Ulysses
Written by James Joyce
Narrated by Tadhg Hynes
4.5/5
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About this audiobook
Being a Dubliner and having the privilege of walking the pages of this book daily it became a world that absorbed me totally. Almost everywhere I went in Dublin Joyce was there, I kept coming across phrases from the book in real life, I was born in Holles St Hospital some 60 years after the Oxen of the Sun episode was set there. While the city has moved with the times it’s still unavoidable not to get the sense of Joyces Dublin even now.
Some parts of the book are more difficult than others but I found that every word had its place and with a bit of effort and research it came to life. Don’t be put off by its reputation. You don’t need a university degree (though some like to think that you do!). It’s a book for everyone and as you become familiar with the way Joyce writes this becomes obvious.
I’ve tried to bring out the Dublin wit and the unique language of its people and I hope that this adds to the enjoyment of this great book.
I would like to add a special note of thanks and admiration to the wonderful reading of Molly Bloom’s soliloquy given by Kayleigh Payne. Famed for its lack of punctuation and rambling nature this iconic piece of writing is beautifully interpreted and sensitively portrayed. Kayleigh’s work has brought a new dimension to the recording and I am eternally grateful.
I would also like to thank my wife, Paula, for the wonderful artwork she created for the cover. It depicts the Martello tower at Sandycove, the place where it all began.
Finally, my advice is, get yourself a copy of the book and read along with the recording. There may be slight variations between different versions but don’t worry about that, they’re generally the same. Don’t expect to understand all at first. You’ll get a good sense of the story and can go deeper with subsequent readings. To me this is a book for life and after 18 months working on it I’m looking forward to a lifetime of enjoying it. I hope you do too.
Tadhg Hynes.
James Joyce
James Joyce was born in Dublin in 1882. He came from a reasonably wealthy family which, predominantly because of the recklessness of Joyce's father John, was soon plunged into financial hardship. The young Joyce attended Clongowes College, Belvedere College and, eventually, University College, Dublin. In 1904 he met Nora Barnacle, and eloped with her to Croatia. From this point until the end of his life, Joyce lived as an exile, moving from Trieste to Rome, and then to Zurich and Paris. His major works are Dubliners (1914), A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916), Ulysses (1922) and Finnegan's Wake (1939). He died in 1941, by which time he had come to be regarded as one of the greatest novelists the world ever produced.
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Reviews for Ulysses
5 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The voice artist makes it come to life.
Using this as a companion gave me a much better feel and appreciation of Joyce’s words.1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Extraordinary reading of Ulysses. I studied the book in 1976 for the first time and have read it subsequently a few times but this was the first time listening to it. The voice actors have it pitch perfect. Thank you.