous, but then at times very cheap and critical of others for their generosity. Such is the enigma of Leopold Bloom, one of the most likeable everyman characters in all of literature (it was very difficult not to picture him as George Clooney from O Brother, Where Art Thou?, another wonderful retelling of The Odyssey). He is not without his faults though, as he is a shameless womanizer and has the ‘undressing eyes’ aimed at all the fair ladies of Dublin (and what is with Joyce and men masturbating in public, ie The Encounter from Dubliners? I’m on to you Joyce…). Bloom spends much of this novel on the go, trying to move forward from the sadness of his past and the weight of thoughts of his wife’s possible transgressions. ‘Think you’re escaping and run into yourself,’ Bloom mentions. His ‘coming together’ with Stephen is also grounded in reality, as there is no clear-cut bond between them. ‘Frailty thy name is marriage’ Bloom thinks, playing off of the famous line from Hamlet. The marriage of Bloom and Stephen, Bloom and Molly, and many other ‘marriages’ of characters are fraught with incompatible moments, as people just do not always get along or agree. While the union of Bloom and Stephen is alluded to through the entire novel, they often are at odds with one another or offend the other while trying to be friendly. However, this meeting is highly significant in both their lives, and as many of these ‘marriages’ are flawed, they are shown as having shaped each individual. As C.G. Jung once wrote, ‘The meeting of two personalities is like the contact between two chemical substances. If there is any reaction, both are transformed.’
Ulysses is not an easy novel by any means, but it is well worth the effort. The prose may be daunting at first, but patients, and a bit of guidance can really go a long way and this novel will eventually bloom for any reader so they can drink the sweet language of Joyce’s pen. There are so many wonderful techniques buzzing about and puzzles to unlock. Plus, this novel is outright hilarious. For one of the more comprehensive reviews you can find, you should also read Ian's stunning review. Joyce has certainly left his mark on the face of literature with this novel, which is more than deserving of the title bestowed on it by the Modern Library of the greatest novel of the 20th century. Yes it is the greatest and yes you should read it and yes each word will blossom in your mind and Yes will I give this book a 5/5 and yes I said yes I will Yes. 5/5
Also, word on the street is that reading this book in public will make you “appear” smart. [image]
James Joyce (as translated by Norman Thomas di Giovanni)
In a man’s single day are all the days of time from that unimaginable first day, when a terrible God marked out the days and agonies, to that other, when the ubiquitous flow of earthly time goes back to its source, Eternity, and flickers out in the present, the past, and the future—what now belongs to me. Between dawn and dark lies the history of the world. From the vault of night I see at my feet the wanderings of the Jew, Carthage put to the sword, Heaven and Hell. Grant me, O Lord, the courage and the joy to ascend to the summit of this day....more
‘You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.’
Ha‘You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.’
Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird is an undisputed classic that few will avoid having read in their lifetime, and those few are to be pitied. As I habe presentation of the novel coming up this weekend, a discussion group that I am lucky enough to be allowed to lead as part of the The Big Read here in Holland, Michigan, I felt it necessary to revisit this timeless classic (and I figured I’d review it to help collect my thoughts on the subject). The experience was like returning to a childhood home and finding it warm and welcoming and undisturbed from the passage of time, like walking the streets of my old neighborhood and hearing the calls of friends as they rode out with their bikes to greet me, of knowing the mailman by name and knowing where all the best places for hide-and-seek were, the best trees to climb, and feeling safe and secure in a place that is forever a part of yourself. Though some of the mechanics of the novel seemed less astonishing than my first visit more than a decade ago, the power and glory was still there, and I found a renewed love and respect for characters like Atticus, whom I’ve always kept close to heart when wrestling with my own position as a father. Harper Lee created a wonderful work that incorporated a wide range of potent themes, wrapping class systems, gender roles, Southern manners and taboos, and an important moral message of kindness, love and conviction all within a whimsical bildungsroman that no reader who has been graced by its pages will ever forget.
