Ulysses : a critical and synoptic edition

Success!!! I've finished. I certainly couldn't have done it or gotten as much out of it as I did if it weren't for the brilliant and masterful narration by [a:Jim Norton Riordan 6684912 Jim Norton Riordan https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]. Not only are his voices varied and pitch perfect but he just makes everything clear, from who's talking, what they're going on about, or when we're just in someone's head. Plus he sings too! Perfection. I'd say unless you're super versed in EVERYTHING do yourself a favor and pair this book with the JN audio (there are others). You can thank me later.I'm fairly certain that I'm seriously under qualified to rate this book. Every page is packed or allusive to historical events, particularly late XIX and early XX Century Irish history, other literary works, or just the nature of language itself, that you could spend a goodly amount of time decoding the layers of what's going on. On the other hand nothing really happens. Kind of like an erudite Seinfeld episode. It's June 16th and Stephen Dedalus, a young poet, just returned from Paris (see: [b:A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man 7588 A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man James Joyce https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388201200s/7588.jpg 3298883]) and Leopold Bloom, separately set about a day in Dublin. Their paths will cross and intersect given that they move in the same circle of friends: the pubs, the newspaper, a friend's funeral, a birth, a brothel. All the while we live in Leo or Stephen's heads. You may scratch your head at times, you may wonder what's going on, you'll laugh and you'll never be bored. What's it all about? Mostly sex. How to get it, where, when, how, the enjoyment of it, the types, with who, past sexual conquests, looking forward to and making plans for future romps. [a:James Joyce 5144 James Joyce https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1517863935p2/5144.jpg] lays all this out in a extravagance of of literary styles that leaves one in awe of the breath and depth of his knowledge. Bonus: It's Laugh-Out-Loud Funny. Extra Bonus: Molly Bloom! You'll have to wait for the last 60+ pages of the book to get her voice but it's totally worth it. She totally owns her sexuality. She is herself and unapologetically so. What a breath of fresh air. I don't know if that was Joyce's intention but Molly won't be denied.