The 100th Anniversary of the publication of Ulysses

Classes and Programs

An ultimate “Book Talk” at the Nederland Community Library

The 100th Anniversary of the publication of James Joyce’s Ulysses

What makes this what many people call the greatest novel ever written? Does anyone actually understand it?

Should you read Ulysses? Have you tried? There are good reasons to do it, but there are also good reasons not to bother. There are no rules when it comes to Ulysses.

On February 2, 1922, Joyce’s 40th birthday, tiny Sylvia Beach, bookstore owner and new publisher, knocked on James Joyce’s door and handed him the first full printed copy of his magnum opus. Nearly blind, miserable and broke, Joyce would have to wait 11 years before customs officials would stop burning his book in ports around the world.

This program on the publication of Ulysses will include:

* A short film of an interview with Sylvia Beach, owner of Shakespeare and Company in Paris, talking about how she published the book against all odds.

* A talk on the censorship and destruction of thousands of copies of the book, mostly due to the determination of one man who was wanted to save the American public from “obscenity”.

* Shared short readings from the book that give a good feel for its contents.