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Easy Ulysses: Annotated, Edited and with an Introduction, Notes and Detailed Explanations by J Michael O'Reilly Kindle Edition

by James Joyce (Author), J Michael O'Reilly (Editor) Format: Kindle Edition
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 58 ratings
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*The easiest way to read Ulysses *Cut down to half the original length *All the humour and literary brilliance remaining *Annotated and with an Introduction by the Editor *Full List of Characters with descriptions and references to where they appear in the text *Inter-textual explanations and notes throughout *Introduction to each Episode explaining: 1. Main Characters in the episode 2. Where the action takes place 3. What time of the day it is 4. The style in which the episode is written 5. What happens in the episode 6. The relationship of the characters and action to Homer's original James Joyce's Ulysses has long been regarded as the greatest novel of the 20th Century - and the least read. Considered almost unreadable except by scholars and students, it has been picked up and attempted by thousands of intelligent people since its publication only to be given up in despair. But now, for the first time, with the ruthless editing of a 900-page book down to the length of an average novel, a detailed introduction to each chapter giving all the information the reader needs to set the scene, along with numerous inter-textual explanations in red of any remaining difficulties, Ulysses can be read by anyone*. The result is a version of Ulysses that will be as enjoyable and as readable as it deserves to be, while retaining all that is great about Joyce's stunningly beautiful and entertaining writing. *Please note, however, that any version of this book will not be suitable for children under 16.
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  1. Print length
    230 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publication date
    October 8, 2012
  5. File size
    747 KB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B009Q8EPPI
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ J Michael O'Reilly (October 8, 2012)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 8, 2012
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 747 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 230 pages
  • Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ B0BB61WL19
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 58 ratings

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
58 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Daphney
5.0 out of 5 stars Have 3 versions, love the helpful notations in this one. Wish there were more.
Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2013
Verified Purchase
I have the audio version, the unabridged version and this "Easy Ulysses". I read the easy one, then listen to the audio version, then use the unabridged version when there is something in the audio version that isn't in the Easy version. The audio version gives you the cadence but I read along at the same time because I don't think you can understand it from just listening. But just reading is confusing too because of all those dashes. What are those for?
2 people found this helpful
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Little Richie
4.0 out of 5 stars Happier with the annotations
Reviewed in the United States on March 24, 2022
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Joyce, not a joy or a ce. His writing, yikes. The annotated helps us mullers and enhances the totality of effervescence. What did that mean? Try my annotated version.
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Eclectic Reader
3.0 out of 5 stars Its okay . . .
Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2013
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Interspersing comments within an abridged text seems like a possibly helpful idea.

But in the end, the comments were only marginally helpful, and the abridged text kept me wondering what had been left out, and I ended up reading the complete version.

Much better. Harry Blamire's The New Bloomsday Book. I bought the Kindle version.
One person found this helpful
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jay arrANGER
5.0 out of 5 stars Easy Ulysses is indeed easier to understand thanks to the ...
Reviewed in the United States on September 20, 2014
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Having tried to read the original Ulysses, and knowing what I know about Joyce's high level of scholarship, Easy Ulysses is indeed easier to understand thanks to the clarifying of antiquated references.
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Karl
4.0 out of 5 stars It helped me get through more of Ulysses. Naturally ...
Reviewed in the United States on July 26, 2015
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It helped me get through more of Ulysses. Naturally, it does skip some significant material but it can give you an idea of what the Ulysses is about.
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Kindle Customer
3.0 out of 5 stars Three Stars
Reviewed in the United States on August 11, 2014
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Great to have information as you are reading but a little more would have been more helpful
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Vazhaspa Spitman
2.0 out of 5 stars Simplified Still Improper Annotation!
Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2014
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I have only two simple questions and two little stars for this edition of Ulysses:

1- If it is supposed to be ANNOTATED text, why the editor has to simplify the text by deleting some difficult words/ phrases/ passages?? (To be fair, this is how the editor tries to justify his paradoxical strategy: "It is hoped that the reader will understand every word in this SHORTENED, EDITED version as anything particularly obtuse has been DELETED and anything else of difficulty has been explained in the body of the text. The result is a version of Ulysses that will be as enjoyable and as readable as it deserves to be")

2- Still, why many difficult or symbolic passages lack simple explanations or have no proper annotations?

To see the point, compare this text to the FULL text of Ulysses and its accompanying annotation that you can find free on Internet in lit.genius.com:
http://lit.genius.com/James-joyce-ulysses-chap-1-telemachus-annotated#note-1822300

Let's have a look at only two examples:

1- The editor [Michael O'Reilly] leave the Latin phrase " Introibo ad altare Dei" untranslated and just declares that it is the "Opening of the Latin Mass; the book is full of Latin quotations as Joyce was fluent in the language, but this is one of the few examples left in." (Kindle Locations 123-124).

