May 17th, 2010 / 1:19 pm
Author Spotlight

Examples which might explain James Joyce’s love-hate relationship with Dublin

Finnegans Wake is super tiring, and for some, so is James Joyce. But come on people, North Earl Street doesn’t look so bad. History is made to be forgotten, and for folks to sit on. For birds, to shit on. Short of a rhyme for immortal rigamortis, just give us reason.

Did some support group meeting just get out? I’ve never been to Dublin, and I’ve heard mixed things about the Irish, just saying if these people were around on June 16, 1904, Ulysses would probably have a chapter written in Aspergers voice. Hey lady, relax, the nicotine patches are in the blue bag.

I wouldn’t do that if I were you buddy, a bronze hard-on will beat yours any day. Besides, that’s his thigh. The girlfriend endures with trembling dignity, looking past the camera, into the chocolate shop. Just ten more pounds and she’ll crush that limp wick of his.

*

Joyce’s Dublin is full of sad people, seen with pity and love; we resent where we’re from, so we try for better places. Southeast Asia, having been bombed, is the bomb for people to find themselves, some humid Buddha under moss and a bad case of diarrhea. The heart is not a lonely hunter — it is a tourist. I never found Jesus, I never found Joyce. Can’t afford the plane ticket, ya know?

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129 Comments

  1. stephen

      memorable post, chen.

  2. mimi

      I volunteer one day a week working with adults with disabilities – autism, dementia, developmental disabilities & cetera. Many of them speak unknowingly in Joyce-speak evaporating like Kevin Spacey Verbal Kint fingers pinched to mouth then poof blown away into the atmosphere. Unless I can catch some of it and put it in my brain. The repetitive stuff, actually, repeated, repeated, is catchable. It is fascinating. I love it.

      A lot of my comments are based on “I”. Sorry.

  3. JimR

      This post is like Dublin without Guinness: pintless.

  4. Jimmy Chen

      your mom is like Irish whisky without the mills: bush

  5. Justin

      i completely want to go fart on that man-shaped rock

  6. stephen

      damn…

  7. stephen

      blast-phemy

  8. stephen

      re: Justin, but jk

  9. jereme

      they recently did some fante tribute thing here. i think he got a square placed on bunker hill.

      fante isn’t cool though.

      he’s just an la douche.

  10. Ken Baumann

      Chenassiance.

  11. stephen

      this post is “beyond my chen”

  12. Lily Hoang

      Beautiful, Jimmy. I remember I taught DUBLINERS once, and my students said Joyce was a bad person for writing fiction with children going on buses alone: it encourages kidnapping, they said. So glad I’m not trapped in the Midwest anymore.

  13. stephen

      am i being a chenabler?

  14. stephen

      we’re not all the same here, in the midwest. not bitter, just sayin’. also anyone read that DFW road trip book? that lipsky makes too many condescending asides re: “oh how cute and midwestern of him.” way too much of that. i don’t go around saying “oh, u have a tumblr, how new yorker; oh, you’re a liberal arts major and u work for an internet start-up, how new yorker; oh, you’re going to a book launch, and then you’re friend is djing in brooklyn, how new yorker”

  15. stephen

      Good King Chenceslas

      ok, ill stop…

  16. Trey

      love it in the midwest but understand why someone wouldn’t. but man I love it.

  17. Lily Hoang

      To be fair to Lipsky (who was condescending at times, sure), DFW was quite the character. And ok, sure, not all Midwesterners are the same, and honestly, I don’t even remember if the student who made the comment was/is a Midwesterner. It was years ago. The Midwest has some fine attributes. I liked it enough to live there for six years. Stereotypes exist though, Stephen. No need to wage war against them all.

  18. stephen

      yea, i think there’s a kernel of truth to many stereotypes i’ve encountered. i just am a little tired of the new yorker condescension towards the midwest. it seems to be very consistent (for example, sam tanenhaus and lorrie moore, a longtime midwest transplant from nyc, chuckling knowingly over the fact she’s been living in madison and about the midwest being a flyover zone. when sam even brings up the fact that she lives in wisconsin, they immediately know it’s funny or that they should be grinning, bc it’s the midwest).

      i’m sure i fit many aspects of the stereotype, though not all. what i don’t like about it is the cynicism attached to it (how midwestern of me to not like cynicism!). the instance i’m thinking of is when DFW is passionately pursuing a friend’s ex-gf and lipsky, in my view very unnecessarily, hops in and is like “(how midwestern of him, to be young and doing that!)” and honestly maybe he’s not being snarky or condescending, and i’m overreacting, but i wanted to be like, how romantic, how awesome, not how midwestern, bc then there’s an implicit condescending connotation, coming from a new yorker. i could be off-base. just feeling touchy about it. feels like i’m defending earnestness, not a region of the country.

