Ulysses

by James Joyce Narrated by Tadhg Hynes

Overview

I first decided to record Ulysses in October 2015. Little did I know then what an unforgettable eighteen months lay ahead. Having already recorded Dubliners and Portrait (and being terrified of Ulysses) I decided to give myself a year just to read it. However, after about four episodes I started recording it and became hooked.
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.

Editorial Reviews

New York Times Book Review

Ulysses is the most important contribution that has been made to fictional literature in the twentieth century. . . It is likely that there is no one writing English today that could parallel Mr. Joyce's feat, and it is also likely that few would care to do it were it capable. -- Books of the Century; New York Times review, May 1922

From the Publisher

"This edition, complete with an invaluable Introduction, map of Dublin, notes, and appendices, republishes for the first time, without interference, the original 1922 text."—In Dublin

"After more than seventy years of editorial corrections, specialists will buy the 'uncorrected' edition for its accuracy. Others should choose it as much for Johnson's excellent introduction and notes."—Tim Kendall, Notes and Queries

SEPTEMBER 2010 - AudioFile

ULYSSES, considered by many to be the preeminent novel of the modern era, has been recorded for audio before. But this new version, featuring narrator John Lee, has much to recommend it. Even though he’s English, Lee can summon up a convincing Irish accent, and his petulant reading gives the book a great deal of vigor. His pace is ideal, neither too fast to follow the complex novel nor too slow to be wearying. However, one problem plagues this reading: The monologue of Molly Bloom, which is the final chapter of the book, is read by Lee himself, rather than by a woman (as is the case in one other version). While Lee is certainly convincing, the lack of a female voice at the conclusion of this audiobook leaves this listener disappointed. K.M. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940172423659
Publisher:	Big Happy Family
Publication date:	07/30/2017
Edition description:	Unabridged

Read an Excerpt

Stately, plump Buck Mulligan came from the stairhead, bearing a bowl of lather on which a mirror and a razor lay crossed. A yellow dressinggown, ungirdled, was sustained gently behind him by the mild morning air. He held the bowl aloft and intoned:

—Introibo ad altare Dei.

Halted, he peered down the dark winding stairs and called up coarsely:

—Come up, Kinch. Come up, you fearful jesuit.

Solemnly he came forward and mounted the round gunrest. He faced about and blessed gravely thrice the tower, the surrounding country and the awaking mountains. Then, catching sight of Stephen Dedalus, he bent towards him and made rapid crosses in the air, gurgling in his throat and shaking his head. Stephen Dedalus, displeased and sleepy, leaned his arms on the top of the staircase and looked coldly at the shaking gurgling face that blessed him, equine in its length, and at the light untonsured hair, grained and hued like pale oak.

Buck Milligan peeped an instant under the mirror and then covered the bowl smartly.

—Back to barracks, he said sternly.

He added in a preacher's tone:

—For this, O dearly beloved, is the genuine Christine: body and soul and blood and ouns. Slow music, please. Shut your eyes, gents. One moment. A little trouble about those white corpuscles. Silence, all. 

He peered sideways up and gave a long low whistle of call, then paused awhile in rapt attention, his even white teeth glistening here and there with gold points. Chrysostomos. Two strong shrill whistles answered through the calm. 

—Thanks, old chap, he cried briskly. That will do nicely. Switch off the current, will you?

He skipped off the gunrest and looked gravely at his watcher, gathering about his legs the loose folds of his gown. The plump shadowed face and sullen oval jowl recalled a prelate, patron of arts in the middle ages. A pleasant smile broke quietly over his lips.

—The mockery of it, he said gaily. Your absurd name, an ancient Greek.

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