12th November 2026

Pages 12–22

Day two of reading Ulysses, and I am loving it! I think The New Bloomsday Book is exactly what I need. It does a good job of explaining the more difficult areas of the book without going into every little detail. For example, what does this even mean?

“…a witch on her toadstool, her wrinkled fingers quick at the squirting dugs.”

Through the context, however, it becomes clear that Joyce is simply describing the milk woman arriving to deliver milk.

The story progresses from Buck Mulligan shaving to the three roommates of Martello Tower finishing their breakfast, preparing to go about their day, and paying the milk woman.

I am enjoying every word as I read because I am understanding it so well. I think knowing the Homeric parallels has made the experience so much more interesting. The theory about Shakespeare being Hamlet’s grandson and Shakespeare’s grandfather being Hamlet is amusing. Stephen Dedalus hasn’t explained it fully yet, but I look forward to hearing more about it.

The most interesting moment so far was when the milkwoman arrived and said, “Prayers to God.” Buck responded by describing God as the “collector of prepuce.” Prepuce means foreskin, and I think this is the funniest line yet!

Joyce mocks the Judeo-Christian God by referencing the biblical covenant in Genesis, which required Jewish men to be circumcised as a sign of their devotion to God. It is a layered reference that also foreshadows Leopold Bloom, who is Jewish.

I mean, as a writer, how do you even begin to think this way, right?

Alright, that’s my time. I have to get to work. See you next time!