Consuming Joyce: 100 Years of Ulysses in Ireland

by John McCourt

"This book was crying out to be written." The Irish Times
"Scandalously readable." Literary Review

James Joyce's relationship with his homeland was a complicated and often vexed one. The publication of his masterwork Ulysses - referred to by The Quarterly Review as an "Odyssey of the sewer" - in 1922 was initially met with indifference and hostility within Ireland. This book tells the full story of the reception of Joyce and his best-known book in the country of his birth for the first time; a reception that evolved over the next hundred years, elevating Joyce from a writer reviled to one revered.

Part reception study, part social history, this book uses the changing interpretations of Ulysses to explore the concurrent religious, social and political changes sweeping Ireland. From initially being a threat to the status quo, Ulysses became a way to market Ireland abroad and a manifesto for a better, more modern, open and tolerant, multi-ethnic country.

300 pages, Paperback

Published February 10, 2022

Reviews

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Appropriately so, this book was published under an academic imprint; it's a heavily-footnoted look at how James Joyce and Ulysses were accepted (or more often not) in his homeland. I was shocked to learn that, even as I was being taught at college in the mid-1970s that Joyce's work was part of the canon of modern literature, many in Ireland's official circles viewed him (at best) as a nut case or (at worst) a pornographer. I do wish I was a little more well-versed in the nuances of Irish politics before reading this, but it was still eye-opening to me.

For those that find this subject interesting, I'd also recommend The Most Dangerous Book: The Battle for James Joyce's Ulysses for some historical backstory.

[David Toms · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent overview of the reception of Ulysses since first publication in book form in 1922 and especially the ways in which Joyce scholarship informed the more recent acceptance and then celebration and even commercialisation of Joyce and Ulysses since the early 2000s. Occasionally tje chapters seem to be stuffed with information about who did what adaptations but it also provides a useful overview of the shifting sands of Joyce scholarship with McCourt not being afraid on occasion to offer his own opinions of writers, academics, politicians and so on. A lively and engaging book.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

An in-depth look, decade by decade, of the last 100 years of James Joyce's influence in Ireland, and how the world's view of Joyce has changed in those times. This book makes a strong and even-handed case, though the presentation could use just a bit more narrative flair, given the topic.