Product Description

This collection was designed for optimal navigation on Kindle and other electronic devices. All books included in this collection feature a hyperlinked table of contents and footnotes. The collection is complimented by an author biography.

Customer Reviews (4)

Another excellent collection from MobileReference.
Another excellent collection from MobileReference. I purchased a few of those and really satisfied with each one of them. The collections are inexpensive and well thought through. They have not one but several tables of contents that organize books by category, alphabetically, and by their publication time. So finding a book is really easy. Furthermore, if you want a quote, you can search the collection ebook and that searches all individual books at once.

Comments from the Publisher
Comments from the Publisher:

The book was corrected on January 15th, 2009. The new version adds chapter links and titles.

MobileReference

Complete?

"Complete" is a poor choice of words for this collection, since it does not include Finnegans Wake. Ulysses only has three accessible links corresponding to Parts I-III. There are no chapter links with their implicit titles.

Audiobook fans should know that there's a great audio version of Ulysses by Recorded Books: Ulysses (unabridged)

Complete Works of James Joyce - Kindle ebook
Complete Works of James Joyce

Another first-class ebook from MobileReference. It looks and works great on my Kindle. Will buy from you again. Many thanks! ... Read more

Product Description
An eclectic volume of works by one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century includes a short story collection, his most famous novel, and an early sequence of poems. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

FLAT
I unfortunately found the stories lifeless. There was no spark or wonder to the characters or surroundings.

Portrait of My Nightmare of an Intensive Writing Assignment
When I read Joyce's "The Dead" as a senior in high school, it took watching the movie and several class hours of discussion before I was finally able to see meaning in the novel. Now, having read "A Portrait of the Artist," I am convinced that not only is Joyce's style unique, to say the least he is a veritable cubist of contemporary literature.

"Portrait of the Artist" chronicles the coming of age of Stephen Dedalus, a young man in turn-of-the-century Ireland. Joyce opens the book with Stephen as a small child, writing in language befitting of one little older than a toddler. The language matures as Stephen does, however, and soon Joyce has the reader jumping from interesting descriptions of girls on beaches to cataclysmically boring (and LONG!) soliloquies of Stephen's philosophical, emotional, and physical wanderings. Amid tyrannical priests, playground bullies, apathetic parents, and the occasional friend, Stephen is forced to grow up with almost no guidance or example. The progression of Stephen and the novel is eclectic. At times Joyce tosses out sudden bursts of simplicity, signified by a hidden smattering of pivotal epiphanies that ultimately lead up to the climax/close of the book and Stephen's decision to shrug off the limitations of men and become an artist. At others, the only logical thought that follows an idea is ". . .what?" It seems as though Joyce is deliberately trying to confuse the reader, so that they can get an idea of the phases Stephen is going through. An effective, but very frustrating, tool to draw the reader into the plot.

Joyce's style of writing, depending on the reader's frame of mind (or state thereof), can be extremely thought provoking, or just provoking. Joyce expresses Stephen not physically, but rather the reader grows to know him through his thoughts and sometimes, his surroundings. This indirect approach to a very complex individual through abstract description and seemingly meaningless mental tangents is tedious and often frustrating--it seems as though, rather than bring Stephen to the reader, Joyce is dragging the reader to Stephen through a quagmire of politics, philosophy, sex, art, and religion. It is left up to the readers to decide which elements will clarify Stephen's direction for them(and hence the direction of the book),and which will only muddy the waters further.

I feel safe in labeling James Joyce the Picasso of twentieth century literature. "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" is one of the strangest and most thought-provoking books I have ever read. The disjointed sentence structure and abstract methods of description he employs are a great detriment to any initial enjoyment of the work. It takes too long to stop after every paragraph and decipher what Joyce is conveying to really like reading it the first time. A second and even third reading is advisable to truly understand the proverbial 'moral of the story.' Some feel that Joyce is the Einstein of the literary world, and he certainly deserves the distinction of being a revolutionary. Whether or not revolution is genius, however, is left to the discretion of his future readers. ... Read more

Product Description
'Don't you think there is a certain resemblance between the mystery of the Mass and what I am trying to do? ...To give people some kind of intellectual pleasure or spiritual enjoyment by converting the bread of everyday life into something that has a permanent artistic life of its own' - James Joyce, in a letter to his brother. With these fifteen stories James Joyce reinvented the art of fiction, using a scrupulous, deadpan realism to convey truths that were at once blasphemous and sacramental. Whether writing about the death of a fallen priest ("The Sisters"), the petty sexual and fiscal machinations of "Two Gallants," or of the Christmas party at which an uprooted intellectual discovers just how little he really knows about his wife ("The Dead"), Joyce takes narrative places it had never been before. ... Read more

Product Description
4 works by one of the greatest authors of all time:

Ulysses,
Portrait of The Artist As a Young Man,
The Dubliners,
Chamber Music

*(UPDATED WITH A TABLE OF CONTENTS)* ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Perfect for the Irish
I've always been a James Joyce fan, so when I was planning my trip to Ireland, I bought this book for the Kindle. I've read his stuff before, so I knew I would love it, but the Kindle made it easier to pack for my trip since I didn't have to make room for a couple books too. ... Read more

Product Description
On the fictional morning of June 16, 1904—Bloomsday, as it has come to be known—Mr. Leopold Bloom set out from his home at 7 Eccles Street and began his day’s journey through Dublin life in the pages of James Joyce’s novel of the century, Ulysses. Commemorating the 100th anniversary of Bloomsday, Yes I Said Yes I Will Yes offers a priceless gathering of what’s been said about Ulysses since the extravagant praise and withering condemnation that first greeted it upon its initial publication.

From the varied appraisals of such Joyce contemporaries as William Butler Yeats (“It is an entirely new thing. . . . He has certainly surpassed in intensity any novelist of our time”) and Virginia Woolf (“Never did I read such tosh”), to excerpts from Tennessee Williams’ term paper “Why Ulysses is Boring” and assorted wit, praise, parody, caricature, photographs, anecdotes, bon mots, and reminiscence, this treasury of Bloomsiana is a lively and winning tribute to the most famous day in literature. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

A SLAPDASH COLLECTION OF PEOPLE WITH A HOLIDAY TO SELL
no insight into James JOyce or his writings. A lot of space dedicated to the guy who hosts a yearly reading on BRoadway of very brief excerpts from Ulysses AND OTHER UREALTED WORKS, as broadcast on NPR. I now no longer regret having missed these transmissions. IT is obviously a reluctant reading of snippets from the great work which JOyce urged not a word should be dropped. I already cannot bear hearing the Jim NOrton ABRIDGED recording.

