The Literary City of Dublin!

Perhaps it’s not a coincidence, that a proud literary city welcomes you with captivating words! – “Céad Míle Fáilte” (pronounced "kaid meel-a fal-cha") : 'A Hundred Thousand Welcomes!!', in Irish Gaelic,

The jolly good cab driver told me, as I started scratching the surface of Irish culture with him.

The City of 4 Nobel Laureates- Jonathan Swift, Bernard Shaw, WB Yeats, and  Samuel Beckett..

The Dublin, of the most celebrated author James Joyce who wrote the book of short stories titled ‘Dubliners’, and whose highly regarded novel Ulysses, which some literature pundits treats among the 100 most influential books in world literature, of all time, and The Modern Library placed it  #1 on the top 100 books of the 20^th century.

It was only fitting, then, that I started exploring the city, with a bridge connected to the author and his book. James Joyce bridge, is only one of the many across the River Liffey connecting the working-class north and the affluent south sides of the city. But it has a very interesting story to tell!- of celebrating Literary Art and Romance!

Moon over the James Joyce bridge, Opened on Bloomsday, 2003.

The people of Dublin, and indeed many of the Irish diaspora across the globe celebrate Bloomsday on June 16, because James Joyce’s novel Ulysses tells the story of the fictional protagonist Leopold Bloom, of his one day through Dublin, on June 16 . The novel is full of parallels with the Greek epic Odyssey, of its protagonist Odysseus (Latin version of his name being Ulysses).

The significance of the date which Joyce selected to portray the life in Dublin through the story of that novel, is that it was the day of his first date with his wife-to-be and later life-long companion, Nora.

Interestingly, I first read about this James Joyce bridge being opened in Dublin, and its connection with the Bloomsday and Ulysses, in the editorial of the Korean English newspaper Joong Ang Ilbo, back in 2003, and I kept that newspaper cutting with me, as I was reading the first book of James Joyce, Dubliners on the flight to Seoul that time, and after landing, realised that I had left that book in the flight. Had chosen that book, as a starter before laying my hands on the supposedly very tough Ulysses. I bought Dubliners again last year.

Newspaper cutting from Seoul, Korea of Joong Ang Ilbo, 2003. (Click image to enlarge)

The article title alludes to Joyce's semi-autobiographical novel, 'A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man'.

Apparently the novel Ulysses is very difficult to read and understand at first shot- very intendedly so designed by Joyce, by the use of the different techniques used for its story telling. Joyce is quoted as saying to a French translator, (who had begged him for the scheme of the book, but Joyce gave only parts of it and said,) "If I gave it all up immediately, I'd lose my immortality. I've put in so many enigmas and puzzles, that it will keep the professors busy for centuries, arguing over what I meant, and that's the only way of insuring one's immortality".  Apparently he meant it as a wry remark, but it is usually quoted out of context, giving a feel that he wrote it for the professors, and not the broader reading public! [ From 'Who Reads Ulysses?: The Common Reader and the Rhetoric of the Joyce Wars', by Julie Sloan Brannon ]. I've tread that cliched quote(given out of context,) a few times myself, in a few places.

The curious Statue of Oscar Wilde, 

In a setting, rather wild,

Sitting with a garish attire,

Setting stage for inviting satire,

 Sitting on a rock

Ogling in the park!! ;))

The Samuel Beckett bridge, Shaped like a Lyre/Harp, Opened in Dec 2009

James Joyce statue, also known locally as "The Prick with the Stick" ;)

Wandered through the Literary City of Dublin..in the nights, past midnight. For 2 nights during the 5-nights stay, listened to some lovely, lively, filling, high tempo live band music- banjo, accordion and guitar with some vocals in between reverberating in a pub thriving with people. Tried some local special, Irish Coffee- that’s hot black coffee with sugar, a bit of whiskey, and topped with whipped cream layer. I never had whiskey before as I never liked its flavour or aroma, which never appealed to me- compared to the fruity acidic feel of wine or champagne; but this coffee was interesting. 

Accordion, Guitar and vocalist with violin

Irish Coffee

The Pub-lic making merry;)

Sneaking out during lunch break, from the last day of the week-long global conference, which is trying to define the 4G mobile technology, the next generation of advanced mobile communications, within half an hour, I plunged from all the tech jargons of 4G technolgy, into how pre-historic settlers communicated in the island……and how their communication improved with more and more clearings made in the woodlands!;)

 I munched on history for lunch at the National Museum of Ireland, including gulping, looking at the dried hazelnuts from 3000BC, preserved in the caves!. There was also fascinating ethnology and geology describing the origin of much of the Celtic Gold and crude bulky ornaments from 2200BC~500BC, part of an exhibition there titled, Ór - Ireland's Gold.

The ethnology part also described that the first farming/agriculture and domestication of animals started on the earth in the SouthWest of Asia- The Sumerians started farming first, around 9500BC.( By 7000 BC, agriculture had been developed in India and Peru separately; by 6000 BC, to Egypt; by 5000 BC, to China. About 2700 BC, agriculture had come to Central america.). But after the first farming and domestication of animals started in SW Asia, it took at least 5000 years for such lifestyles to reached Ireland- almost towards the end of stone-age.Last stone-age (Neolithic) began in Ireland around 3000BC, and Neolithic people were Ireland's first farmers, who raised animals and cultivated the soil. 

 Of the earliest inhabitation in the island:

After the last ice age, around 12000BC, ice receded from the island and slowly greenery and trees started growing some millennia later, and woods followed, and later animals arrived from European main-land, followed by humans, by 8000BC (Britain was re-populated by 12000BC). It is known that the Britain remained connected by land to the mainland Europe during 8000-6000BC, which got submerged later due to sea level changes.

(Interestingly, happened to watch a documentary last week, on the under-sea volcanic eruptions that created the British isles (including Ireland) 400 million years ago, when the continental plates of America was connected to these lava islands. But only in the last 90million years, America drifted 2000miles away.. and before I drift too far into geology through history, let me cut back to the present!;)

From first impressions, I found the Irish people much warmer and relaxed than the English, though they’ve adapted the same language of their English oppressors who exploited them so badly, so atrociously, that it ended up in a famine- The Potato Famine of the 1840’s, which added momentum for calls of independence from Britain.

The Famine Memorial statues. 

Ireland lost half its population- 1 million died, and another million emigrated during The Potato Famine.

All the 5 or 6 cab drivers I interacted with, except one, were local Irish. All were nice and warm to talk to. Especially, the last, a 64 year old with 14 grand children, who is also a musician, and grew up as a farmer’s boy and did farming himself for some years. He said, one of the most wonderful feelings in life, was that of feeling connected to the Earth.

He told me about this excellent literary tour conducted by the students of Trinity College for the visitors, and recommended that I try it next time, after I tried to know a bit about the popularity of famous authors, among common folk.. I know I would go back there one day for that and to experience traditional Irish farming villages.

George Bernard Shaw's birthplace, in a working class neighbourhood.

We had a very nice conversation for about an hour, wandering through the history, politics, environment, places, people and culture of Ireland.. and India. I also asked him to share about his life as a farmer. During that he mentioned that I should join politics and he felt it will be good for my country! He even voluntarily gave me his mobile number and asked to contact the next time around in Dublin, so he could give tips on all the places for tradition and history that he knows of. When he dropped me at the airport, patted me with thanking for the conversation parting greetings and adding “hope to see you some day as a minister”!! ;) We had a good laugh, waving at each other.