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Ulysses

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Ulysses

By: James Joyce
Narrated by: Jim Norton
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About this listen

 Ulysses is regarded by many as the single most important novel of the 20th century. It tells the story of one day in Dublin, June 16th 1904, largely through the eyes of Stephen Dedalus (Joyce's alter ego from Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man) and Leopold Bloom, an advertising salesman. Both begin a normal day, and both set off on a journey around the streets of Dublin, which eventually brings them into contact with one another.

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.

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.

(P)2004 NAXOS AudioBooks Ltd. Classics Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Psychological Fiction Funny

Critic Reviews

  • Audie Award Finalist, Classics, 2005

"As ambitious and rewarding an audio production as any that exists, an audio experience that truly deserves to be cherished....Readers of Ulysses have long been encouraged to read out loud the more difficult sections for added comprehension and enjoyment of the language. Now, thanks to Naxos, the entire book is available in a performance to savor. It is safe to say that anyone wanting to experience the preeminent work of modern fiction has in this package the perfect audio companion." (AudioFile)
All stars
Most relevant  
I liked the use of music, and different voices. Well read and enlightening. Excellent! Fifteen word minimum!

Writing style

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Like many people, I had several times begun reading Ulysses in print but had found it to be too much work to persevere with.

This wonderful performance of the book makes it much easier to absorb.

This is the way to absorb Ulysses

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Jim Norton does a stupendous job with a very difficult text, one of the landmarks of modern literature, and one that still appears amazingly fresh 100 years after its publication. By turns filthy, learned and funny, Ulysses is a portrait of some wonderfully drawn characters, chiefly Leopold Bloom, his wife Molly and his friend Stephen Dedalus (commonly considered Joyce's alter ego), as well as a detailed, drink-sodden and demotic survey of a supremely talkative society in transition on the cusp of Home Rule then full independence. Bravo!

Wonderful performance of a masterpiece

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Joyce must have meant his masterwork to be read aloud. Is pretty unreadable as text,

Ulysses on audible makes sense

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Joyce has a pathological disregard for the average human attention span. Even Sisyphus wouldn't swap his rock for its interminable lists and internal wittering. Is it brilliant? Yes. Would I read it again? Not for a million dollars

laborious

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This is a difficult novel to read. And I can only imagine how difficult it would be to narrate. What a wonderful performance that brought the novel to life. Thank you!

What a wonderful narration

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J Joyce wrote this longish Masterpiece not long after WWar1 in a more libertarian -“hippy”Paris.ALL were still grappling with poorly understood Psychology of PTSDisorder and concepts of the Subconscious while Freud et al were trying psychoanalysis to understand the workings of the mind. Its helpful to have been to his beloved city of Dublin where Ulysses is set and imperative to allow for ( forgive?understand)those earlier morally constrictive standards.The subconscious ramblings of the main characters mixed with alcohol freed utterances of others,make for Those Times for a Book to Ban!- but all non robotic humans are “guilty” of a better not publishable thought process even in these libertarian times?Who knows how long before Brain studies illuminate your brain synapses to show all your reptilian/primate drives? But Joyce is also light -so be ready to have laughs amongst the incomprehensible phrases - you can always return to those bits if driven by curiosity of that sub-cortex- neocortex!

Background to a Classic!- to be sure!

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Ulysses itself has to be in the running for “most important, most commented on and least read” book of the 20th century. This is how to rectify the latter! The performance is majestic, untangling the complex voices and stream of consciousness better than I could possibly have hoped. While the book itself has its longeurs (don’t give up in the second quarter!), it repays the dedication. Very highly recommended.

Astounding

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Ugh read it in freshman English thought maybe I’d appreciate it more after 40 years. Nah

Didn’t like it then don’t like it now

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The only reason I listened to the entirety of this mindless drivel was to pay respect to the two that could be bothered reading it.

Be prepared to be on the volume switch though, one minute you can barely hear the reader and then, after turning it up, you jump through the roof due to him shouting.

Spend your hard earned on a more interesting book.

Groan

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