  19. stephen

      then again, i’ve had my “who are these people?!” moments while living in wisconsin, and here in chicago

  20. stephen

      so, in conclusion, all right, lily, point taken =)

  21. jereme

      insecurity is a motherfucker. you’ll get over it.

  22. stephen

      i think this fits in with the post actually, jimmy. i should write “Midwesterners,” right? hehe…

  23. stephen

      jereme, ladies and gentlemen… he’ll be here until the end of time

  24. jereme

      and you won’t, but we already went over that b4.

      remember?

  25. Sean

      Chen music

  26. stephen

      bro…

  27. stephen

      “Jereme’s HTMLGIANT H8 Parade, Vol III” published in 2646 by C0cksm0k3r Press

  28. stephen

      was that midwestern of me?

  29. Sean

      Double Chen

  30. jereme

      took you awhile to think of that?

      i’m playing chess & u r playing chutes and ladderz.

      watch out for that big slide, little guy, it will take you back to square 1.

  31. Sean

      Why can’t you people take it on the Chen?

      Weak

  32. jereme

      CHENNY CHENNY BANG BANG ?

  33. stephen

      r u anonymous? am i blind? truly anonymous?

  34. mimi

      Chenetic Chengineering

      OK

      I’m home sick with a sore throat and I’m all achy. :(
      And bored.

  35. stephen

      equal opportunity h8… get yr h8…

  36. jereme

      non-anonymous insecurity?

  37. stephen

      if u aint got phm to h8 for this internet minute, feel free to continue h8ing on me… i luv it…

  38. stephen

      i’m very insecure about everything, jereme. i wont feel better until you validate me. please do it. validate me with yr hate, it’s delicious…

  39. stephen

      r u a guy? what r u wearing?

  40. stephen

      i’ve got on a delightful plaid shirt, tucked in, lil khakis… and muh black shoes…

  41. jereme

      you think humor is hate?

      how insecurely ‘midwest’ of you.

      ‘damn’

      ‘sweet’

      ‘bro’

      ‘lol’

  42. stephen

      Chen u please kill me now?

  43. stephen

      jereme, dear, u havent answered my questions! (stamps foot)… god, jereme, ur no fun…

  44. Blake Butler

      uh, guys…

  45. jereme

      hahaha, dad, i was done.

      i’m sorry.

  46. magick mike

      “count it”

  47. magick mike

      there is a difference between “an actual city in the midwest” and “the rest of the midwest which is basically everything other than chicago, st. louis, and minneapolis”

  48. stephen

      doesnt seem like any tactic ‘works’ with a fuckhead. i should have ignored u, as i did when u h8d on the post that mentioned my magazine. u remember that post, jereme?

  49. stephen

      chen u feel the luv tonite

  50. ?

      There are actual cities in the midwest? Could have fooled me. Try-hard Chicago does not count.

  51. ?

      I think you confuse the entire united state’s condescension towards the midwest with New York. Everyone makes fun of the midwest. I don’t think the midwest is even on NYC’s radar though, they are too busy mocking New England or the West Coast.

  52. stephen

      memorable post, chen.

  53. stephen

      the south gets a lot of hate too, don’t forget the south

  54. stephen

      i do actually love cheese, i can’t lie. my dad grew up on a farm. there were cows. my voice is kind of nasally. my ma is from queens tho, so u know, “ay, whassa matta fuhyoo, eh?”

  55. stephen

      sorry, jereme, was mean to call u a ‘fuckhead.’ sorry for pretending to come onto u.

  56. Donald

      A century ago, New York was the new Chicago, wasn’t it? Even based on that, it would have to have fallen a long way for it not to be an actual city any more.