If you want insight and commentary into Ulysses, turn to Kenner and the rest. This book is simply an overblown advertisement. Frank McCourt has very little to say. This book is personalities, not perceptions.

Two stars for being of Ulysses even obliquely, but it will join the other self-interested Ulysses related works in a bottom drawer rather than the preciously brief space on the much visited top shelf.

Ulysses is far TOO IMPORTANT to waste time and space on such commercially self-interested works.

Only one literary day has such a celebration like this
Joyce wanted his book to be read 'all the years of the nights' meaning all the lifetimes to come. And as Frank McCourt makes clear in his introduction he succeeded more than any other writerin 'immortalizing ' the day of his greatest work, and making it akind of universal literary celebration. June 16 ,Bloomsday the day that Joyce met the woman who was to be his lifelong companion, mother of his children and finally wife, Nora Barnacle is the day chosen for the action of Ulysses. In these twenty- four hours Joyce will attempt to give us a complete picture of human life .In its eighteen chapters each of which has its own style, color, character, and each of which corresponds to a chapter of 'Odysseus' Joyce will explore and create worlds within worlds. He will too present us with a vast rich gallery of human characters, including the three major ones the young Joycean alter ego Stephen Daedalus, the wandering Jewish everyman Leopold Bloom, and the ur-feminine Molly Bloom whose love life and passion will provide the song of the great final interior monologue concluding with Bloom's proposal and her yes I said I will Yes.
This present volume while focusing on the celebration which is Bloomsday nonetheless provides many insights into the work itself. Isiah Sheffer's explanation of the way the eighteen chapters can be read as a six- six- six thesis antithesis synthesis , or as athree chapter twelve chapter three chapter story of Daedalaus alone Bloom's wandering and the fictional father- son in some kind of combination of meeting , does add yet another little bit of interpretation to my own sense of the work.
But of course Joyce wrote a work which begged and called for interpretation, and 'Ulysses' is the novel which has brought forth reams of academic scholarship, endless interpretation. It has , and here again is Joyce's great cunning, generated new life for itself through its ongoing interpretations and reinterpretations. And here it is like another central parallel work within the work, Hamlet, which Daedalus reads in his own somewhat Freudian way.
The work has a lyric power , an ongoing lilt , and an immense intelligence. In the 'Oxen in the Sun' episode where Joyce rewrites the history of the English language stylistically and in parody, we feel the master in control paring his fingernails above the ordinary world of writers and readers.
I enjoy this small volume as yet another edition to the ongoing library made around the name of this great mastermaker.

A handy guidebook to Bloomsdays & Ulysses' reception
I fear that some of this book, issued in advance of the centenary of Bloomsday, has already been dated. Much of the material has been prepared for those needing a warm-up to 16 June 2004. Now that's passed, however, there's much to help the Joycean newcomer to Ulysses. It diminishes the Linati schemata that has caused many to rely too heavily on Homeric parallels. It frees readers by showing that whatever their fears, other actors, critics, and readers have shared them. While I wish it would have offered more of a chapter-by-chapter run down just to set the scene for first-timers, and while it pads the book too much with appendices at the expense of tips needed by novices, it does meet a need for the 'amateur' who seeks out Joyce for enjoyment rather than fulfilling a course assignment--a sure way to deaden many an enticing narrative.

The book offers little of the larger context of Joyce's other literary efforts within which to place Ulysses, but given the compression of even an overview and a few points-of-view within 160 pp., Nora Tully earns praise.

A shame her name comes third after the ubiquitous Frank McCourt (who I admit has a couple of decent insights nonetheless from his brief forward) and Isaiah Sheffer, who muses at length about the NYC Symphony Spaced readings each B-day. These personal encounters with the text, then, prepare for Tully's own skillfully arranged array of comments, mainly from past literati (for copyright reasons?) about the novel. Interspersed are mini-essays, the best of which were Mary Gordon's account of how she teaches the Nausicaa episode (you always find something new when returning to a familiar text: for me, she showed me the benediction-monstrance-Gerty's crotch link in a way I hadn't noticed before!); Tennessee Williams' term paper; a Vanity Fair ranking of thinkers by critics in the early 20c; and Robert Spoo's veiled attack, justifiably deserving to be even less muted, on the copyright abuses by the estate keeping Joyce from entering at last the public domain in Britain and Ireland.

A handy map of Dublin; updates on Joyce websites; recommended books and videos; celebrations of B-Day worldwide; cinematic, fictional, dramatic, and musical tributes: these round out a satisfying collection. I wish a review of the various audio versions appeared, for as this book says, listening to Joyce read well adds the musicality and the aurality that the author, myopic as he was, depended upon to convey meaning from an admittedly daunting pile of print. This aside, this pocket guide deserves credit for once again proffering the sheer reward of navigating Ulysses. It'll present you with a stunningly diverse array of styles high and low, boring and amusing: a book that for once shies away from nothing we humans do, and by its accumulation of the mundane, reaches into the heights and depths of our daily life.

A Necessary Bridge
While I approached this book with an ambivalent curiosity, for I have never been able to read more than the first thirty pages of "Ulysses", I find "yes I said yes I will Yes", to be an entertaining, intriguing, even inspiring introduction to Joyce's epic of a single day.It mirrors, reflects and refracts the fragmentary theme of the novel itself.

The text itself highlights and articulates both Joyce's intentions in writing such a monster-masterpiece, and others' reactions to reading it.For the uninitiated, "yes I said yes I will Yes" breaks down the mystery behind the whole Joyce legacy into a readable, comprehensible attempt at purity of language and thought, and how the human mind processes everything it encounters on parallel levels: first, the creation of characters who reflect momentary, fleeting glimpses of existence; then, the interpretation of the tale by assorted artists, writers,scholars, and students alike.