Now, compare this ingenious explanation with Lit Genius annotation (cited above):
"Introibo ad altare Dei" ("I will go up to the altar of God."): Mulligan's first words initiate a mocking parody of the Catholic Mass, In his mock ritual, the shaving bowl represents the chalice (or ciborium, or pyx) that holds the wine which will become changed into the blood of Christ-- though in this parody the stage has been set by his "stately" appearance carrying a bowl on which a mirror and razor lie "crossed."

2- The editor does not explain what the acronym "g.p.i." (Kindle Location 220) stands for, so the reader is misled that it might be equivalent to "general paralysis of the insane" that Joyce sarcastically inserts in the body text. He also deletes a sentence in between: "He's up in Dottyville with Connolly Norman"

Nevertheless, it is the internet site that gives a correct explanation:
g.p.i = Abbreviation for "general paresis of the insane," a polite medical term for syphilis"; adding that "general paralysis of the insane" is "a twist on the acronym". Also It explains two names that is left out by Mr. o'Reilly:
Dottyville= Slang for Richmond Lunatic Asylum in Dublin
Connolly Norman = Connolly Norman(12 March 1853- February 1908) was an Irish alienist, or psychiatrist, of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He was the Resident Medical Superintendent of a number of district asylums, most notably Ireland's largest asylum, the Richmond District Lunatic Asylum, now known as St. Brendan's Hospital.

3- Finally, let's have a look at the a long passage whose deletion has no justification even according to the editor's own criteria (since there is nothing incomprehensible or too sophisticated here) It occurs after the
the line "--By Jove, it is tea, Haines said." Kindle Location 373):

Buck Mulligan went on hewing and wheedling:
--So I do, Mrs Cahill, says she. Begob, ma'am, says Mrs Cahill, God send you don't make them in the one pot.
He lunged towards his messmates in turn a thick slice of bread, impaled on his knife.
--That's folk, he said very earnestly, for your book, Haines. Five lines of text and ten pages of notes
about the folk and the fishgods of Dundrum. Printed by the weird sisters in the year of the big wind.
He turned to Stephen and asked in a fine puzzled voice, lifting his brows:
--Can you recall, brother, is mother Grogan's tea and water pot spoken of in the Mabinogion or is it in
the Upanishads?
--I doubt it, said Stephen gravely.
--Do you now? Buck Mulligan said in the same tone. Your reasons, pray?
--I fancy, Stephen said as he ate, it did not exist in or out of the Mabinogion. Mother Grogan was,
one imagines, a kinswoman of Mary Ann.
Buck Mulligan's face smiled with delight.
--Charming! he said in a finical sweet voice, showing his white teeth and blinking his eyes pleasantly.
Do you think she was? Quite charming!
Then, suddenly overclouding all his features, he growled in a hoarsened rasping voice as he hewed
again vigorously at the loaf:

--For old Mary Ann
She doesn't care a damn.
But, hising up her petticoats...

He crammed his mouth with fry and munched and droned.
7 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Kindle Aficionado
5.0 out of 5 stars A Good Reference For Reading Joyce’s Work.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 7, 2021
Verified Purchase
This book is a supportive adjunct for reading Joyces’s Ulysses. If you read only this,however, much of the challenge of reading Ulysses itself will be lost. If you read along side the full book it provides elucidation of the text as Joyce’s work is not an easy read. Perhaps more could have been added but that would make it prolix and too a large a reference work. P
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verce
3.0 out of 5 stars non approfondito
Reviewed in Italy on May 17, 2015
Verified Purchase
Non così d aiuto come mi aspettavo. Le nozioni in più messe per facilitare il lettore sono superficiali e a trovabili anche su internet. Mi aspettavo più approfondimenti utili
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teddyted
2.0 out of 5 stars Be careful : it's not the complete novel
Reviewed in France on July 3, 2013
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Be careful ! This is not the full text ! Many passages are missing. The annotations may be useful, but the edition is deceptive.
2 people found this helpful
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al aditya khan
4.0 out of 5 stars Ulysses read!?
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 16, 2016
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An old friend reminded that I started reading it in 1995, after leaving it , coming back, again and again, trying the full and then abridged versions of the audio book it is finally done, thanks to this version.

The question mark however is to do with this being the abridged rather than the full version. That is next.
One person found this helpful
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Emerson Mayes
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 19, 2013
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This edition gave me the confidence to tackle Ulysses for the first time. While still not an easy read, it does definitely make the book accessible and was a real pleasure to read. I will read this edition again at some point and, perhaps, may tackle the original with my new-found confidence. Highly recommended.
2 people found this helpful
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