Joyce James

Pros: You will definitely expand your vocabulary
Cons: If you can make it to the finish line.

Ulysses, Recorded Books, first officially authorized unabridged version by the Trustees of the Joyce Estate, 30 cassettes, 42.5 hours. Narrated by Donal Donnally and Miriam Healy-Louie.

James Joyce had the idea for this book over ten years,...

Pros: Enlightening, original concepts, much to mull
Cons: Sometimes preoccupied with religious debate

A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man, unabridged version, Recorded Books, narrated by Donal Donally, 11.5 hours, eight cassettes.

Born on February 2, 1882, the eldest of fifteen, ten of which survived, in Dublin, Ireland, James Joyce's...

Pros: A good descriptive account of Dublin in the early 1900's
Cons: Joyce is in his journalistic phase, the best is yet to come.

Dubliners, Recorded Books, unabridged version, 9.5 hours, 7 cassettes, narrated by Donal Donnelly. James Joyce first attempted to publish Dubliners in 1912, but the publisher changed his mind, citing impropriety. It was published successfully in 1914,...