All of us, tone deaf until we arrive hear

Spring lifted up its head and smiled today.  Groups of twenty-somethings played ultimate frisbee and volleyball, while other put the pool to good use (although the term "good" might be a stretch). There did not seem to be a square foot of grass unoccupied by some gallivanting human body.  At least, that is what i saw for the few moments I stepped outside.  Around four hours of my Saturday was spent reading various materials from class.  Not that I am complaining.  In fact I am moderately excited because for my premier outside-of-class book I chose to read James Joyce's Ulysses.  I have tried to infiltrate this novel a couple times previous to this without much success, but this time things seem to be going reasonably well.  Joyce preforms his objective of confusing and fascinating simultaneously in a fantastic manner.




One of Joyce's characters openly admits his contradictory nature.  Buck Mulligan "Contradiction.  Do I contradict myself?  Very well then, I contradict myself."  The paradoxes pervading Ulysses suggest the characters are conflicted within themselves as well as portray Ireland, as a whole, at odds with itself.  The characters continually talk about religion, although none seem very pious.  They speak as though they are highly educated, yet they barely have money to buy milk.  In this way, Joyce paints a somber; distressing picture of the state of his homeland.