Ulysses by James Joyce

Audio Book of the 1982 recording by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ); Ireland

February 2nd, 2022 to February 2nd, 2023

Ulysses was written by the exiled Irish writer James Joyce. It was first serialized in parts in the American journal The Little Review between early 1918 and late 1920. It was then published in its entirety in Paris by Sylvia Beach on the 2nd of February 1922, which was actually James Joyce’s 40th birthday.

We mark the one hundred year anniversary of this publishing by presenting the entire book as an audio book here for the entirety of 2022. This audio version was produced by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) in Dublin in 1982 and is, in my opinion, among the finest audio versions of the book available world-wide. Other audio-book versions of Ulysses are sometimes full of misleading accents, mis-pronunciations, and mis-interpretations of particular passages from the novel. Not only is the text in this version read proficiently aloud, other voices and sound effects are brought into the audio, making this version close to a radio drama at times, albeit remaining faithful to the author’s text. In all, it is a remarkable achievement.

Ulysses is considered one of the most important literary works of the twentieth century. The book chronicles various encounters of the itinerant character Leopold Bloom in Dublin in the course of an ordinary day, on the 16th of June, 1904. The name Ulysses is the Latinised form of Odysseus, being the hero of Homer's epic poem The Odyssey. The novel suggests a series of parallels between the poem and the novel, with structural correspondences between the characters and experiences of Bloom and Odysseus, as well as Molly Bloom, his wife, and Penelope, and Stephen Dedalus and Telemachus, in addition to events and themes of the early 20th-century, the current affairs taking place in Dublin, and Ireland’s problematic relationship to Great Britain. The novel is highly allusive and also imitates the styles of different periods of English literature. It is also full of countless references and riddles that continue to intrigue literary scholars and historians.

Since its publication, the book has attracted controversy, ranging from a ground-breaking obscenity trial in the United States in 1921 to protracted textual “Joycean Wars” on interpretation of the author’s work. One can detect within the novel a stream of consciousness technique along with careful structuring in exquisite detail, and a unique experimental prose that is replete with puns and other witty wordplay, parodies, obscenities, allusions, rich characterisations and many instances of brilliant humour.

We hope you find time to listen to part of the novel here and that it might attract you to reading or re-reading the book in its entirety. If desired, appointments can be made to listen to the entire audio book here. Please note that the recording is over 30 hours in duration, so do pack a meal or order take-away from Bistro Tula upstairs.

Séamus Kealy

Director

February 2nd, 2022

Ulysses: Audio Book

Episode 1 Telemachus: 46 Minutes

Episode 2 Nestor: 32.30 Minutes

Episode 3 Proteus: 48.12 Minutes

Episode 4 Calypso: 45.45 Minutes

Episode 5 Lotus Eaters: 42.30 Minutes

Episode 6 Hades: 67 Minutes

Episode 7 Aeolus: 68 Minutes

Episode 8 Lestrygonians: 84 Minutes