New York New York

Bloody hell, New York is the most stressful place I’ve ever been. I’m wandering round, my eyes wide open, camera poised, looking up at the sky and everyone is so busy and so tiring and now it is only 4pm but I could sleep for a week.

The train journey from Montreal to New York was amazing and I am progressing quite nicely with Ulysses, though in this situation quite nicely means I have managed about 25 more pages. I’m finding it tough. I enjoy it while I’m reading it and get completely enthralled by it and wrapped up in it but the second I put it down I can’t bear the idea of picking it up. I left it in the hostel today as I had Mrs Dalloway with me to work on my essay. Lugging it and my laptop around yesterday made my back hurt.

Yesterday we went to Central Park and then we went to the Metropolitan Museum, which was amazing (I have to go back next week for an exhibition about superheroes) and Central Park is SO big. The Met has some Jeff Koons installation on the roof and I am very pleased with a picture of me and the giant yellow dog. Giant things are always good.

Today we walked from Madison Sq Gardens down through Chelsea, Greenwich Village, Tribeca and went to Ground Zero, then I walked back via Union Square and walked miles along Broadway past some very posh shops and walked all the way across to the cafe I am in now which is I think somewhere in Chelsea.

I went to Shakespeare and Co and bought The Theory of the Novel by Georg Lukacs. I am sat in a cafe on 23rd st at 10th ave (I am guaranteed to have got those numbers in the wrong order and written them in a way that is totally not Manhattan, woo). I am going to read my book and try to write this damned essay.

An Apology to the great gods of blogging…

… I suck, I really do. 10 days since my last post and very little achieved since then. In terms of reading Ulysses that is.

In my defence I had two exams yesterday and another this afternoon so I was busy revising for those. They, however, are finished now and I have a massive attack of the post-exam-blues. Another fake malady I have diagnosed in myself. woo.

I am resolved, however, I shall take all this frustration and wish-I’d-worked harder sentiment and I shall channel it into reading a chunk of my old friend here. I have romantic visions of heading up Mont Royal to read it as the sun sets. The promise of rain however means I shall probably just stay here in this matchbox I call a bedroom.

Still 7 Pages In…

Ok, so I have acheived zero in the last two days. In fact that’s not true, I drank copious amounts of Sangria last night and listened to The Moldy Peaches and I read Mrs Dalloway. Yet in terms of reading Ulysses I have acheived bugger all.

Summer has come to Montréal, it was 22 degrees yesterday and is set to be 25 today. I foresee an afternoon in the park with Joyce, it sounds kind of romantic doesn’t it?

I shall update when I have read something. I have to get dressed first though. Can’t read Joyce in my pajamas. I promise I shall read a good chunk of Ulysses today.

7 Pages In

After two cups of coffee, three glasses of water and a lot of gazing out of the window I decided to skip the introductions and start on Ulysses itself. I’ve read seven pages. This is quite enough of an acheivement for just now, there are only 926 pages (excluding notes/introduction) to go.

I also managed to read 3 pages of my set text L’Hiver du Force by Rejean Ducharme (testament to my levels of procrastination) and 50 pages of Anne of Windy Poplars by L.M Montgomery in preparation for my summer trip to Prince Edward Island. In the meantime Ulysses sat there staring mournfully at me. I don’t like the cartoon of Joyce on the cover.
/

Day Two – In which a purchase is made.

After a disgustingly early start and trip to the train station I headed to Indigo on St Catherine to pick up a copy of the dreaded tome.

My luck being what it is there was just one copy on the shelf and it is even bigger, thicker and heavier than the copy I left at home. It was slightly damaged so they knocked 10% off the price, so it was just a smidgen under $30. Books cost a fortune here!

In the metro to one of my favourite cafes I managed to read the first 4 pages of the introduction, then I got bored. I decided to put it off till I got to the cafe…

Now I have arrived and I’ve swapped my seat round for a comfier one, I’ve bought a cup of coffee and poured myself a glass of water. I have watched a group of policemen on bikes cycle past twice and all the while It is sat in front of me judging me quietly.

I think I am going to eyeball it for a few more minutes and then try to read a few pages. I may be some time.

Day One – Our Intrepid Adventurer Sets Herself a Task

I don’t actually have a copy of Ulysses here in Montréal, so my aim for tomorrow is simple. Buy the book. More updates when I have achieved something of worth.

Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns

It all started with this article. Searching for inspiration, procrastinating wildly when I was meant to be writing an essay, I decided to write about a personal bugbear; my complete and total inability to just sit down and read Ulysses by James Joyce.

So it began, my personal ambition for this summer, I, Hattie Kennedy, am going to read Ulysses and what’s more, I’m going to blog about it, just so I am accountable to someone.