Ulysses

By: James Joyce

Narrated by: Jim Norton

Length: 27 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

(P)2004 NAXOS AudioBooks Ltd.

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)

Herculaneum

What narrate Joyce I said youre crazy as a loon its impossible quite impossible at a start well let me see now where to begin for a start theres a different genre every chapter and good Lord theres a play and a smutty novel and slang from at least five separate languages idioms from one hundred years prior the thing is though all things considering the narrators do a damn fine job but if you have half a mind and an eBay account you should definitely grab a copy to follow along and heaven help you if you dont check the internet every so often to see what the hell is going on but if you follow my advice to the letter and maybe even go a bit beyond youll discover a new favorite for sure to anyone who enjoys an affirming and beautiful novel this is not an experience to be missed.

Listen to Joyce

An extraordinarily read or should I say performed book of an extraordinary author! if you've never read, James Joyce at least give it a try on audible.

Superb, but not for everyone.

I quickly got into the cadence of the novel, a work of genius. The readers were terrific, especially the woman. Superb.

Fabulously read classic book

loved it & will listen again as it is so well read. it brings so much of old Dublin to life

Must hear before must read!

What made the experience of listening to Ulysses the most enjoyable?

I'm not sure how you'd ever understand this without first listening to it? I listen to it while driving to work everyday and am constantly amazed by Norton's ability to portray the different characters as well as deliver what at times sounds like very complicated text. Having listened to hundreds of hours of books from the Iliad to the latest thriller, Norton is one of the very best!So how about the book? I'm not sure yet...at times it's laugh out loud funny, at times like stepping back into Dublin of the era with carts, trams and people whizzing by. While at other times it's more like an acid trip. Even then it's cool to

What other book might you compare Ulysses to and why?

Moby Dick. Might seem weird, but the language at times (

Which character – as performed by Jim Norton – was your favorite?

Stephen Daedalus...esp. drunk. Funny and believable.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No way! At times I have to take a break bec sections were pretty dense. At other though I'd just lie down with my head phones on and listen.

Any additional comments?

A great idea would be to listen with the book in hand (esp. if you have an eReader) because there are so many words and historical characters that I would have liked to look up.

Simple Great

What did you love best about Ulysses?

Beautifully written, wonderfully read. A treasure.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, needs to be absorbed over time.

Any additional comments?

Strongly recommend Frank Delaney's re:Joyce podcast, wherein he deconstructs Ulysses in a most interesting and entertaining fashion.

Sound levels need equalizing

I ordinarily would wait until I finished listening to the whole audiobook before writing a review, but after 1/4 of listening, my opinion has not changed at all. The sound level of the narration is too soft and the dialogue portions are too loud. Mr. Norton does a great job with his accents and his swift change of characters. He’s very talented in this regard. But the sound levels need to be equalized better, particularly when listening in a car with competing road noise. I can barely hear his narration so I turn up the volume only to be blasted when Mr. Norton reads dialogue. This would be much more suited for listening at home without outside noise than in a car. I would give it 5 stars in that environment. But I guess Joyce was never meant to be listened to while driving.

A book worth listening

I had tried to read Ulysses by James Joyce two or three times before, buying the print edition with commentaries, but failing each time and giving up about half way through.

It was then that I downloaded audible so as to try a different approach, less based on mentally dissecting each part, and more in tune with the rhythm and pulse imprinted in the language of the novel. In this way, listening to the performance of reading in the local accent and pace was a great joy and help, taking the reader on a different journey of comprehension and appreaciation.

Great listen with an assisted guide.

This book took me about one month to get through, mostly because I felt like it was easy to get either bored or mentally distracted and kept having rewind. I eventually had to find a guide that summarizes the chapters pretty thoroughly, which made listening a little bit easier. I understand now what Joyce meant when he said he packed enough stuff in this book to have scholars dissecting and explaining everything for centuries - there really is so much in here, a lot of which is better understood if you have some understanding of the historical context of Ireland at the turn of the 20th century. I’ve been told that this is a book worth reading multiple times because each time you find something different, so maybe I’ll venture to try sometime later. The performers were great, it’s just hard to follow when so much is stream-of-conscious.

Excellent narration and story, louder please!

Excellent narration, excellent story as I believe has already been established once or twice. One criticism: audio volume needs to be quite a bit louder.