Bloomsday (June 16, 1904)

Why did James Joyce, the quintessential Irishman, make his quintessential outsider a secular Jew, Leopold Bloom? Are Jews generally quintessential outsiders in 20th Century literature? I have nothing but questions. Yes, I know he had a professional relationship with Italo Svevo, an Italian Jew, while living in Trieste. Yes, I know that a Jew is a good candidate for alienation. But still...

For the 100th anniversary a few years ago, I read Ulysses, and really enjoyed it. Yes, Joyce is a hero.

Jewish Ireland

Later today we are going to Ireland, so I have looked up the Irish Jewish community. As I suspected, the three most famous Irish Jews are Leopold Bloom, Robert Briscoe who was Lord Mayor of Dublin during my early years, and Chaim Herzog, who grew up in Ireland and ultimately was President of Israel. And this is diagnostic. Bloom is fiction. Briscoe is real and unusual. Herzog, like many Irish Jews, was a Zionist. And left Ireland.

I have no idea if I'll get to the Jewish museum in Dublin, as it's only open a few hours per week.

Note: my planned birthday/event posts are queued up and will continue along with any reports on my trip.