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Source:
Nora Barnacle (1884-1951).
"Nora Barnacle -- The Musical", Apollo Gallery (Dublin) News, 17th June 2004.
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Bloomsday for Cab Drivers / 6
Nora Barnacle
It ought to be enough if we accept the general verdict on his genius, acknowledge him as one of the world's great writers and get on with our lives.
That's evidently what Joyce's otherwise devoted wife, Nora Barnacle, thought.
Although she was the inspiration for Molly Bloom and a major influence on Joyce's life and work (Bloomsday is the anniversary of their first date), she never concealed the fact that she hadn't read Ulysses and didn't intend to.
To put it another way, none of us feels ashamed of not visiting exotic countries that lie beyond our means or capacity or ambition to travel.
We happily make do with guidebooks or brochures or the stories and pictures that more adventurous folks bring back with them and nobody thinks the less of us.
Luckily there are all sorts of people who are only too eager to tell us about their trips through Ulysses and to help us plan forays of our own (see Selected Sources).