"yes I said yes I will yes" is meticulously edited and written, yet it strikes no poses;it emerges as an easily readable and digestible companion and introduction to Joyce and his machinations.Offering both line drawings and photographs of Joyce and others, this slim volume appraches the "Ulysses" dilemma from multiple directions, containing quotes from such writers as Virginia Woolf, who dismissed the book as fancified rubbish.As "yes I said..." suggests, opinions on "Ulysses" run the gamut, as would be expected of such a literary feat; however, it remains reader-friendly, the ideal way to make the acquaintance of perhaps the most influential modern novel.

The parallels drawn by the editor are equally intriguing and informative.Ms. Tully sheds light on how Joyce's version of the Odyssey anticipated, foreshadowed, and still corresponds other early modernist artistic, literary, and cultural movements.The book balances chapters or sections which introduce new contexts of, or aspects for approaching "Ulysses", followed by varying opinions and ideas about Joyce and his work."yes I said yes I will Yes" forges a timely, necessary bridge between an author whose work often intimidates many of us, and what that work means today.I read it in a single sitting, several times over, and will prize it as a manageable, palatable reference source.

After absorbing this small book about Joyce, Ulysses, and the relevance of Bloomsday, I can return to Ulysses with a renewed sense of confidence and insight."yes I said..." is well-packaged, presents appealing visual design and layout, plus it's affordable.I only wish it had been issued in hardback -- the pages on my copy already resemble my cocker spaniel's ears. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

nicely done
This edition is a great facsimile of the first edition. Since we all can't afford an actual first edition, this is the next best thing. The paper is very good quality, the font is easy to read. It's a great addition to my library.

Go Gabler
A good version of Ulysses, no doubt, but it is still better to go with the Gabler edition.The first edition of Joyce's text and many subsequent editions averaged about 7 errors a page.In a book this long, those add up rather quickly.The Gabler edition was researched by a team of literary analysts, and pulled together from the various printed versions of the text as well as Joyce's notes.It is the most accurate version of the text, and I highly recommend reading it over any other version: Ulysses (Gabler Edition)

Best reading edition of a great work
I bought this to supplement the 1961 Random House edition (balance of textual corrections and respect for the original, matches most annotations), Modern Library edition (most portable, attractive package as all ML editions, typography a tad hard on my 40-something eyes) and '80s "Gabler edition" (hotly contested, worth keeping as a collector's item as it's been largely withdrawn).

The original Shakespeare & Co. printings are out of my league, although I've seen several.Until I hit the lottery, this is the closest I'll own.A quick Google will find you first edition, first printing copies selling for up to 100k.I doubt my stimulus check is that big.

This is a textual facsimile - a photo reproduction of the original, 1000-copy first edition - copy #784, to be exact.It also reproduces the cover typography and the Shakespeare and Co. title page, with an added, Orchises title page to keep the record clear.It contains the original colophon.It doesn't contain the forward, letter from Joyce to Bennett Cerf or Judge Woolsey opinion you're probably used to seeing in American editions.

In a physical sense, it's hard to say how this is a facsimile, other than Orchises has reproduced the full size of the original.Of course, the paper and binding material are different.

Most S. & Co. editions came unbound in blue-green wrappers, and could be bound as desired.This is why you see original printings in such disparate bindings.Orchises has reproduced the color of the original wrappers, although their binding looks a little more green than the original wrappers (maybe the color has shifted on those?).In any case, it's a solid cloth binding, comparable to, say, a better-than-average library binding. Bound size given as 9.6 x 7.5 x 1.7 inches, I measure it a hair taller.I daresay it will hold up to extended use.

In addition to giving the slight tingle of pleasure that comes from knowing you're reading the text as originally sold at 12, Rue de l'Odeon, this edition is much more comfortable on my eyes than the others.I like the typeface used by original printer Maurice Darantiere for readability, but haven't gotten a definitive answer as to what it is - does anyone know?Somehow, it just feels right.

Orchises says the paper is 50-pound, ph-balanced (aka acid-free) paper, and that seems about right.It's really good paper, with a slight, almost visually undetectable textured finish that feels good to the fingers.Excellent paper-to-ink contrast.I can, and will, read this all day.

For the average reader, there's no earthly reason to spend this amount on a novel, and the ML edition will be both more convenient and, with its front material, more informative.For someone who rereads Ulysses for pleasure, it's a joy.The 1922 text has been analyzed to death, and is not without errors (2,000? 3,000? 5,000? the number gets larger each time it's mentioned).It was perhaps inevitable in a book with no clear reference manuscript - even the extant manuscripts were to some degree created by Joyce after the fact for sale.Part of one manuscript was burned by the angry husband of a typist, who found its content objectionable.An appreciable percentage of the text was written as corrections on the original proofs.

Hence the charming apology from Sylvia Beach reproduced in this facsimile: "The publisher asks the reader's indulgence for typographical errors unavoidable in the exceptional circumstances.S.B."

But each effort to correct the errors added more errors, as well as layers of contention. See the well-documented battle over the Gabler edition. Or the disastrous 1998 "Reader's edition" by Danis Rose.The original is as good as any for reading, and if you care enough to buy a facsimile, you will have other editions for comparison anyway.

For scholarly use, this isn't the best edition, since most standard annotations match the Random House or Modern Library editions. Unless you're beyond Ulysses 101 and want to compare editions.

This is one of three first-edition facsimiles that have been published.I can't speak to the others, but I can recommend this one.Kudos to Orchises, and I hope they keep it in print.Or not, so my copy will become a minor-league collector's item.

Ulysses has become an obsession and and a world in and of itself for its partisans, of whom I am one.The Ulysses obsession is much like the Higher Criticism surrounding the Sherlock Holmes canon.Many people find it bizarre, and I can hardly disagree.If, like me, you've got the bug, I don't have to explain it to you.This is an edition for you.

If you don't, I paraphrase Louis Armstrong: "If you have to ask, you'll never know."

