Now 2023 Previous Articles Road Essays Road Reviews Author Black Authors Title Source Age Genre Series Format Inclusivity LGBTA Portfolio Artwork WIP

Recent posts

Month in review

Reviews:
Alphabet Mystery by Audrey Wood
The Best Friend I Ever Had by David Nuffer
Beyond the Blue Event Horizon by Frederik Pohl
Black Rainbow by Barbara Michaels
The Bomb That Followed Me Home by Cevin Soling
Catalog by Eugene Mirabelli
The Chemist by Janson Mancheski
Culture Shock! California by Mark Cramer
The Dead Fathers Club by Matt Haig
Duck on a Bike by David Shannon
Duck for President by Doreen Cronin
Heechee Rendezvous by Frederik Pohl
How Do Dinosaurs Go to School? by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
Jane Austen Ruined My Life by Beth Pattillo
Keeping Hannah Waiting by Dave Clarke
Little Heathens by Mildred Armstrong Kalish
Love in 90 Days by Diana Kirschner
The Night We Buried Road Dog by Jack Cady
Of Dreams and Reality by Frank L. Johnson
Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene
Purplicious by Elizabeth and Victoria Kann
School Days by B. G. Hennessy
The Secret of Lost Things by Sheridan Hay
Sister Margaret by Rhonda Parrish
A Surprise for Rosie by Julia Rawlinson
Texas Bake Sale by Charles Coleman Finlay
There's a Wolf at the Door by Zoë B. Alley
Tiger Burning Bright by Theodora DuBois
Venice by Adrian Stokes and John Piper
Winding Broomcorn by Mario Milosevic
The Whole Shebang by Timothy Ferris

Ulysses:
Episode 2: Nestor: Kif
Episode 3: Proteus: Georgia Nicholson
Episode 4: Calypso: Parasites Lost
Episode 5: The Lotus Eaters: Down to the River to Pray

Miscellaneous:
Historical Fiction

Previous month


Rating System

5 stars: Completely enjoyable or compelling
4 stars: Good but flawed
3 stars: Average
2 stars: OK
1 star: Did not finish

Reading Challenges

Beat the Backlist 2023

Canadian Book Challenge: 2022-2023

Artwork
Chicken Art



Privacy policy

This blog does not collect personal data. It doesn't set cookies. Email addresses are used to respond to comments or "contact us" messages and then deleted.


Ulysses: Episode 5: The Lotus Eaters: Down to the River to Pray: 03/28/09

Ulysses Everett McGill and Bloom both have a thing for hair tonic.

In the fourth episode of Ulysses called "The Lotus Eaters", Bloom is finally ready to get started with his day properly. His morning chores involve a trip to the post office, a walk around town and brief rest in a church during services. Blooms lengthy monologue about the church service and organized religion is the connecting point between The Odyssey and Ulysses. It's also my reason for picking O Brother Where Art Thou? (another funny update of The Odyssey) as this week's point of comparison.

Lotus eaters in modern usage are people too strung out on narcotics to be a useful contribution to society. In Bloom's case religion is the opiate that keeping the masses from thinking on their own or being useful members of society. Bloom like Odysseus is intrigued by the lotus eaters and their strange was but not especially tempted to join in.

Born again Christians as lotus eatersUlysses Everett McGill and his two traveling companions religion in the form of a mass baptism are at first puzzled by what they see. To emphasize the strangeness of their activity the crowds show up in the background as the men argue over the best way to find transportation to meet their deadline. Here more and more white clothed men and women start streaming on screen and soon the hymn they are singing, "Down to the River to Pray" becomes only thing in sound track.

Like Odysseus, Ulysses loses his "crew" to the over whelming temptation of the swelling music and the lure of peace of mind in this case through being reborn through baptism. The remaining part of the scene involves the baptism of one as he runs down into the river almost up to his armpits and cuts in line for a chance at salvation.

Sins washed away but it will still take a pardoning by the governor for this chap.For Bloom though the stop at church is no different from any of the "sins" he has committed so far that morning (receiving a love letter from someone other than his wife, giving betting advice on a race horse, lusting after a young woman in town and so forth). For Ulysses's companions, the baptism gives them a chance to admit to the crimes they had committed before being sent to jail, ones that up to now they have professed innocence over.

So far Ulysses has been a fun, silly and crude read. I've found similarities with Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy, Kif and Capt. Brannigan (from Futurama), (created by Louise Rennison), Fry from Futurama and the baptism scene in O Brother Where Art Thou?

Next Saturday I'll discuss Episode Six: Hades. I will probably be talking about the Robot Devil in Futurama. Stop by to see if I do! If you want to read along, Ulysses is available online at

Comments (0)


Lab puppy
Name:
Email (won't be posted):
Blog URL:
Comment:

Twitter Tumblr Mastadon Flickr Facebook Facebook Contact me

1997-2023 Sarah Sammis