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13th out of 78 books
—
12 voters
Ulysses Annotated
by
Don Gifford,
Robert J. Seidman (Goodreads Author)
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 an...more
Paperback, 698 pages
Published
September 7th 1989
by University of California Press
(first published February 28th 1974)
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This book is bulkier than Ulysses itself and I didn't like it one bit. I think the authors knew I wouldn't. In their preface they say
The notes may appear to labor an abundance of the obvious in order to render a few grains of the subtle and suggestive
And
This book is designed to be laid open beside the novel and to be read in tandem with it. Tandem reading, however, has its disadvantages.
I'll say. Especially when the front rider on the tandem is pedalling manically into the dangerous transcendent...more
The notes may appear to labor an abundance of the obvious in order to render a few grains of the subtle and suggestive
And
This book is designed to be laid open beside the novel and to be read in tandem with it. Tandem reading, however, has its disadvantages.
I'll say. Especially when the front rider on the tandem is pedalling manically into the dangerous transcendent...more
I've just finished my first read of Ulysses, and it was a transcendent experience. I took two months, took my time, looked forward to my weekly (sometimes biweekly) visits in Joyce's Dublin.
I am not yet ready to write a review of Ulysses - I want to let the experience wash over me a bit longer before I try to capture it in words. But I do want to say a few words about the reference texts I used: Ulysses Annotated and The New Bloomsday Book: A Guide Through Ulysses (which I will discuss in a sepa...more
I am not yet ready to write a review of Ulysses - I want to let the experience wash over me a bit longer before I try to capture it in words. But I do want to say a few words about the reference texts I used: Ulysses Annotated and The New Bloomsday Book: A Guide Through Ulysses (which I will discuss in a sepa...more
I remember so much more of Ulysses Annotated than I do of Ulysses that it's actually ridiculous (not that this is saying much, since I have a serious case of book amnesia when it comes to Ulysses, possibly because I was distracted the whole time by the annotations). For example: "French letter" was Irish slang at the time for condoms. "Pole-ax" is some kind of important verb that comes from Hamlet. I think. A "pard" -- contrary to my then-dictionary's definition, which had it as an abbreviated f...more
anyone who says they understood ulysses without using this book is lying. kick them in the balls for me.
May 09, 2007
Laura Wetsel
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Ulysses reader
Shelves:
literary-criticism
Necessary companion to Ulysses, which is as big as Ulysses. You won't understand Ulysses without it.
Jul 18, 2007
Heather
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
anyone reading or planning to read Ulysses
This book is wonderful, and I don't think I could make it through Ulysses without it. The (admittedly unfair) reason I give it only three stars is because of my dislike for having to read two heavy, bulky books at once. I loved the introduction to the annotations with the thoughtful suggestions on how to manage the task of simultaneous reading and the concise, engaging summary of events in Irish history that surround the day Ulysses takes place. I had never read a thing before about anti-semitis...more
This supplementary book of annotation and background info is indispensable if you are giving Ulysses a go. Keep in mind that the annotations themselves are somewhat intimidating -- averaging a page of notes per page of Joyce's writing. Including the background and plan for each section (for example, Joyce has a character from the Odyssey, a set of colors, an organ, a theme, a time of day, etc. for each of his sections, and this is included before each section of notes), this book is actually lar...more
Extremely useful, but can be dangerous. Don't be tempted to sit it side by side with your copy of Ulysses and read them in tandem (as it suggests in the foreward). You really don't need to know every annotation here. Look, I love minutia. But some of this is beyond minutia and will contribute nothing to your appreciation, and constantly switching back and forth between the two books will ruin the flow of the work and your enjoyment of it. Instead, keep it nearby and if something in particular co...more
Did I like it? Not really. But it's a reference book, and it isn't there to be liked. Was it useful? Often. It'd be rather more useful for a historian than for a critical reader, and more for that reader than for the reader for pleasure that I am.