A beautifuledition of one of the most important books ever written
James Joyce's Ulysses closely parallels the events of Homer's The Odyssey, but this journey is far more surreal than Homer could have ever dreamt. The story is set in one day, and mostly follows the principal character Leopold Bloom going through the day.
Ulysses does not follow typical conventions of literature, and therein lies its beauty and its freedom. The text is littered with puns and seemingly nonsensical and comical language, one of the highlights being the section written as a play in which all manner of chaos takes place. This text may at first appear to be senseless but perseverence will reward those who would spend time examining its language, which is often made up of multiple words, each constituent part of which relates to a wider topic. This is, in a sense, a scholalry text, as it is so much more than a story, and you need to have the willingness to at least attempt to understand the broader referential context, much of which I am also working on. If that seems like too much hard work, then I doubt Ulysses would provide much enjoyment to you, although that's not to say it can't be read without additional knowledge. It does help to know some of the things going on in Joyce's mind and the history/culture of his beloved Ireland.
The version being reviewed here is by Orchises Press, which is a fantastic reproduction of the very first edition of Ulysses printed by Shakespeare and Company. The binding is quite tight and the print quality superb. There is also plenty of space for literary scholars to scribble notes. As it is a sturdy edition, this is built to last. There is no introduction to the text or any essays, and some may prefer this. For first time readers, it can be better to read the text without any preconceptions, just like people who would have read it when it was first published. The cloth cover on this edition, as others have commented, appears a little greener than the original, but most surviving originals have aged to appear exactly like this anyway. As it so closely resembles a vintage copy, it is a very exciting prospect to read Ulysses in the same way its principal adoptors did in the early 1920s. As it is not a vintage copy, you do not need to worry about being ever so careful. Of course, it is still expensive and it is best to treat it with care, but if you had a 1922 copy, you would probably keep it in a cabinet, trying not to disturb its delicate state. For owners of the original who would love to read their vintage copy, but too afraid to, this may be a great solution. Ordering this from the UK from Amazon, it took about three weeks to arrive here from the US, and it was a really terrific moment when it arrived, removing the clingfilm and starting reading it. It is, as a side note, quite a shame that UK readers do not favour hardback editions of books. It is quite difficult to buy new editions of classic books on hardback, unless of course, you turn to the second hand market. It is just a shame that the UK does not seem to appreciate premeire hardback editions of classic texts. oh well...
In many ways the Orchises Press version suits both collectors and serious readers. Of course, it is more expensive than the paperback version, and recommended only to real enthusiasts. For me, this is a definitive edition because literary essays, introductions and annotations mean very little to me, as I like to derive my own impressions by reading and do my own research on specific things. As an MA Comparative Literature student interested in Joyce, I feel this edition can be used for serious research without the supplementary scholarly material because it leaves you free to have just the text and your impressions.
If this edition proves too dear, I believe the Modern Library (or was it Everyman's Luibrary) have an edition currently in print and should be available to order from most retail bookstores. I saw a copy in my local Borders for £13.99, and if you are considering getting a decent hardback edition, perhaps you could go for that edition, as the Modern Library has an excellent range of titles and deserves to be supported.

To conclude, Joyce had an extraordinary imagination and wonderful command of the English language. He is a master of the English language and this is one of his most captivating work. Personally I prefer Finnegans Wake because if you persevere with it, past the first 100 pages, you find some side-splittingly humourous puns. In any case, I will leave my fondness for Finnegans Wake for another review. For now, grab a copy of Ulysses and enter the bizarre world of Joyce where the ordinary mundane things become surreal adventures, and language becomes so unfamiliar that it begins to start making sense again.

Best of best
The best edition of what's considered by many the apotheosis of English fiction. As mentioned in the front matter, "this book reproduces, as closely as offset printing will allow, Roger Lathbury's copy of the first edition of Ulysses published by Sylvia Beach's Shakespeare and Company in Paris in 1922. Broken type, signature numbers, and the colophon have been left as printed." Editorial slip-ups are therefore obviously included, adding a quaint historical nuance.

The perfect gift for any fan of Stephen Dedalus and Leopold Bloom, this edition is elegant, a pleasure to hold and read, and ideal for anyone new to and wishing to appreciate Ulysses. (Most mass market editions, while well edited, are otherwise cheap products.)

Two outstanding aids for appreciating Ulysses are Wings of Art: Joseph Campbell on James Joyce, and Stuart Gilbert's James Joyce's Ulysses. ... Read more

Product Description
Here substantially revised and expanded, Don Gifford's annotations to Joyce's great modern classic comprise a specialized encyclopedia that will inform any reading of Ulysses. Annotations in this edition are keyed both to the reading text of the new critical edition of Ulysses published in 1984 and to the standard 1961 Random House edition and the current Modern Library and Vintage texts.
Gifford has incorporated over 1,000 additions and corrections to the first edition. The introduction and headnotes to sections provide general geographical, biographical and historical background. The annotations gloss place names, define slang terms, give capsule histories of institutions and political and cultural movements and figures, supply bits of local and Irish legend and lore, explain religious nomenclature and practices, trace literary allusions and references to other cultures.
The suggestive potential of minor details was enormously fascinating to Joyce, and the precision of his use of detail is a most important aspect of his literary method. The annotations in this volume illuminate details which are not in the public realm for most of us. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (17)

Must-have for any Ulysses reader
If you're reading Ulysses, you've got to have this book.I had previously used another annotation, and it could not compare to Gifford's.Each chapter begins with a map of the area being covered in Dublin and a summary of the Homeric correspondences.The annotations themselves are thorough and extremely useful.

Great reading, even without the source
This book was a shock to me. It's not just a book of annotations, it's also a history of Ireland, literature, language, and nearly everything else Joyce decided to allude to in his masterpiece. I never would have guessed that just reading the annotations (without the source text) would make good reading, but that is certainly the case here. You do not by any means need this book to enjoy Ulysses, but it does give remarkable insight into the mind behind it

Essential is the key word to all these reviews
When I first tucked James Joyce's ULYSSES under my arm, Don Gifford's ULYSSES ANNOTATED was tucked under the other. (My biceps became very well developed because of this.) It took me an entire summer to read the books side by side but how worthwhile it was. Gifford's essential line by line, almost word by word, guidance made ULYSSES less overwhelming than if I had tried to tackle it alone. Once I got through ULYSSES the second time (the following spring) I was able to go to the more overarching analyses of Joyce's masterpiece. Stuart Gilbert's ULYSSES and Richard Ellmann's ULYSSES ON THE LIFFEY were particularly helpful.

notes only!
Just a heads up that this is NOT an annotated edition of Ulysses (as I mistakenly thought in purchasing)(duh).It is 600-some pages of notes only and does not include the text of the novel.

