Joyce: Ulysses

CHALLENGE: Now, why should we read Joyce’s Ulyssses and why is it such an innovative novel in the universal history of literature? Watch the following TEDED Video and take notes. Then report in class.

 IN CLASS: we have experienced the Stream of Consciousness. Hope you have had some fun 😉  Now you can listen again to Molly Bloom’s last 50 lines of her famous Ulysses monologue. Angeline Ball in her IFTA Award winning role as Molly Bloom from the film Bloom (2003 Irish film written and directed by Sean Walsh)

E ora una perla dal programma Totem di Alessandro Baricco. Stefania Rocca interpreta il monologo di Molly Bloom, di cui riesce ad esaltare la musicalità (e la passione) con inserti del testo in lingua originale e la sottolineatura ritmica dell’orchestra di scena. Nella preparazione si intuisce la regia di Baricco.

I’d like to end this post on Joyce with Stephen Fry’s short One Minute Book Review Video of the novel Ulysses. “I’ll tell you the book I have chosen as my favourite book. And it may make some people’s heart sink, because it is associated with difficulty, where in fact it should be associated with joy…” “It is to me the most perfectly written book. Or perhaps the second most perfectly written book. But this book is deeper, richer and wider.” “I have no idea what it’s like in Dutch, I can’t imagine how you would translate it. But if your English is good enough, read it. And you’ll be astonished by how beautiful it is.”

Last but not least I’m now pasting here your comments to the TedEd video question about Joyce and Trieste. Thanks for having discovered such interesting info. 


O.WILDE: The Ballad of the Reading Gaol

THE BALLAD OF THE READING GAOL

Step 1) watch the  VIDEO ON THE BALLAD OF THE READING GAOL from the Italian program Cult Book. E’ in italiano preso dal programma Cult Book, molto interessante anche nelle parole del critico letterario e traduttore Masolino D’Amico. Cos’hanno in comune le scene dei film scelte durante il video? Possiamo considerare la ballata come un inno contro la pena di morte? We’ll read and discuss the Ballad in class.

Here’s a version of the ballad by GAVIN FRIDAY, released in 1989 and is the debut album following his exit from the Virgin Prunes. They made the history of rock music 🙂
In case you’ve forgotten it, Oscar Wilde also wrote that beautiful classic tale of The Happy Prince. Extremely difficult to find, very rarely repeated on TV and yet so wonderful, it’ll stay with you forever. Sit back and enjoy listening to this wonderful story ! Here’s the link to the whole text. I’m embedding 2 versions, the second one is read by the great actor Stephen Fry. Choose the one you like best.

Did you know that Al Pacino made a movie on Wilde’s Salomè? In this short video you can see Wilde’s home in Dublin. Should you ever go there you can visit it once a week, on Wednesdays.

Hope you’ve enjoyed this post. If you feel like, leave a short comment 🙂