Blooming beautiful
Sir: Among Philip Hensher's numerous dis- gruntled remarks about Ulysses (Books, 26 July), I was particularly surprised to learn that he found the book 'unfunny in the extreme'. One of the delights of Ulysses is the quiet humour which permeates much of it. I wonder what Mr Hensher finds funny — Morecambe and Wise?
Mr Hensher tells us that Molly Bloom's stream of consciousness which makes up the last 50 or so pages of Ulysses is false and bogus. Who is Mr Hensher to know what goes through any woman's mind when she is half-asleep? None of us knows, man or woman. In his clever and funny book, The British Museum is Falling Down, David Lodge ends with a pastiche of the Molly Bloom end to Ulysses. It's quite a good try, but what it demonstrates is that only James Joyce could have written Molly Bloom's piece and that what passes through her mind is a thing of beauty.
Richard Blomfield
147 Banks Road, Sandbanks, Poole, Dorset
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