The funniest parody in all of literature is Ulysses, and it's so funny nobody gets it.
McSweeney's is misinterpreting Rand. Rand isn't about making money. She's about creating good products and making money because people like what you've got. Kind of like how 37Signals does today: they're the "Atlas heroes." They do what they want, they don't compromise, and they're reporting doing well despite the crash because they're making something that people want.
McSweeney writers aren't bad, but they're immature. They take low shots and they're willing to be lame for laughs. In a way, kind of like Dave Eggers, who's quite good but who could be a lot better if he stopped the annoying little games. I like reading them on occasion, but this was one of their weaker moments.
Well, it's not entirely a parody. But there are absolutely parodic incidents. It takes the name Ulysses to allude to a grand epic, and then focuses on three people living a day in their lives. And it's not a parody in the sense that Joyce is making a bigger point, which is that the human mind is so complex and beautiful that the mere fact of living a day is an epic unto itself.
However, Joyce still absolutely has a comedic mindset. The opening, when Buck Mulligan descends and shaves, is written as if it were a religious ritual. There's the excellent newspaper scene, where headlines announce the goings-on of the characters. There's a chapter where every few paragraphs Joyce takes on the style of a new writer, moving from extremely obtuse ancient writing up to Irish slang. There's the penultimate chapter, which takes a scientific approach to two characters having sex. Stephen's chapter is a parody of the overthinking genius. Really, every chapter is as silly as it's straight. It's one of the things that makes Ulysses so fascinating.
Technically, I'd call Finnegans Wake an even greater parody, but that's not fair, because it parodies itself.
If you'd said "Ulysses is funny" I wouldn't have questioned that. :) It's certainly not a parody of the Odyssey, despite the partially ironic title and the echoes in the episode structure.
I think those echoes are what make me call it a parody. It's a serious parody - I think that it mirrors it to prove a serious statement - but at the same time, it's saga-length and absolutely epic, yet it focuses on the mind rather than on great actions and deeds. Perhaps it's not a direct parody - it does much more than parody - but I think that parody's still in there.
The part near the very end - the Sinbad the Sailor monologue - still cracks me up. What excellent writing.
Portrait is close to Joyce's autobiography. And absolutely reading it will make Ulysses easier to read. Otherwise, it's nearly incomprehensible. Joyce believes in in media res to an extreme.
Ulysses isn't directly parody, as was said in response to my original post. There are elements, but it's very much a serious book at the same time. Funny, but serious.
McSweeney's is misinterpreting Rand. Rand isn't about making money. She's about creating good products and making money because people like what you've got. Kind of like how 37Signals does today: they're the "Atlas heroes." They do what they want, they don't compromise, and they're reporting doing well despite the crash because they're making something that people want.
McSweeney writers aren't bad, but they're immature. They take low shots and they're willing to be lame for laughs. In a way, kind of like Dave Eggers, who's quite good but who could be a lot better if he stopped the annoying little games. I like reading them on occasion, but this was one of their weaker moments.