I found these notes excellent help in understanding Ulysses. I know that it can be annoying to have to consult a massive book every two or three lines but doing so can dramatically alter your reading of the text.
The geographical annotations are particularly useful. I have spent my whole life in Dublin and wasn't familiar with many of the places mentioned. Some might think it trivial but in sections such as Wandering Rocks, you can't appreciate what Joyce is doing if you can't recognize it. The...more
The geographical annotations are particularly useful. I have spent my whole life in Dublin and wasn't familiar with many of the places mentioned. Some might think it trivial but in sections such as Wandering Rocks, you can't appreciate what Joyce is doing if you can't recognize it. The...more
Ulysses Annotated was a great supplement to my first,second, and [eventually] third marathons through Ulysses this year. (I'm writing an extended criticism on Joyce and Modernism. Why? Because I hate myself, and I have low self-esteem. Voglio e non. I wonder if I'm saying that right. Volgio. Queer word. Who's getting it up? Poor Dignam! Poor Papa! Poor brutes. Letter. Soap. Potato.) The work includes samples from both of Joyce's schema, a scene-for-scene comparison to Homer's Odyssey, and a line...more
The amount of information is just at the border of overwhelming.
There were just too many annotations. When nearly every sentence has an annotation, you lose sight of what's worthwhile. Reading every annotation simply took too long, so I ended up just using it look up the occasional difficult-to-understand passage. Ideally, this would be available as an electronic edition that was somehow linked with an electronic edition of Ulysses, rather than as a separate book that you have to lug around.
Certainly made the difference in helping me understand the many world/Irish history, literature, musical, biblical references in "Ulysses", along with the 1904 Dublin people, places and language.
At the beginning of each chapter, gives a brief summary of the chapter in Homer's "Odyssey" that it follows. Gifford also gives brief description of the chapter, and symbolism to look for. As the chapter goes along - thousands of references are provided.
I had this opened and referenced to while I read...more
At the beginning of each chapter, gives a brief summary of the chapter in Homer's "Odyssey" that it follows. Gifford also gives brief description of the chapter, and symbolism to look for. As the chapter goes along - thousands of references are provided.
I had this opened and referenced to while I read...more
Exceptionally helpful in digging through the multitude of historical and literary references in Ulysses. I could quibble with the layout, and would argue that the index could be more robust, but overall I would recommend this for anyone serious about undertaking a thorough reading of the novel. Pairs well with Stewart's Homeric analysis and Hart et al. collection of essays.
Line numbers correspond to the Gabler edition—as well as another one, I'm not sure which—so I'd recommend picking up that on...more
Line numbers correspond to the Gabler edition—as well as another one, I'm not sure which—so I'd recommend picking up that on...more
Excellent guide to Mister Joyce's big book of the daytime...Only quarrel is the page references are for an edition that isn't mine own, my beloved Vintage version, but ah whatever. It's not hard to look stuff up when you need to.
It's a Rosetta Stone, skeleton key, church key, Key to All Mythologies, Concordance, Atlas, Microscope, Unmoved Mover, Getaway Driver and textual spaceship. By having it around, it enhances your reading experience of Ulysses and, by extension, your experience of readin...more
Indispensable for a thorough reading of Ulysses.
This is a reference book, with entries arranged in order of their occurrence in the text. Originally compiled to help students in Gifford's own classes on Ulysses, it sets out to answer just about anything you might want to "look up" while reading Ulysses--which is a lot, and this is a big book.
For example: you're reading the Lestrygonians episode, and you come across a mention of "lemon platt". What's that? Look it up in the Lestrygonians chapter...more
This is a reference book, with entries arranged in order of their occurrence in the text. Originally compiled to help students in Gifford's own classes on Ulysses, it sets out to answer just about anything you might want to "look up" while reading Ulysses--which is a lot, and this is a big book.
