6/15/2009

Bloomsday 2009 in Vienna



There are several events to celebrate Bloomsday here in Vienna, but one of them sounds very interesting and promising.

Staged by a town magazine (Wien live) lots of people will read non-stop from James Joyce's "Ulysses" in one of Vienna's most famous coffeehouses, the "Café Korb" - "until exhaustion". And very special people, too: advertising canvassers, people who have the same job as the fictitious Leopold Bloom, protagonist and anti-hero in "Ulysses". They will do so with the express permission of James Joyce's grandson, Stephen James Joyce.

The canvassers will be coming from all of Vienna's daily newspapers, and they will additionally be boosted by editors and publishers who have been forced to ask companies for support in exchange for an - advert.

Gorgonzola sandwiches with mustard and burgundy will be served, the snack Leopold Bloom ate in Davy Byrne's on Grafton Street in Dublin.

10 comments:

YogaforCynics said...

Stephen Dedalus said "History is a nightmare from which I'm trying to awake"...and I feel the same way about Ulysses....

Nonetheless, I wouldn't mind trying a gorgonzola sandwich with mustard and burgundy....

francessa said...

That's for sure one of my favorite lines, Jay.

Well, I'll try those sandwiches and the burgundy, of course and tell you all about it ;-).

Rob said...

What a brilliant idea! Nothing like this seems to be happening over here - though there will be something going on in Dublin of course. Please blog about the event later!

francessa said...

I will, Rob! That's a promise!

Rob said...

Excellent. There's an interesting story on Dublin's Bloomsday
here

Lydia said...

I get excited thinking about you attending this and trying out those sandwiches with burgundy. I know you love this so much.
Things have been hectic and I'll be back after Thursday to read more about this year's Bloomsday.

Stevie's full of good intentions said...

Gorgonzola sandwich hört sich ja lecker an. Gab es denn auch Nieren? Oder hat man die weggelassen?

francessa said...

Rob, thanks for the interesting link!

Lydia, unfortunately it was too hot for burgundy!

Stevie, no kidneys! Just gorgonzola sandwiches. I'm sure they sold a lot.

Hattie said...

Well, I'm going to dive back into my e-book edition of Ulysses. It sure beats lugging a tome around.
What I love most of Joyce's is "Chamber Music."
But it's a funny thing about Ulysses. I did not think much about it as I started reading it, but it stays with me for some reason. It seems real.
I am fascinated to hear that some Irish went east, because over here we only know about our forebears who came to North America.

francessa said...

Hi Hattie,

yes, Chamber Music is beautiful! I haven't thought about it for a long time, thanks for reminding me!

I think a lot of Irish people went east, as I recall 34,000 to Spain alone. I'll google this some time.

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