‘The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience.’
In High School, Atticus was a favorite literary character and I wrote a big long essay for a class about Atticus as a pillar of morality, a man of honor, integrity, and most importantly, conviction. He is humble and honest, even admitting to his children that yes, indeed they are poor. In a novel about society, with its tumultuous mess of morals and class, Atticus is like an authorial deus ex machina, being Lee’s method of inserting moralizing and an example of what constitutes a ‘good man’ into the book through character and not authorial asides. I’ve always enjoyed Atticus and even named my second cat Catticus Finch. Atticus takes the unpopular position of defending a black man in a rape case when assigned to him despite the town nearly ostracizing him. Atticus does his duty, and does it well, as a man of conviction that believes in doing what is right and honorable regardless of the consequences, living up to his statement that ‘Real courage is when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what’. In fact, Lee originally intended to name the novel Atticus before deciding it would stifle the broad perspective of Macomb by drawing too much attention to one character. Atticus remains steadfast throughout the novel, sure of himself and fully developed, whereas those around him undergo more a sense of change and development. This is a novel about personal growth and a broader understanding of those around you, and Atticus is the anchor to integrity and morality keeping his children centered in the violent storm of emotions and violence that befalls Macomb. This is all a bit overturned in the draft version that preceded writing Mockingbird which was later published as Go Set a Watchman and we see Atticus expressing some rather racist opinions on school integration and such, and the literary world has also had conversations on Atticus as a white savior character, so all that is worth keeping in mind as well.
‘When a child asks you something, answer him, for goodness sake. But don't make a production of it. Children are children, but they can spot an evasion faster than adults, and evasion simply muddles 'em.’
There is a childlike innocence spun through a novel of such weight and seriousness, executed brilliantly by Lee’s choice of Scout as the narrator. We are forever seeing a larger world through the eyes of a young girl still trying to find her place in it while making sense of all the hustle and bustle around her, and this creates an incredible ironic effect where there are large events going on that the reader understands but are delivered nearly through defamiliarization because the narrator cannot fully grasp them¹. The narration allows Lee to balance the coming-of-age hallmarks with the weightier themes, allowing the reader to maintain an innocence from the rape and racism while still able to make sense of the society functioning at large, and retreating from the darker themes into the fun of the children’s comings and goings. What is most impressive is how everything blends together, and the lessons learned in each aspect of their life are applied to all the other elements they come in contact with. The fates of Tom and Boo Radley are emotionally and morally linked in the readers mind, heart and soul.
All the standard bildungsroman motifs that make people love the genre are present in To Kill a Mockingbird, from schoolyard quarrels, to learning your place in society. We see Scout, Jem, and even Dill, gain a greater understanding of the world and their place in it, watch the children come to respect their father for more than just being a good father, see them make dares, terrorize the neighbors in good fun, and even stop a mob before it turns violent. With Scout, particularly, there is an element of gender identity at play that leads into a larger discussion about class and society. Children learn from those around them, and Scout spends much of the novel assessing those around her, perhaps subconsciously looking for a role model for herself. The ideas of what a good southern woman is and should be are imposed upon her throughout the town, such as Ms Dubose who criticizes her manner of dress, or Aunt Alexandra and her attempts to eradicate Scout’s tomboyish behavior, and she learns to dislike Miss Stephanie and her gossipy behavior. Miss Maudie, however, curbs gossip and insults, and puts on the face of a southern lady, but still gets down into the dirt in the garden and behaves in other, more boyish, ways that Scout identifies with. The gender identification becomes a cog in the gear of Southern tradition in manners and class. While the court case is unquestionably controversial due to the racial implications, it is also because it forces people to discuss rape and involves questioning the Word of a woman. It forces up a lot of taboo that the community is uncomfortable in being forced to deal with it, and many inevitably turn a squeamish blind eye when forced to confront the ugly truths at hand. Macomb is a society where everything and everyone has their place, a set identification, and they do not like it being disturbed. Most important to note is the correlation that the characters who are most inclined to uphold societal traditions through self-righteous brow-beatings often exhibit the most rampant racism throughout the novel.