For example: you're reading the Lestrygonians episode, and you come across a mention of "lemon platt". What's that? Look it up in the Lestrygonians chapter...more
Could not have read Ulysses without the help of this reference. The book is heavy and cumbersome, and sometimes seems to make things more obscure, but overall it helped and was worth the extra effort in terms of increasing my understanding of the historic and cultural references that abound in the work of James Joyce.
An invaluable tool for reading through Ulysses, especially with Gifford's attempts to unify each chapter's recurring themes and symbols in his annotations. It does get tedious, which one can only expect with a scholarly-companion book to one of the longest and most complicated pieces of literature in English, but for anyone who wants more than a surface reading of Ulysses (and wants any hope of understand the more abstract chapters), this will definitely be a great benefit.
This is not so much a book to read from cover to cover, its essential reference material to those who wish to get the most possible from a thorough reading of James Joyce's "Ulysses". Its an amazing source of information (this and about 30 other essential reference books on the greatest novel of the 20th century) which really enhance the Ulysses experience. If there was one fundamental or indispensable Ulysses reference tool that I could recommend, this would be it.
It's been about two years since I read Ulysses, and reviewing it today I had to go back and add an extra star for this "greatest novel of all time". I had to add it, not because I found the book itself any more enjoyable. Having read the monstrous text three times now, I completely recognize its literary merit despite loathing every moment I've spent trenching through its thick, over-analyzed language. But that was what got the book its first three stars -- I knew it could not be ignored. Howeve...more
A monumental accomplishment in literature: Joyce's genius shines out from every page. Highly recommend the annotated version as there are so many references & allusions to Greek mythology. Will also help you to understand what structure he is emulating in each chapter (symphony, story from THE ODYSSEY, the Catechism, his stream-of-consciousness intent, etc.) This is not exactly a "beach read" but it is so worth it!
I absolutely loved "the Gifford" as I read Ulysses for the first time. My favorite way was to read a chunk of Ulysses, then go back through with the Gifford next to it, filling myself in on allusions and historical events I hadn't gotten. I especially love the text of all the songs alluded to are printed in the Gifford, I feel it gives great historic and cultural information to the reader.
Thank God for this book. Without it I wouldn't have had a chance of navigating "Ulysses." It's especially helpful in more obtuse episodes like 'Proteus' and 'Oxen of the Sun,' and following along with Gifford's annotations will help you acclimate to the novel much faster. A must for anyone attempting "Ulysses" for the first time.
This book is stupidly exhaustive. But it's easy enough to skip what you don't care about. So if you're researching the influence of 14th century Dutch Opera on Ulysses, this is your book. If you want to understand the dirty words, this is your book.
What this book doesn't do is explain things at a higher level. If you want to know when memory transitions to reality, or what a passage says about Joyce, this is not the book for you. So look for a book of chapter summaries for the 1-2 combo.
What this book doesn't do is explain things at a higher level. If you want to know when memory transitions to reality, or what a passage says about Joyce, this is not the book for you. So look for a book of chapter summaries for the 1-2 combo.
Constantly consulting this alongside Ulysses would be a chore. It's a decent clunker to have around, though--if you're particularly curious about one reference you don't get, or if you need to look things up to confirm them; I used it now and again when I was writing papers.
An absolute MUST have companion to the novel. The amount of research that went into annotating the entire tome is mind-boggling, and extremely helpful to keep the Ulysses reader from getting lost.
I read this along with Ulysses. It elucidates Joyce's text to be sure but probably gives more information than you would ever want. Plus the intratextual references get annoying.
Essential to anyone who cares about this book. Ulysses has been creeping back into my life in weird ways recently. Perhaps an epic rereading in the near future??
An extremely used collection of symbols, references, and allusions that provide context for scenes and characters in James Joyce's Ulysses--highly recommended!
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Imagine what we'd see if we cut up a page of "Ulysses" and had a look at it under a microscope, like the eye of a fly.
Imagine the...more
Mar 13, 2012 02:25pm
updated Mar 28, 2013 01:52am