Ulysses

By: James Joyce

Narrated by: Donal Donnelly

The first authorized, unabridged release of this timeless classic and exclusively available from Recorded Books. Ulysses records the events of a single day, June 16, 1904, in Dublin, Ireland.

Public Domain (P)1995 Recorded Books

A Maze of Complexity

Possibly one of the longest and most arduous journeys in literature, but one must take it. It is a journey of a man, but arguably a journey of EVERY man. Brilliantly narrated by Donnelly. Very interesting to draw the parallels between it and Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. At times it grew long in the mouth, but I also understood that's part of the point.

A marathon stream of consciousness

The book seemed to me to be an enjoyable stream of consciousness. It was very well read but hard to follow. This would be better read than listened to. Seemed hard to follow and I ended up backing up to figure out the current setting several times. In the end I resigned myself to not closely following the story and just enjoying the dialog.

Joyce changes 20th century Literature

An indescribable experience. Joyce pushes the boundaries of what defines a novel--establishing Modernism and stylistically unmooring 20th century Lit from what came before it.
Introspective, whimsical, vulgar, obsessive, honest.
Now I've said how important Ulysses is (and it is, it feels like there are books before, and books after-- it echoes through so much of what came after) how do I rate it? As a landmark, all the stars. As a novel, 4 out of 5 stars. Not 5 because it is SO relentless about breaking ground, it sometimes distracts from 'feeling'.

A classic that goes straight over my head.

Joyce's classic work, to me, is really just hard work. It was written and published in segments, which really does show. There are a lot of lists in it, some of which are interminably long, and which remind me of secondary school students trying to get the word count up in their essays. We all have off-days, and I guess in 2 years, Joyce must have had more than a few migraines, or subclinical viral infections not severe enough to keep him away from the pen altogether. Or maybe his submission deadlines were a bit too stringent to allow the occasional departure into sick leave.

The reader does very well portraying the characters, and did help me make it through most of the work. However, eventually, I gave up. Just so you know, I have read war and peace twice, so it's not an aural stamina thing. It's just that the original Ulysses seems much better to me than this languid one-day trip around Ireland. However, there are some excellent descriptive elements. Too few, however, to keep me interested to the end of the book.

I do hope others can enjoy this. I was disappointed.

Don't Hesitate!!

I have read Ulysses some 5 or 6 times and I have also listened to a couple of versions. Please do not be intimidated by the book's reputation for difficulty..Any good reader can handle it with patience. In fact I have told friends that Ulysses will tell you just how good a reader you are! A truly Great book.