‘Mockingbirds don’t do one thing except make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corn cribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.’
There are many ‘mockingbird’ characters in this novel, such as Tom and Boo, but the real mockingbird is, to me at least, the innocence that is lost. The town is forced to see each other for who they really are, to question their beliefs, to grow up with all the racism and bigotry going on around them. Atticus teaches Scout that we cannot know someone until ‘you consider things from his point of view’, and through the novel we see many misjudgements of character based on misunderstanding or characters refusing to see beyond their closed opinions, or even something as simple as Scout and Jem believing the rumors of Boo Radley as a bloodthirsty maniac. ‘People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for.’ This applies to many obdurate aspects of society, such as Miss Maudie stating ‘sometimes the Bible in hand of one man is worse than a whiskey bottle in the hand of-oh, your father,’ emphasizing the ways that a closed mind is just as dangerous as a violent hand and that even religion can be misused. There is a message of love, of looking into the hearts of others and not just judging them, a message of compassion and open-mindedness working through To Kill a Mockingbird, and it is a message that we all must be reminded of from time to time.
There are a few issues that arose on a re-reading of the novel, having grown myself as a reader since I first encountered this lovely book. While the moral lessons are important and timeless, there is a sense of heavy-handedness to their delivery. Particularly at the end when Sheriff Tate points out the dangers of making a hero of Boo Radley.
taking the one man who’s done you and this town a great service an’ draggin’ him with his shy ways into the limelight—to me, that’s a sin. It’s a sin and I’m not about to have it on my head.
This statement is quickly followed by Scout mentioning to Atticus that ‘Well, it’d be sort of like shootin’ a mockingbird, wouldn’t it?’. It seems a bit unnecessary to reiterate the point, especially when Tate’s double use of sin was enough to draw a parallel to the message earlier in the novel that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird. This, I admit, is overly nitpicky but brings up a conversation about teaching this novel in schools. This book is, ideally, read at a time of the readers own coming-of-age and the connections they are sure to draw with the characters reinforce the love for the novel. It is also a time in life when you are just beginning to understand the greater worlds of literature, and overtly pointing out themes is more necessary for readers when they haven’t yet learned how to look for them properly. It is books such as this that teach us about books, and usher us into a world of reading between the lines that we hadn’t known was there before. Another quiet complaint I have with the novel that, despite the themes of racism, Calpurnia seems to be a bit of an Uncle Tom character. It is an imperfect novel that was progressive at its time but not so much in modern times, which is itself a great conversation that can be had inside the classroom and outside amongst readers.
To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel surely deserving of it’s classic status. Though it is not without its flaws, there is a timeless message of love that permeates through the novel. It is also of great importance as a book that young readers can use as a ladder towards higher literature than they had been previously exposed to. Lee has such a fluid prose that makes for excellent storytelling, especially through the coming-of-age narrative of Scout, and has a knack for creating exquisite characters that have left their immortal mark in the halls of Literature as well as the hearts of her readers. 4.5/5
‘...when they finally saw him, why he hadn’t done any of those things...Atticus, he was real nice.
Most people are, Scout, when you finally see them.’
¹This style is reminiscent of William Faulkner, such as the court scene in Barn Burning from the detached perspective of a child. In fact, much of this novel feels indebted to Faulkner and the works of Southern Gothic authors before her, and the Tom incident and case feels familiar to those familiar with Faulkner’s Dry September or Intruder in the Dust. The way the most self-righteous and self-professed 'holy' also tend to be the basest of character morals is reminiscent of Flannery O'Connor as well. Lee’s story is fully her own, but it is always interesting to see the travels and growth of literary tradition....more
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