The essential guide
I am still digesting "Ulysses." I read it while walking around Dublin a few years ago. It was marvelous to trace the steps of Leopold and Molly, and to see what they "saw," but the novel remains a distant pleasure to the reader. I must admit it is not the most accessible book ever written, but it gets four stars for its intent ... and that it is better than "Finnegan's Wake." Be warned: This book is not for the casual reader. But this annotated edition makes it all worthwhile. You'll get genuine, comprehensible guidance. If you must read "Ulysses," this edition might be most helpful. ... Read more

Product Description
The new edition of this classic, richly illustrated guidebook, first published in 1990, gives a wonderful contextual depth to the Dublin childhood and formative years of James Joyce, and to the Galway origins of his consort Nora Barnacle. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Where Joyce & Nora grew up, before exile
This handsome vademecum fits the hand, pleases the eye, and informs the mind of the Joycean pilgrim searching not along the streets for Stephen Dedalus, Leopold Bloom, the denizens of Nighttown or the cast from "Wandering Rocks"-- but their engenderer in his native habitat. This parallels not only the ubiquitous electronic and print guidebooks for walkers recreating Bloom's steps, but academic maps for the fictional counterpart, the topographical dictionary by Ian Gunn & Clive Hart, "James Joyce's Dublin," (Thames & Hudson, 2004). Igoe's title speaks for itself.

Igoe, a Joyce scholar and former curator at the Sandymount museum, gives requisite passages from Joyce's fiction, period and recent illustrations, and comprehensive but not mind-numbing biographical details that guide armchair visitors as well as direct real tourists. Neil Hyslop's handsome, readable, and hand-lettered maps recall the elegant ones that used to grace endpapers of historical hardcovers. They are easy to consult, spare enough not to be cluttered with extraneous information, and large enough to be accurate and not merely decorative.

A new version expanded to 208 pp. (shown here, Lilliput Pr.) appeared in June 2007 but I haven't seen it, nor is it listed for sale on Amazon US. I review the 1997 version; I judge that the basics in the older edition should remain the same. Perhaps URLs & updated transport data are added for the itinerary supplement that carefully leads you around by bus to Joyce's Dublin houses, each residence given a few pages per biographically organized chapter, and their environs. ... Read more

Product Description
A selection of the poems and poetic prose of James Joyce, chosen to emphasize his humanity and the humour underlying it, and to demonstrate his range and versatility. ... Read more

Product Description
This collection includes five of James Joyce's celebrated works: Ulysses, Dubliners, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Chamber Music, and Exiles, the only play published by Joyce.Includes an active table of contents.

This ebook is DRM free and includes an active table of contents for easy navigation. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Nice collection
I'm not as bothered by the formatting as the other two reviewers, so I'm giving this book 5 stars. It has 2 novels, a play, a book of short stories and a long poem. The table of contents is active for each book and short story.

Very limited formatting
The $1 Halcyon edition (ASIN: B002DPV5Q8) has no TOC for Ulysses' chapters, no verse formatting, and italics are indicated only by underlines before and after. Not recommended.

James Joyce Ulysses on Kindle
This book is presented very well and shares all the virtues of the Kindle2.However, it is the only of my many Kindle texts THAT IS NOT SEARCHABLE, a very valuable Kindle2 attribute.Most books take a few hours to "be indexed" and are searchable after a short time - this one is not.Amazon support cannot help. ... Read more

Product Description
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is one of the twentieth century’s great coming-of-agenovels.This Norton Critical Edition is based on Hans Gabler’s acclaimed text and is accompaniedby his introduction and textual notes. John Paul Riquelme provides detailed explanatoryannotations.“Backgrounds and Contexts” isthematically organized to provide readers with a clear picture of the novel’s historical,cultural, and literary inspirations. Topicsinclude “Political Nationalism: Irish History,1798-1916,” “The Irish Literary and CulturalRevival,” “Religion,” and “AestheticBackgrounds.”“Criticism” begins with John Paul Riquelme’s helpful essay on the novel’sstructural form and follows with twelve diverseinterpretations by, among others, Kenneth Burke, Umberto Eco, Hugh Kenner, Maud Ellmann, JosephValente, and Marian Eide.A SelectedBibliography is also included. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Excellent
My second Joyce, after Ulyssess some six months prior. This novel is a vastly more direct and comprehensible text, benefiting from a clarity of presentation that allows intense absorption in psychology. It's a highly effective novel on multiple levels, excelling at showing an unconventional proccess of transition into adulthood and through it a biting analysis of society, modernity, religion and art. It works to the way it shows the protagonist with deep intimacy and emotional acuteness, but yet refuses to grant him any easy outs or transcendence. His status as a future artist doesn't bring him enlightenment or greater intrinsic natural worth, and it doesn't free him from the nusances and challenges of the society he inhabits. It's a very intense account, never more so than when it engages with the protagonist's struggle with his religion, his sexuality and their intersection. There's an intricate and gorgeously vivid presentation of what the tenets of traditional Catholicism feel like to someone who believes in them yet doesn't live up to their moral code. His absorption with intellect as well as sex, and the tortured guilt he derives from the later, make for a perspective that is so convincing it's hard not to assume strong autobiographical motifs. It's a level of intimacy combined with quality of writing that often feel more real than reality, and that turn a very sophisticated eye on questions of faith, politics and the modern world. The debates on Irish nationalism are particularly intense, and are of a specific content that I feel the need for more historical conext before I can really situate the literary incorporation here. The novel gives a strong sense of the basic appeal and tensions inherent in the desire for an autonomous society, in that respect functioning very similarly to the whole spirituality/sensuality axis, generalized to a more collective level. It's indisputably potent stuff.

And yet the book in the end suffers by comparison with Ulysses, not having anywhere near that volume's power or raw, disorienting literary expertise. It's still a wonderful novel however, and points up the great things that can be done with well crafted writing.

