Obscene Reads - May 20, 2014

I picked up Ulysses by James Joyce at one point with a plan to struggle through the mammoth modernist classic.  Almost immediately, I judged it boring and frustrating.  Since then it has become an example of the kind of book that I just don’t get…yet am fascinated by those that do.  My review below is of the people who fought hard to get the book published.  They obviously got the book…and loved it enough to face ridicule, income loss and even possible jail time.  Maybe one day I will pick up the book again and actually read it, but I somehow doubt it. 

 

Currently Reading:

• The Bohemians: Mark Twain and the San Francisco Writers who Reinvented American Literature by Ben Tarnoff
• Goldfinch by Donna Tartt      
• Natchez Burning by Greg Iles (received through the publisher)
• The Third Horseman by William Rosen (received through NetGalley)
• Then and Always by Dani Atkins (received through NetGalley)

On Deck:

• Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
• Colonel Roosevelt by Edmund Morris
• Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
• The Angry Years: The Rise and Fall of the Angry Young Men by Colin Wilson (received through NetGalley)

Recent Reviews:

The Most Dangerous Book by Kevin Birmingham (received through the publisher)

4.5 stars

James Joyce’s Ulysses, which I have attempted and failed to read, was a chore to publish.  Harsher obscenity laws in the United States and England forced printers to turn away the work in order to avoid fines or imprisonment.  The small newspapers that included the book in serialization form faced lawsuits and increased scrutiny.  In addition, Joyce was difficult to work with at times.  He refused to make the changes needed to evade sensors, he was behind deadlines due to multiple health issues and he lived well above his meager means.  All of this makes for an exceptionally fascinating story behind the group of people, including Ezra Pound and Sylvia Beach, who made the publication of Ulysses possible.  This was a well written account of that time period and very readable.  Its focus on both James Joyce and the state of publishing in the 1920’s created a varied account and was never boring.  I didn’t find Joyce to be a particularly likable individual and the fact that so many intelligent people fought so hard for his book was surprising yet admirable.  As we live in a time when so many books are published, it is hard to believe that the battle to print this book was so difficult.  Overall, I found this book well written and extremely interesting.  I received this book from the publisher.