Virgin and Veteran Readings of Ulysses / New Directions in Irish and Irish American Literature (PDF)

original focus on the extent and limits of the 'virgin' reader's knowledge at any point in the text will influence a generation of scholars and teachers. Anyone writing on Ulysses, or working with students who are learning how to read Ulysses, would do well to keep it close at hand.' - Patrick A. McCarthy, professor of English, University of Miami and editor of the James Joyce Literary Supplement

''Backward, turn backward, o time in thy flight/Make me a child again just for tonight!' Impossible, of course, and reading Ulysses requires much more than a single night, but Norris does make it possible to imagine experiencing Joyce's masterpiece not as a child but as a 'virgin reader' who knows nothing of the novel or its author. The journey is exhilarating and enlightening.' Austin Briggs, Tompkins Professor of English Literature Emeritus, Hamilton College, and trustee of the International James Joyce Foundation

'This is a terrific book an innovative study full of original, thought-provoking observations and ideas. The real pleasure in reading this study is the insightful, sometimes eye-popping close-readings provided in every chapter by this Joycean grandmaster.' Vincent J. Cheng, Shirley Sutton Thomas Professor of English, University of Utah

"Virgin and Veteran Readings of Ulysses provides brilliant insights into the actual and possible worlds imbricated in Joyce's novel. Norris's unique use of Possible Worlds theory foregrounds the 'plots' of Ulysses, so often obscured by Joyce's dazzling linguistic play. The narrative orientation of Ulysses is vividly seen through a new, complex theoretical lens.' Kimberly J. Devlin, professor of English, University of California Riverside

'With Norris as our expert but still inquiring guide, we encounter the puzzling, suspenseful narrative of Ulysses as if experienced for the first time, as well as through rich layers of previous interpretation, and the recent narrative theory of Possible Worlds. The motives and trials of Stephen Dedalus, Leopold Bloom, and Molly Bloom unfold in competing actual and fictional worlds interior, interpersonal, cultural, historical, and Homeric. Fresh insights into small and missing details of the text abound and rebound.' Bonnie Kime Scott, professor emerita of Women's Studies, San Diego State University