climax

we have discussed several episodes as representing the climax of joyce's novel, and so there really may be no definitive climactic episode. however, i feel like episode 15, circe, exemplifies the climax of the novel as it is the last action-packed scene before the novel drops off and winds down with the final three episodes.

episode 15 finally brings bloom and stephen together for an extended period of time, and we see bloom truly doing his best to look after stephen (his "son"). we see almost all of the characters from throughout the novel reappear in random situations, though it is sometimes difficult to discern whether these characters have actually reappeared or are simply being imagined. although we have seen some crazy things thus far, episode 15 definitely contains the craziest of the crazy. as we discussed in class, the whole scene portrayed throughout episode 15 is nightmarish, and i almost feel like the characters are in a war-zone.

i didn't particularly like episode 15, but i can accept it for what it is... a nonsensical string of events complete with plenty of drunken banter. wiki or no wiki, i do not understand half of what is being talked about in episode 15... but i feel like i'm not necessarily supposed to understand it. i mean, in reality, drunken banter often doesn't make sense. whereas much of the book tends to describe situations almost in slow motion, episode 15 runs at a much quicker pace. then, stephen is knocked out in the street, and the novel (as well as the long day) begins to taper toward it's end.