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Joyce's Ulysses
- Narrated by: James A. W. Heffernan
- Length: 12 hrs and 16 mins
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Joyce's Ulysses
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Summary
Ulysses depicts a world that is as fully conceived and vibrant as anything in Homer or Shakespeare. It has been delighting and puzzling readers since it was first published on Joyce's 40th birthday in 1922. And here, Professor Heffernan maps the brilliance, passion, humanity, and humor of Joyce's modern Odyssey in these 24 lectures that finally make a beguiling literary masterpiece accessible for any reader willing to give it a chance. Although they discuss selected points from the enormous body of critical scholarship on Ulysses, these lectures presuppose no special knowledge of literature or of James Joyce. Whether or not you've read Ulysses, you'll find they make an excellent guide to the many-layered pleasures of this modern epic. Illuminating the dramatic and artistic integrity behind the novel's most notoriously challenging passages, they explain why this frank, path-breaking novel was praised as a landmark and damned as obscene - even banned - as soon as it first appeared. You'll come to see Ulysses as many books at once: an inspired modern reweaving of the fabric of Homer's mighty Odyssey; a supreme synthesis of realism and symbolism; a grandly comic and at times bawdy work - a seriocomic parable about art and experience; a symphonic, kaleidoscopic portrayal of the sights, sounds, and voices of Dublin and every city; and a dazzling work of masterfully handled prose styles and narrative devices.
Above all, you'll learn to read Ulysses as an unsentimental but deeply felt story that uses concrete facts of mundane life in a particular time and place to say something truly extraordinary and universal that speaks to all that is human in us.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.
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What listeners say about Joyce's Ulysses
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mr. Jw Perks
- 06-03-16
A necessary thread
Professor James Heffernan provides a necessary thread to navigate the labyrinth of Joyce's novel. A brilliant introduction and guide. My appreciation of Ulysses is greater as a consequence of listening to the course chapter by chapter. Yes!
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3 people found this helpful
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- Andy
- 29-12-18
Gloriously rich but accessible
This is the second time I have read Ulysses in the company of Professor Heffernan. Unlike the annotated guides that can often distract as much as they illuminate, Heffernan provides a clear and accessible introduction to each chapter that then enables the reader to tackle the text with confidence and some insight. Of course, there is still lots left to discover but that can wait for another time. For now, I very much enjoyed the journey through the streets of Dublin and the minds of its characters with Prof Heffernan keeping a gentle but steady hand on the metaphorical elbow to guide me.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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- Tine
- 01-12-15
Making sense of Ulsysses
I listened to this course alongside Ulysses itself. Without it, I don't think I would have finished Ulysses, and I certainly wouldn't have got half as much out of it.
The structure of the course worked well and the professor was very enthusiastic about the book, which helped me along.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Mr
- 14-12-13
As intriguing as it is erudite
If you could sum up Joyce's Ulysses in three words, what would they be?
Accessible, thorough, thoughtful,
What was one of the most memorable moments of Joyce's Ulysses?
How intertwined the modern epic is with the ancient myth.
Which character – as performed by Professor James A. W. Heffernan – was your favourite?
His insight into the mind of Bloom
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Indeed
Any additional comments?
A very good primer for those who have yet to read the book yet also a fascinating addendum to anyone who is familiar with the text. Professor Heffernan's enthusiasm and wit are infectious and his genuine admiration for Joyce's work shines through.
I would thoroughly recommend this course.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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- Guðrún Pétursdóttir
- 18-10-18
Good guide
however he only presents one reading of the novel Ulysses that of Homers epic but he does it splendidly.
And if you can get by Heffernans awful dubliner accent (it's horribly mocking) it helps you understand this monster of a novel a bit more.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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- Amazon Customer
- 22-12-18
worth listening to if you like Joyce
definitely worth listening to if you're Joyce fan who has even partly struggled with Ulysses. I would say it is worth reading, or listening to, Ulysses before listening to this lecture series. that said the author does show some prejudice in his analysis of the text. he frequently can flights English with British power in Ireland, which misunderstands the nature of the multiple and interwoven histories that affect that island - something which Joyce, Daedalus and Bloom did understand.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Andyjn
- 05-11-22
Very informative
This course is a good way to understand the book better. The professor is entertaining.
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