Ulysses - James Joyce

Written by James Joyce
Read by Jim Norton, Marcella Riordan
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

· Length: 27 hrs and 16 mins
· Release date: 07-23-08
· Publisher: Naxos AudioBooks

Ulysses is one of the greatest literary works in the English language. In his remarkable tour de force, Joyce catalogues one day – 16 June 1904 – in immense detail as Leopold Bloom wanders through Dublin, talking, observing, musing – and always remembering Molly, his passionate, wayward wife.

While Bloom’s passionate wife, Molly, conducts yet another illicit liasion (with her concert manager), Bloom finds himself getting into arguments with drunken nationalists and wild carousing with excitable medical students, before rescuing Stephen Dedalus from a brawl and returning with him to his own basement kitchen.

Set in the shadow of Homer’s Odyssey, internal thoughts – Joyce’s famous stream of consciousness – give physical reality extra colour and perspective. In the hands of Jim Norton and Marcella Riordan, experienced and stimulating Joycean readers, and carefully directed by Roger Marsh, Ulysses becomes accessible as never before. It is entertaining, immediate, funny, and rich in classical, philosophical, and musical allusion.

Unabridged production directed by Joyce expert Roger Marsh.

The recorded text is taken from the 1937 Bodley Head edition.

The books was first published as a serial from March 1918 to December 1920 and then published in its entirety in Paris, 2 February 1922.

A readers view—“This book was well worth the time invested - a master work which was read accurately and in keeping with the spirit and culture of the writer. The Irish accents of each character were deftly done and easy to identify for without the changes in Irish dialect for different characters it would have been very difficult to follow - this book is like Shakespeare - easier followed when performed than when read. Some of the passages were in turn hilarious and disturbing - I was constantly impressed by the narrators’ skill. The book is NOT AN EASY LISTEN - it requires and deserves a lot of concentration which many folks wont be interested in giving it - it took me a long time to get through, but it was entirely worth it and I doubt if I would have had the stamina to read through the book. The narrators accents and infusion of life and character into the text were wonderful.”

The book is in “Episodes” with a reference to Homer and the Episodes begin with appropriate music for the period. See the enclosed ebook for titles.