Pop Quiz on a Book I've Never Read

 

It is quite the experience going to Dublin as an English major without having read much at all of the work of James Joyce. Of course, I have read stories from Dubliners over the years, including in this class, but I have yet to read the work in full nor have I read any of his other novels. 

That's not to say I cannot appreciate the author while exploring his city, but I did feel a bit out of place in one of our stops on our second day in Dublin. We visited Sweny's Pharmacy, as mentioned in Joyce's Ulysses, to buy bars of lemon soap just as the protagonist does (I think?). It was the cutest little shop ever - cramped and chaotic, yes, but charming nonetheless.

Right as we walked in, we were greeted by a man asking us if we wanted to read Ulysses, and we quickly realized that he meant read it aloud.... right at that moment. Of course we obliged, though it would have been hard to say no in the room full of Joyce fans. Diehard Joyce fans. Which I would better understand if I had read more Joyce. Choose your classes wisely, friends.

Anyway, we read the book, starting at the last paragraph they had left off at and going around the room reading a few lines each. After that, everyone began singing and we, of course, were expected to sing too. I don't mind singing at all, except I had never heard the song in my life and it was not the easiest to catch on to. It was fun to hear the others, though, and I was able to catch a video of the place during it. (Fun fact: I felt awkward taking photos and videos in there with everyone in such close quarters but when I looked over and saw a woman recording with her phone pointed directly at me, I simply did not care anymore). 

Despite not knowing much at all about Ulysses (the greatest book of all time, according to the people at Sweny's) I really enjoyed this unexpected turn of events. It felt like a really unique experience and I had fun, even if it was a bit awkward at first. And yes, I bought the lemon soap.

Merrion Square Park. I edited out a person giving me a thumbs up
 in the distance. I'm sorry to this person.

Dublin was not just home to James Joyce, however, but to Oscar Wilde as well. I am a huge fan of Wilde, having read some of his plays and The Picture of Dorian Gray, so it was really exciting to see his statue. We had lunch in Merrion Square, where the statue is located, which was a beautiful respite from the urban setting we had so often been traversing on this trip. Unfortunately there was not much to do other than look at it, so Wilde only gets his mention at the bottom of the Joyce post.