  57. Donald

      this was special

  58. stephen

      embarrassing, stupid

  59. mimi

      I volunteer one day a week working with adults with disabilities – autism, dementia, developmental disabilities & cetera. Many of them speak unknowingly in Joyce-speak evaporating like Kevin Spacey Verbal Kint fingers pinched to mouth then poof blown away into the atmosphere. Unless I can catch some of it and put it in my brain. The repetitive stuff, actually, repeated, repeated, is catchable. It is fascinating. I love it.

      A lot of my comments are based on “I”. Sorry.

  60. Ryan Call

      58 comments

  61. jereme

      ARE YOU CHENSECURE TOO RYAN?

  62. JimR

      This post is like Dublin without Guinness: pintless.

  63. Sean

      Chen you people shut the fuck up?

  64. Jimmy Chen

      your mom is like Irish whisky without the mills: bush

  65. Justin

      i completely want to go fart on that man-shaped rock

  66. stephen

      damn…

  67. stephen

      blast-phemy

  68. stephen

      re: Justin, but jk

  69. Ryan Call

      you are right. i am sorry. i didnt mean for my comment to be jerkface. i apologize to everyone.

  70. jereme

      they recently did some fante tribute thing here. i think he got a square placed on bunker hill.

      fante isn’t cool though.

      he’s just an la douche.

  71. Ken Baumann

      Chenassiance.

  72. stephen

      this post is “beyond my chen”

  73. lily hoang

      Beautiful, Jimmy. I remember I taught DUBLINERS once, and my students said Joyce was a bad person for writing fiction with children going on buses alone: it encourages kidnapping, they said. So glad I’m not trapped in the Midwest anymore.

  74. stephen

      am i being a chenabler?

  75. stephen

      we’re not all the same here, in the midwest. not bitter, just sayin’. also anyone read that DFW road trip book? that lipsky makes too many condescending asides re: “oh how cute and midwestern of him.” way too much of that. i don’t go around saying “oh, u have a tumblr, how new yorker; oh, you’re a liberal arts major and u work for an internet start-up, how new yorker; oh, you’re going to a book launch, and then you’re friend is djing in brooklyn, how new yorker”

  76. stephen

      Good King Chenceslas

      ok, ill stop…

  77. Trey

      love it in the midwest but understand why someone wouldn’t. but man I love it.

  78. lily hoang

      To be fair to Lipsky (who was condescending at times, sure), DFW was quite the character. And ok, sure, not all Midwesterners are the same, and honestly, I don’t even remember if the student who made the comment was/is a Midwesterner. It was years ago. The Midwest has some fine attributes. I liked it enough to live there for six years. Stereotypes exist though, Stephen. No need to wage war against them all.

  79. stephen

      yea, i think there’s a kernel of truth to many stereotypes i’ve encountered. i just am a little tired of the new yorker condescension towards the midwest. it seems to be very consistent (for example, sam tanenhaus and lorrie moore, a longtime midwest transplant from nyc, chuckling knowingly over the fact she’s been living in madison and about the midwest being a flyover zone. when sam even brings up the fact that she lives in wisconsin, they immediately know it’s funny or that they should be grinning, bc it’s the midwest).

      i’m sure i fit many aspects of the stereotype, though not all. what i don’t like about it is the cynicism attached to it (how midwestern of me to not like cynicism!). the instance i’m thinking of is when DFW is passionately pursuing a friend’s ex-gf and lipsky, in my view very unnecessarily, hops in and is like “(how midwestern of him, to be young and doing that!)” and honestly maybe he’s not being snarky or condescending, and i’m overreacting, but i wanted to be like, how romantic, how awesome, not how midwestern, bc then there’s an implicit condescending connotation, coming from a new yorker. i could be off-base. just feeling touchy about it. feels like i’m defending earnestness, not a region of the country.

  80. stephen

      then again, i’ve had my “who are these people?!” moments while living in wisconsin, and here in chicago

  81. stephen

      so, in conclusion, all right, lily, point taken =)

  82. jereme

      insecurity is a motherfucker. you’ll get over it.

  83. stephen

      i think this fits in with the post actually, jimmy. i should write “Midwesterners,” right? hehe…

  84. stephen

      jereme, ladies and gentlemen… he’ll be here until the end of time

  85. Ken Baumann

      I’ve created a monster.

