Dear readers, listeners and fellow bloggers:
Good morning. Almost one hundred years ago Sylvia Beach, the owner of the iconic Shakespeare and Company in the Left Bank, put up a blue-green book volume on display at her bookstore. Thus started the life of one of the greatest literary works of our modern times. Ulysses by James Joyce. That bookstore closed in 1941 when the Nazis entered Paris but it was opened again in 1951 there.
Note. These images of James Joyce and his book Ulysses were taken from Wikimedia Commons.
That work of fiction radically changed modern literature and most of the living writers,, including yours truly, are great admirers of that seminal work; of course there are a few detractors as well. Here is what we wrote in Emotional Frustration – the Hushed Plague, using Ulysses as a reference for the way we approached the study of feminine woes. Slowly, methodically, minding our steps.
“After discussing a major topic, we insolently broke the so-called “fourth wall” [i] to proselytize directly to men and try to shake their perennial, paralyzing torpor off. They look like the college notes on literary but hard to read classics like Ulysses. [ii]
We can still remember the utter puzzlement and sense of loss we had when we raided the great library of our dear father Mario [iii] and pulled that book out. “What is this? Why all this messy lay-out? Where do I start? Will I reach the end?”
Do not despair. Ignorant men can learn. Frustrated women can get relief.
We can overcome together the devastating consequences of this pandemic.
Only the concerted, sustained effort of all genders will rebuild our societies.
Every memorable adventure, and its printed saga, begins with a single step.
Please give us your hand and let us make that most humble, powerful move.
As Mario Benedetti [iv]—a chronicler of the “little details of life”—said:
“Lo Imposible. Sólo tarda un poco más.” [v]
References
[i] In theatrical jargon the “fourth wall” refers to the space interposed between the actors and their spectators.
[ii] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/338798.Ulysses
[iii] Mario Laplume Salguero was our dearest father and we prepared an article in his honor in our web page.
https://drmolaplume.com/2018/08/14/the-visionary-of-trinidad/
[iv] https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mario-Benedetti/
[v] Can be translated as “The Impossible. It only takes a little bit longer.” Mario Benedetti is one of the greatest modern Uruguayan writers who specialized in short stories and penned some of the most memorable romantic lines. Like James Joyce, he was interested in the vicissitudes of urban life and the multiple characters that inhabit—and suffer—them. “Montevideanos”, his first major book published in 1959, has reminiscences of “Dubliners.”
Là Breithe Shona Dut Ulysses !!!
Happy Birthday Uysses !!!
Stay distant. Stay safe. Stay beautiful.
What do you think? Please tell us.
Don’t leave me alone.