Worse than: Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Better than: The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy

Less a Review, more a guide to what Edition to buy
If you're going to buy 'A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man' as a paperback, I strongly advise you to buy this--the Norton Critical Edition.It's depressing to see that the Penguin Classics edition is the number one selling version of this wonderful book.

This book is TWO DOLLARS more than the Penguin version.For that $2 you get better quality paper, ink, and binding.More importantly you get Editorial notes that explain Joyce's obscure terms, ultimately making the book more readable.You also get over a dozen other writings dealing with Joyces text.These extras (200 pages worth) provide background information on Joyce's three major themes--Irish politics, Roman Catholicism, and "Aesthetic".Also, there are critical essays which range from general interpretations of the book to specified studies (ie feminist perspective).Being a difficult book, the supplemental material greatly enhanced my appreciation for 'Portrait'.

For ONE DOLLAR -LESS, you could go with this: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Dubliners (Barnes & Noble Classics).Here, not only do you get Portrait of the Artist_, but also you get the collection of short stories, Dubliners.Not to mention better editing.You still get footnotes.And there's some (not a lot) of suplimental material.

For FIVE DOLLARS more than you would spend on the Penguin book, you could get A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (Everyman's Library (Cloth)).If you're going to buy a book, why not get one that will last the rest of your life?Well then, that would be the Everyman's Clothbound you seek.

Introduction to Joyce
I read somewhere that readers should start with a book like this as opposed to simply jumping right in to Ulysses.Well, that may be true.This book was not difficult to read.But, it really wasn't that interesting.I found myself less willing to put forth the energy to get through Ulysses after reading this.

A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man
A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man (Norton Critical Edition)

This edition includes poignant commentary, essays, and contextualization.Great for anyone who is reading the book for the first time (like I was). ... Read more

Product Description
Ulysses is about the passage of Leopold Bloom through Dublin during June 16, 1904. The title alludes to Odysseus (Latinised into Ulysses), the hero of Homer's Odyssey. In 1999, the Modern Library ranked Ulysses first on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Perhaps the effort of a lifetime
I've always wanted to read this novel, so this is my attempt at 58 to do so before my time runs out. Unfortunately, this volume is a bit large for the casual walkabout own. No worries: I'll use it for notes and such. The price was right and there's plenty of room for whatever in the way of notes and other musings. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

A must for Joyceans
Adds depth to Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man but stands well alone as well.

The apprenticeship work
'Stephen Hero' the autobiographical novel Joyce would have completely destroyed, was converted at the urging of his friend Italo Svevo into the literary masterpiece ' A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man'. The early work is longer, more discursive and relaxed . Joyce takes the same material and transforms it in a portrait to a 'mythic story' of ideal artistic development.
The comparison of the two works , the transformations and condensations Joyce makes, the making more startingly clear in the latter work the development of the sensibility in stages- do provide a double - portrait of a master artist at work.

James Joyce Unplugged
Stephen Hero is part of the now-mostly-lost first draft of Joyce's first novel, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.The legend goes that Joyce, in a moment of disillusionment, flung the manuscript on the fire andhis sister Eileen rescued it.Odd, then, that the MS shows no apparentsigns of burnmarks.Either way, the first few hundred pages are missing,so what we have here is a fragment of what would probably have been a verylong and rather insufferable autobiographical novel about a clever youngman realising that he's too good for the society into which he's beenborn.

The remarkable thing about it is that even though Joyce isbasically transcribing the events of his own life, he's impressivelyobjective.Stephen Daedalus (it became "Dedalus" in the laterversion) is presented as a bit of a prig, almost comically outraged when itlooks like he can't read out a speech to a college debating society, andfor all his erudition and genius a twit when it comes to getting his endaway with the luscious Emma Clery.Joyce obviously realised this, becausewhen he rewrote the novel he made it not more objective but less so,forcing us to see the events from Stephen's point of view, modifying hismethod as Stephen grows from frightened boy to disdainful young man. Stephen Hero is all told in the same cool third-person that Joyce used inhis early stories.He abandoned it when he realised that it was quiteinappropriate for the book he really wanted to write.

So what are thevirtues of Stephen Hero?For one thing, it shows a lot more of the lifearound Stephen; Joyce has a lot of fun recording the inane remarks ofStephen's fellow students and the dimwitted inanity of the collegepresident.The family is presented as less of a threat and more of aslightly baffling background hum (Joyce seldom wrote as kindly about hismother as he does here, even if he made her death one of the equivocalemotional centres of Ulysses).Stephen's artistic theories are_explained_, rather than being _demonstrated_ as they are in A Portrait(and while this is part of how much better a book A Portrait is, it's niceto see them set down, as well.)But in the end you have to admit that ifJoyce had published this as his first novel, he mightn't have had thereputation he has today as being a man who published nothing butmasterpieces.Dubliners is the best starting point if you've never readJoyce before and want to see what the fuss is about.Stephen Hero, on theother hand, is no masterpiece, but it's perhaps the only book by JamesJoyce that you could recommend to people going on a long train journey.

The Castle of Indolence, the Daemony of the Church
Stephen delves deep into the error-trapping loops of Jesuit doctrine, sounding its minatory hollows, vivisecting its repressive will-to-venom. A stately young apprentice, equipped with esthetic tools he himself has made,Daedalus spends precious little time studying for his exams, payingknee-tribute in the entropo-oedipal chambers of the chapel, nor allowinghimself to be terrorized into stupidity by fiction-blind men of the Church.EXILE TEACHES ONE TO SENSE AND VALUE. Stephen's rejecting passion strivesto evade the conflict-spirals of "Irish paralysis," thedecades-dead mausolea of a distant Papal dispensation. For the erodedstatuary of Doctrine has been subsumed by the zesty rind of the Epiphany, acrystallization of the fragmentary present into a seeing-place for theexilic soul. In a fine irony, Stephen must reconcile his aesthetico-ethicalideals with a grave intellectual debt to that greatest doctor of thechurch, St. Thomas Aquinas; can Stephen ever truly purge himself of theIrish Catholic gene-machine? --*Stephen Hero* is a great task but wellworth it, much in the vein of Beckett's *Dream of Fair to Middling Women*,an apprentice-work with all its warts intact, a revelatory gem far beyondjuvenilia. For here we are granted an unprecedented view of Joyce theyouthful escape-artist, of the traumata which sustained his greater odes,the dark italics of literary Exile.