  86. jereme

      and you won’t, but we already went over that b4.

      remember?

  87. Sean

      Chen music

  88. stephen

      bro…

  89. stephen

      “Jereme’s HTMLGIANT H8 Parade, Vol III” published in 2646 by C0cksm0k3r Press

  90. stephen

      was that midwestern of me?

  91. Sean

      Double Chen

  92. jereme

      took you awhile to think of that?

      i’m playing chess & u r playing chutes and ladderz.

      watch out for that big slide, little guy, it will take you back to square 1.

  93. Sean

      Why can’t you people take it on the Chen?

      Weak

  94. jereme

      CHENNY CHENNY BANG BANG ?

  95. stephen

      r u anonymous? am i blind? truly anonymous?

  96. mimi

      Chenetic Chengineering

      OK

      I’m home sick with a sore throat and I’m all achy. :(
      And bored.

  97. stephen

      equal opportunity h8… get yr h8…

  98. jereme

      non-anonymous insecurity?

  99. stephen

      if u aint got phm to h8 for this internet minute, feel free to continue h8ing on me… i luv it…

  100. stephen

      i’m very insecure about everything, jereme. i wont feel better until you validate me. please do it. validate me with yr hate, it’s delicious…

  101. stephen

      r u a guy? what r u wearing?

  102. stephen

      i’ve got on a delightful plaid shirt, tucked in, lil khakis… and muh black shoes…

  103. jereme

      you think humor is hate?

      how insecurely ‘midwest’ of you.

      ‘damn’

      ‘sweet’

      ‘bro’

      ‘lol’

  104. stephen

      Chen u please kill me now?

  105. stephen

      jereme, dear, u havent answered my questions! (stamps foot)… god, jereme, ur no fun…

  106. Blake Butler

      uh, guys…

  107. jereme

      hahaha, dad, i was done.

      i’m sorry.

  108. magick mike

      “count it”

  109. magick mike

      there is a difference between “an actual city in the midwest” and “the rest of the midwest which is basically everything other than chicago, st. louis, and minneapolis”

  110. stephen

      doesnt seem like any tactic ‘works’ with a fuckhead. i should have ignored u, as i did when u h8d on the post that mentioned my magazine. u remember that post, jereme?

  111. stephen

      chen u feel the luv tonite

  112. ?

      There are actual cities in the midwest? Could have fooled me. Try-hard Chicago does not count.

  113. ?

      I think you confuse the entire united state’s condescension towards the midwest with New York. Everyone makes fun of the midwest. I don’t think the midwest is even on NYC’s radar though, they are too busy mocking New England or the West Coast.

  114. stephen

      the south gets a lot of hate too, don’t forget the south

  115. stephen

      i do actually love cheese, i can’t lie. my dad grew up on a farm. there were cows. my voice is kind of nasally. my ma is from queens tho, so u know, “ay, whassa matta fuhyoo, eh?”

  116. stephen

      sorry, jereme, was mean to call u a ‘fuckhead.’ sorry for pretending to come onto u.

  117. Donald

      A century ago, New York was the new Chicago, wasn’t it? Even based on that, it would have to have fallen a long way for it not to be an actual city any more.

  118. Donald

      this was special

  119. stephen

      embarrassing, stupid

  120. Ryan Call

      58 comments

  121. jereme

      ARE YOU CHENSECURE TOO RYAN?

  122. Sean

      Chen you people shut the fuck up?

  123. Ryan Call

      you are right. i am sorry. i didnt mean for my comment to be jerkface. i apologize to everyone.

  124. Logorréia - Livros, literatura, bibliotecas, escritores, leituras, leitores

      […] Minas. O tema é Tradições e as inscrições vão até o dia 31. O HTMLGIANT publicou alguns exemplos que podem explicar a relação de amor e ódio que Joyce tinha por Dublin. Eu também ainda não encontrei Joyce. Também não tenho dinheiro pras passagens. Jesus eu já […]

  125. Ken Baumann

      I’ve created a monster.

  126. zusya

      why you

      /joyce’s daughter was a schizo.

  127. zusya

      can it be considered ‘pacifism’ to cooly interject in a flame war?

  128. zusya

      you’ve created luftmenschen

  129. Aisling Mackle