Anyone who’s ever had to do required summer reading knows that there’s always controversy over what makes a book a classic.  Everyone has their own opinion, and here at Books With A Past, we have many opinions.  Fortunately for us, the staff also has differing opinions, which leads us to this thread: Point-Counterpoint.  Each literary opinion in this section will be argued, then countered, by different booksellers.

In honor of Bloomsday (June 16), here is Becky’s defense of the eponymous Leopold Bloom and Ulysses.

James Joyce’s Ulysses has been deemed unreadable and offensive by multitudes, and yet it remains an important classic. It took Joyce almost a decade to write Ulysses and it is often considered to be his greatest work. The book takes place over the course of one full day and features the “Odyssey” of the main character, Leopold Bloom, as well as some accounts of the life of Stephen Dedalus, the main character of Joyce’s previous work, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.  “If Ulysses is not worth reading,” Joyce declared, “Life is not worth living.”

Each section of Ulysses is written in a different writing style, each of which is reflective of the content of that particular episode. It shifts from realism to modernism and even contains a section composed entirely of newspaper titles. The style reflects the characters and the situation as well as strengthens the overall plot and ideas presented. For example, when Stephen Dedalus (the young “poet”) is the central character of a chapter, it is filled with literary allusion and analysis while the sections that focus on Leopold Bloom contain more common thoughts and observations that easily reflect a middle-aged man living in turn-of-the-century Dublin.

Despite the obvious and consistent references to Homer’s Odyssey, Ulysses is often attacked for being a work with no central ideas or, worse, a mere satire on the honor and heroism found in the Odyssey. However, it is more than an extensive criticism on heroism. The work is revolutionary because Leopold Bloom is virtuous in the traditional sense, but Joyce does not glorify the main character and does not overlook his less-than-noble qualities. This true realism only brings the reader closer to the characters and makes the entire work far more believable. The personalities that populate the pages are not larger-than-life heroes; they are starving artists, lonely middle-aged men, and overly romantic young girls. Ulysses shows that there is life beyond standard greatness that is often intriguing, intelligent, and spirited and presents it in a perfectly honest and perhaps even shocking way.

Ulysses is another “portrait” by Joyce, but it is a portrait of a day and the unconventional heroes that reside within it.

Every week, we buy or are given literally hundreds of books.  Often, we are unable to purchase any more of a specific title or genre, and offer to donate them instead.  We thought our readers might be interested to know who ultimately benefits from those donated books.  Depending on the type of book and time of year, we donate to one of the three following organizations.

Last month, Books With a Past donated fifty-four boxes of books to Better World Books. This organization was built on the belief that access to books and education is a human right, and works to donate both books and money to developing nations where there is little or no access to these things. So far, they have donated over six million books both to regions in need as well as to other partner organizations such as Books for Africa and the National Center for Family Literacy. In addition to collecting books to donate, Better World Books also raises funds and works to make sure that books are properly recycled if not reused. Each time a book is purchased from them online, they make a donation. So, if you are looking to add to your library at home (and we don’t have the book in the store!), buy from Better World Books knowing that you are helping children around the world learn to read. And because of their carbon-neutral shipping policy, you can help limit your carbon footprint as well. Books With a Past will be donating several dozen more boxes to Better World Books in the coming months; if you’d like to donate to them through us, please feel free to drop your books off here.  Just please check out their list of accepted books first–we really don’t need any more Harlequin Romances than we already have.

Over the last few months, Books With a Past has also donated to Shepherd of the Glen Lutheran Church in Glenwood, Maryland in support of their upcoming book sale. Shepherd of the Glen Lutheran Church will be holding this annual sale on September 13-15, at their location on Burntwoods Road.  This year, they will also have a selection of books at their annual yard sale, held June 1-2. All the books have been donated, and the proceeds will go towards the church’s many outreach programs. With past collections having topped twenty thousand books, this local event attracts people from far beyond Howard County. For more information on the programs that this event supports, and for information on donations follow the link provided below.

Similar to Better World Books is the Wish You Well Foundation, founded by New York Times bestselling author David Baldacci.  The organization promotes literacy and its importance around the world. They organize donations as well as volunteers in their fight to help people around the world overcome their inability to read or write.  This is actually a great distribution model: Wish You Well sends books to food banks and soup kitchens, thus targeting populations that are quite likely to face illiteracy. With the link provided below, learn more about the various ways that you can make a difference, either through donations or volunteering.

Are you too looking to donate books? Bring them to Books With A Past for store credit on any book in the store, or make a contribution to any of the organizations listed below.

Better World Books: http://www.betterworldbooks.com/donate.aspx

Wish You Well Foundation: http://www.wishyouwellfoundation.org/involved/

Shepherd of the Glen Lutheran Church: http://www.luther95.com/SOG-GMD/

Those of you who visit us regularly in the real world know that I keep saying that we’re in the process of making big changes in the store–and of course, some of those changes materialize; some don’t.  Our real-life visitors also know that I’m often confronted with stacks of books literally taller than myself (though let’s face it, that’s not really a challenge).  So, forgive me if Books With A Past’s foray into the digital world tends to go in fits and starts.

But this time it’s going to happen! (Really.  Seriously.  Don’t you believe me?)  In addition to our Facebook and Twitter feeds, which I do a fair-to-middling job of keeping up, we’re starting this blog not just to communicate store and book industry news, but to expand the great conversations we have with our in-store customers into cyberspace.  One of my favorite things about this store is the awesome connections we make with those of you who stop in.  I love that I can talk to one visitor about language, history, and biography, then in the next breath tell someone else about how I’m totally addicted to paranormal romance (don’t judge me; I don’t judge you!)  Now it’s time to expand those great in-person conversations to this website.  Our hope is that not only can we share with you some of our favorite books, characters, and make believe worlds, but that you can share yours with us as well.

Though we sell primarily used books, we all try to stay on top of new book trends as well, so you’ll see a mix of recent and not-so-recent literature here. Eventually, we plan to open up the comments section of this blog so that you, our readers, can join the discussion.  Sadly, though I speak many languages, website programming languages are not among them.  So I’m still working on the technical aspects of this site.  Just stay tuned as we try to work that part out, and be glad you’re not here while I’m trying to beat WordPress into submission.

We’re in the process of creating some great content for this blog: book lists, recommended reading, reviews, and more.  Those of us who work here year-round will be joined by a variety of interns, part-time student workers, and guest reviewers to offer as wide a range of reading experience as possible.  Our store cats may be convinced to throw in their own two purrs, as well.

In the meantime, we’d love to have your comments and responses to our posts via Facebook and Twitter.  Books, like wine and chocolate, are better when shared.

–Erin

Watch for blog posts, reading lists, and more in the coming weeks!