Joyce's stylistic development revealed
Stephen Hero, the latter half of a rejected first draft of Portrait (apocrypha: Joyce flung his manuscript into a fire only to have Nora save part of it), offers Joyce fans a glimpse of his literary style anddevelopment as a young buck of nineteen to twenty-four.Portrait, written~7-12 years later, is a condensation of the initial thousand pages of Herowith several layers of symbolism and effects added. Portrait shines thespotlight of Stephen's intellect upon the dim world of his own perception;Hero sets an objective reality in the plain light of day in simple,effective prose. Hero's style allows Stephen's arrogance to come acrossmuch more clearly than in Portrait.His adolescent conflicts are moreeasily relatable to the reader, whereas in Portrait those conflicts arearranged dramatically to occasion his birth as an artist, complete with hismoderately original neo-Aristotelian, applied Aquinas heuristic. Thistext is NOT suitable as an introduction to Joyce (Dubliners is obviouslythe way to go in that respect).Those who are already committed fans ofPortrait should with a little patience find Hero an engaging read. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Dubliners/A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Dubliners, a short story collection, is the first major work that James Joyce published after years of impediments.A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man followed as the first of three novels.The works are challenging but among the best written in the history of literature.A survey of people involved in literature done in the Nineties, I believe, listed Portrait as the third best novel of the twentieth century written in English, outranked only by Ulysses, also by Joyce, and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.I bought this hardbound edition because I teach both needed a durable copy as my paperback copies were woefully tattered after years of use.As I was reannotating Portrait, I was moved to read it again, despite having taught it twice this past year.I am enjoying it immensely once again.Both concern the struggles of growing up and, despite their being decidedly Irish, Joyce has touched many universal chords as well.I would recommend both very highly, no matter a person's literary tastes. ... Read more

Product Description
One of the most important literary works of the twentieth century, Ulysses is also one of the most realistic novels ever written. The characters, some of them Dubliners appearing under their own names, visit shops and pubs that can be located precisely in the streets of the city in which Joyce grew up. Despite the renovation of Dublin in recent decades, many of these neighborhoods and establishments remain.

Published to coincide with the centenary of Bloomsday on June 16, 2004, this unique study uses more than 100 maps and photographs to examine the importance of Ulysses's basis in physical fact, showing how characters move around the city and how the novel works in terms of time and place. The accompanying texts include an analysis of Joyce's use of Thom's Official Directory of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, an account of the characters' movements episode by episode, an alphabetical list of the addresses of characters and places, a timetable of corresponding events, a note about unresolved problems, a detailed set of maps based on originals from early in the twentieth century, and a selection of historical illustrations. These tools enable the reader to approach more fully the perspective of the native Dubliner in 1904 and enhance the delights—and the understanding—of Joyce's great novel. 113 illustrations, including 79 maps. ... Read more

Product Description
After God, Shakespeare created most, James Joyce wrote in Ulysses. The importance of Shakespeare in Ulysses has been often discussed and documented; that this royal bard is as central and omnipresent in Finnegan's Wake has been roundly agreed upon by Joyce scholars, yet no printed volume has exhaustively investigated the topic. This study arrives, therefore, as a welcome and timely look into the assertion, as on critic put it, that 'Finnegans Wake is about Shakespeare.' 'Throughout his life,' Dr. Cheng writes,'Joyce was in the habit of comparing himself to England's national poet.' In the Wake, Shakespeare -his life, his plays and his characters- forms a 'dense and extensive matrix of allusion.' Part I of this book provides a critical and interpretative view of how Shakespearean influences and allusions illuminate the themes and meanings of the Wake; the chapters are arranged to follow general patterns of allusion and motif. Part II comprises explications of a thousand Shakespearean allusions in Finnegan's Wake, recorded by page and line of the novel. Finally, Part III is a set of appendixes which list the Shakespearean allusions by play, act, scene, and line for easy reference. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Think you know Joyce? Read on!
"Shakespeare and Joyce" will open your eyes! Did you know that "riverrun" is the first Shakespeare reference in "Finnegans Wake"? You'll know this and hundreds of other choyce titbits afterreading this excellent, fun, and well-written book on the author who mostimpressed Joyce (Dante was second to the Englishman). ... Read more

Product Description
Joyce's semi-autobiographical chronicle of Stephen Dedalus' passage from university student to "independent" artist is at once a richly detailed, amusing, and moving coming-of-age story, a tour de force of style and technique, and a profound examination of the Irish psyche and society. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

The best edition of "A Portrait"
Depending on one's taste and level of concentration, James Joyce's "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" is either tedious flop or a wonderful cornerstone of world literature. (I believe the latter.) I won't go into a discussion of "A Portrait" here because if you are looking at this particular Viking Critical edition, you've already committed yourself to reading it. The value of this edition lies in the critical essays and notes at the end. The notes will help the reader along, as they explain some of the terms and/or conditions that are particular to Joyce's Ireland. The essays are, each and every one, valuable tools. Whether it's an examination of Joyce's life, the creation of "A Portrait", the influences it would have, etc., every essay is a heavy-weight that enchances an understanding of the book. (At least it did for me.) If you're seriously considering reading "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" this is the edition to use.

Master edition of a master work
I recently re-read this edition of POTA and was pleased to find the experience even more exhilirating than when I read the book first in college 25 years ago.The notes and essays are invaluable to an American Jewish reader of a book so imbued with issues critical in Irish Catholic life and history.The issues raised are, above all, universal.Read it, and read it again!

The World Needs More Thinkers...
If you are looking for mindless entertainment, go watch TV. Joyce's "Portrait" is for those who truly appreciate great literature and are willing to dwell on every word of a marvelous artwork. This (obviously)takes time, which you probably have if you are reading this recreationally.As a high school student reading this piece as a requirement, I too had acertain measure of difficulty digesting the book at parts (mostly due totime constraints.) The effect of this difficulty though, is the splendidepiphany that you can, by the novel's end, view the world through the eyesof the genius Stephen. Like Faulkner, Joyce demonstrates confusion notthrough description, but by confusing the reader. This artistic ability iswhat separates "classic" literature from forgotten"popular" novels of past eras. This may be a little more involvedthan "Chicken Soup," but for those of us who think about whatthey are reading and enjoy literary analysis, the novel is quite wonderful.You can read it on your own, but I would recommend referencing the myth ofDaedalus and Icarus before reading the novel. Also, have a historicalencyclopedia handy for names during the read. Enjoy!

