Hi, I'm Derek Sivers, and this is How to Listen to Ulysses. 1. Book a flight to Kolkata, India, and from Kolkata to Istanbul for at least four days each between February and April. Rent a homestay room on College Street in Kolkata and in the Balat neighborhood of Istanbul. 2. Get wired over-the-ear headphones, a phone with a headphone jack and a long battery life, and walking shoes.
3. Download The Odyssey audiobook, translated by Emily Wilson, read by Claire Danes. Length, 13 hours. 4. Download two different audiobooks recordings of Ulysses by James Joyce. Length, 30 hours each. 5. Download a course about Ulysses from thegreatcourses.com. Length, 12 hours.
six on the way to calcutta listen to the odyssey start to finish seven learn about calcutta's bengali identity languages its colonial past as the capital of british india the writers building the victoria memorial boibara and reputation as the literary capital of india
8. In Kolkata, walk around the city listening to the Ulysses audiobook for 10 hours per day, three days in a row, start to finish. 9. Record, voice or voice memo or write, all of your questions and observations. When done, ask everything to an expert or a top-tier AI. Save the answers to re-read later.
10. While traveling from Calcutta to Istanbul, listen to the course about Ulysses for more understanding and layers of meaning, preparing you to listen again. 11. Learn about Istanbul's past rulers, mixed identities and languages, juxtaposition of the sacred and the commercial, and note its proximity to the Aegean Sea of the Odyssey.
12. In Istanbul, listen to the other recording of Ulysses, ten hours a day, three days in a row, start to finish, while walking around the vastly different neighborhoods, taking a ferry across the Bosphorus, noticing the similarities between Istanbul's call to prayer and Dublin's church bells. This time you'll have a deeper appreciation of the book.
13. Record all of your questions and observations. Again, when done, ask everything to an expert or top-tier AI. Reread the previous answers now, too. 14. Back home, post pictures, videos, the GPS map of where you walked while listening, and especially your thoughts. I haven't done this yet, but I plan to. I listened to that Odyssey audiobook in two days of walking around Port Meadow, Oxford, and I've been yearning to listen again.