The Voice In My Head May Just Be My Wife

“Why don't you write books people can read?” -– Nora Joyce to her husband James (1882-1941)

Nora Joyce's quote really popped out to me especially after I attempted to read her husband James Joyce's book, "Ulysses." This particular book shows up on lists of must read books all the time so I naturally assumed it was going to be good. Wrong! I found it unreadable at it's best. If I hadn't picked it up at a thrift store I would have returned it. Though it was big and heavy enough it may make a literary-statement of my good taste as a doorstop.

But the real wisdom of the quote is the fact that Joyce didn't know how to listen to his wife. Not only was she smart enough to recognize a rambling, disjointed, incoherent, trivial and confusing piece of writing, she spoke up and told her husband so. My guess is he ignored her as he went ahead and published it. All 265,000 plus words.

The people who rave about this book and it's stream-of-thought style must not experience that type of thinking or they would have a different opinion of this type of writing. I actually like to read to reign in that way of thinking.

Now I have had moments where stream-of-thought process takes place in my head and if I was to try and write it down it too would be mostly incoherent. I have a very scrambled brain as far as it staying on task when it is in a problem solving mode. And the older I get the more that stream leads to the thought "Just throw it out!" My wife actually called me a hoarder today when I asked where I got all the tubes of chap stick that are crowding my top dresser drawer.

Following is a launch into the stream of thought of my brain.

"I don't hoard chap stick, I just never seem to have a tube on me when I need it and then I stop and buy one tube and when it is no longer needed because my lips are no longer chapped I put it in the drawer with all the others that are in there along with the ones that I have never even opened and I have no idea where they came from or why I purchased them when I already have a supply in my top drawer..."

Thus begins my stream of thought which would eventually end many, many words later with something altogether unrelated to chap stick--like motorcycles or earthworms.

"Just put a tube in the car," I was told.

But they melt when it gets too warm.

I think I will start with throwing out the extra, open chap sticks.

And why do I have 3 mini-flashlights in this top drawer? I don't think I want to ask my wife that question. She'll just tell me what I don't want to hear.