Steven Hero
It is a great peice of writting, and beautifully orchestrates the kunstlerroman of a gaumless youth into a quick-witted adult... truely a novel for the ages. Although is becomes almost soporific at times, Joycemade his novel seriatim, while still embolming a stream of consciousness.If one has the chance, do read!

One of the most beautiful stories ever written
James Joyce is, without a doubt, the best writer in the twentieth century. His ability to weave words together, to balance reality with stream of conciousness, neither becoming overwhelming, is superb. The most accessibleJoyce (with stream of consciousness), Portrait is a wonderful book andshould be recommended to all. ... Read more

Product Description
Este libro es el producto de casi treinta años de seminarios dedicados a esclarecer, desde una perspectiva paralela a la mirada del lector no especializado, los puntos más oscuros que se presentan al abordar el Ulises de James Joyce.Sin pretensión académica alguna, el texto acompaña- tanto a quienes se han sentido 'derrotados' por Joycecomo a quienes ni siquiera intentaron la lectura-por los meandros del laberinto joyceano, buscando los hitos queayuden a recorrerlo con confianza en su discernimiento, y asegurándoles la libertad de encontrar significados y sentidos distintos de los que aquí se señalan.El Ulises impresiona como una construcción hermética; parece insinuar que se necesita una clave de decodificación para que se abran sus puertas. Si el lector, haciendo a un lado prejuicios y temores, fuerza la resistencia del texto y la suya propia, de la mano de esta guía encontrará salida. No la salida; no la predeterminada por el ritual cuasi religioso con el que se cree hay que trabajar este experimento literario, sino su salida, la que lo deje satisfecho y le proporcione placer.Si el contenido de Una lectura posible facilita un encuentro con los mundos y los tiempos que Joyce concentró en un solo día, si permite aprehender el humor, la queja, la crítica, la observación de la realidad, las trampas del pensamiento, este libro habrá cumplido su propósito.++++++++++++Si pudiéramos sintetizar qué nos produce dejarnos llevar por un texto que lee el Ulises (no "acerca de", ni "sobre", tal como aclara la autora), deberíamos priorizar el hecho de que estas páginas intenten dar cuenta del pensamiento humano, de su monólogo interior. Es el universal proyectado en lo singular, que se plasma en el pensamiento encarnado en distintos personajes: Bloom, Stephen, Molly, quienes inmersos en su propia lucha, se preguntan nada menos que por su existencia.Dra. Alicia Merajver de HartmannPsicoanalista.Docente en el Doctorado de la UBA. Autora de varios volúmenes sobre el quehacer psicoanalítico.Me parece excelente la Guia de Marta Merajver. Impecablemente escrita, bien documentada, sagaz, interesante como experiencia de su lectura personal del Ulises y de la docencia literaria, pues los dos niveles, el del ensayo y el relato de la experiencia universitaria, se reúnen con facilidad y felicidad.Néstor BraunsteinCatedrático en la Facultad de Filosofía y Letras de la UNAM. Doctor en Medicina con especialización en Psiquiatría. Autor de numerosas publicaciones.+++++++++"Marta Merajver-Kurlat es oriunda de Buenos Aires, capital de la República Argentina. Atraída desde siempre por las variadas formas en que la humanidad relata su historia, se dedicó al estudio de los mitos, el lenguaje, la psicología, y el psicoanálisis. Luego de residir varios años en Europa, con breves estancias en los Estados Unidos, regresó a su ciudad natal, repartiendo su actividad entre la traducción y la enseñanza de Lengua y Literatura Inglesa y Norteamericana. Entre sus numerosas traducciones se destaca El hombre que inventó a Fidel, del prestigioso autor y periodista Anthony DePalma, 2007. Es autora de Understanding English, (Editorial Formar, Buenos Aires, 2004), y de las novelas Gracias por la muerte y Los gloriosos sesenta y después (Jorge Pinto Books Inc., Nueva York, 2006 y 2007 respectivamente). Gracias por la muerte fue publicada en inglés bajo el título Just Toss the Ashes en 2007 por la misma editorial. En ese mismo año publicó Finnegans Wake o el último sueño de un escritor en Lacan y los escritores (Editorial Escuela Freudiana de Buenos Aires, Bs. As.) y La comprensión auditiva de una lengua extranjera en Medicina Psicosocial-Lectura Psicoanalítica: Tomo II - Perspectivas contemporáneas, en el marco de la Comisión Ad Hoc de Medicina Psicosocial de la Asociación Psicoanalítica Argentina (APA; Librería AK ... Read more

Product Description
This work is a collection of the poetry of James Joyce. "Chamber Music" contains 36 poems charting the feelings of an idealized love that ends in failure. "Pomes Penyeach" is a collection of occasional pieces, and "Ecce Puer" celebrates the birth of Joyce's grandson whilst mourning his father. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

James Joyce
I got this for my boyfriend because of a Dylan song where he sings "reading James Joyce". He'll love it. Quick delivery. Thanks

Musing Music
James Joyces lesser known poetry is interesting when comparing his literary works of Finnegans Wake and Portrait of a Young Man. This book has 3 sets of poems, the first is called "Chamber Music." Its made upof 36 short poems in which Joyce shows love gained and love lost. Iparticularly enjoyed this series because each poem is either of the lady orman speaking in a musical tone, alternately, page by page. Later afterthese were published a few musicians put them to actual music whichapparently made Joyce quite happy. The second set, titled "PomesPenyeach," are appearingly random, although they seem to go togetherin a strange way when you read them. The last poem, titled "EccePuer" about the birth of his grandson and the death of his father.Very moving how in a few words Joyce gives out his feelings of happyness,sadness and somewhat resentment. Simple describes best this set of poemsthat Joyce collected in his early years of writing, which Chamber Music isthe first work of Joyce to actually appear in print. Certainly a goodaddition to any Joyce lover as well as one who love poetry. ... Read more