Ulysses Annotated

Book 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.

Customer Reviews:

Essential is the key word to all these reviews.......2006-11-13

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!.......2006-05-17

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.......2005-01-11

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.

Thorough, but not best for the novice reader.......2003-05-04

Gifford's book offers fascinating glosses and contextual annotations for Ulysses, but was not quite what I was looking for to help me with my first attempt at the book. The annotations are mostly disjoint explanations of specific allusions and references.

There are other guides to Ulysses that are better suited for the novice Joyce reader, helping the reader to keep track of the plot, the progress of the Odyssey and Hamlet corelations and explaining the shifts in style through the book. This kind of hand-holding may be unnecessary for more sophisticated readers, but for my first read, it was essential!

Break it Down.......2002-10-11

All the surface details, references to mythology, history, politics, music, literature, etc, can be found in this book (Joyce's novel is not included within, just the annotations, but it still clocks in at 700 pages!). If you want to know exactly what Joyce was referring to--this is the place. However, it won't necessarily tell you what he MEANT (aheheh, some things must be left to the reader).

Of course, if you've never read Ulysses you don't need to know every obscure reference. Just pick up REJOYCE or THE NEW BLOOMSDAY BOOK, which have generalized overviews of the novel. This is for the deep scholars. But as Joyce said, all he expects of his readers is that they study his works for the rest of their lives.

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

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Ulysses, great or not ?
ULYSSES is Joyce's Retelling of the Homerian Epic . Massive, Maddening, Enigmatic and Priceless
A REAL FAILURE AS A NOVEL
Classic of Modern Literature
Well, it's a classic, it once earned deserved praise as new & original but...

Ulysses
James Joyce
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Ulysses Annotated
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The New Bloomsday Book: A Guide Through Ulysses
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ASIN: 0679722769
Release Date: 1990-06-16

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Ulysses has been labeled dirty, blasphemous, and unreadable. In a famous 1933 court decision, Judge John M. Woolsey declared it an emetic book--although he found it sufficiently unobscene to allow its importation into the United States--and Virginia Woolf was moved to decry James Joyce's "cloacal obsession." None of these adjectives, however, do the slightest justice to the novel. To this day it remains the modernist masterpiece, in which the author takes both Celtic lyricism and vulgarity to splendid extremes. It is funny, sorrowful, and even (in a close-focus sort of way) suspenseful. And despite the exegetical industry that has sprung up in the last 75 years, Ulysses is also a compulsively readable book. Even the verbal vaudeville of the final chapters can be navigated with relative ease, as long as you're willing to be buffeted, tickled, challenged, and (occasionally) vexed by Joyce's sheer command of the English language.

Among other things, a novel is simply a long story, and the first question about any story is: What happens?. In the case of Ulysses, the answer might be Everything. William Blake, one of literature's sublime myopics, saw the universe in a grain of sand. Joyce saw it in Dublin, Ireland, on June 16, 1904, a day distinguished by its utter normality. Two characters, Stephen Dedalus and Leopold Bloom, go about their separate business, crossing paths with a gallery of indelible Dubliners. We watch them teach, eat, stroll the streets, argue, and (in Bloom's case) masturbate. And thanks to the book's stream-of-consciousness technique--which suggests no mere stream but an impossibly deep, swift-running river--we're privy to their thoughts, emotions, and memories. The result? Almost every variety of human experience is crammed into the accordian folds of a single day, which makes Ulysses not just an experimental work but the very last word in realism.

Both characters add their glorious intonations to the music of Joyce's prose. Dedalus's accent--that of a freelance aesthetician, who dabbles here and there in what we might call Early Yeats Lite--will be familiar to readers of Portrait of an Artist As a Young Man. But Bloom's wistful sensualism (and naive curiosity) is something else entirely. Seen through his eyes, a rundown corner of a Dublin graveyard is a figure for hope and hopelessness, mortality and dogged survival: "Mr Bloom walked unheeded along his grove by saddened angels, crosses, broken pillars, family vaults, stone hopes praying with upcast eyes, old Ireland's hearts and hands. More sensible to spend the money on some charity for the living. Pray for the repose of the soul of. Does anybody really?" --James Marcus

Book Description

This revised volume follows the complete unabridged text as corrected in 1961. Contains the original foreword by the author and the historic court ruling to remove the federal ban. It also contains page references to the first American edition of 1934.

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The 1934 text, as corrected and reset in 1961. Ulysses is one of the most influential novels of the twentieth century. It was not easy to find a publisher in America willing to take it on, and when Jane Jeap and Margaret Anderson started printing extracts from the book their literary magazine The Little Review in 1918, they were arrested and charged with publishing obscenity. They were fined $100, and even The New York Times expressed satisfaction with their conviction. Ulysses was not published in book form until 1922, when another American woman, Sylvia Beach, published it in Paris for her Shakespeare & Company. Ulysses was not available legally in any English-speaking country until 1934, when Random House successfully defended Joyce against obscenity charges and published it in the Modern Library. This edition follows the complete and unabridged text as corrected and reset in 1961. Judge John Woolsey's decision lifting the ban against Ulysses is reprinted, along with a letter from Joyce to Bennett Cerf, the publisher of Random House, and the original foreword to the book by Morris L. Ernst, who defended Ulysses during the trial.

Customer Reviews:

Ulysses, great or not ?.......2007-09-20

Probably every avid reader feels compelled at some time in life to read "Ulysses", especially as it was voted the best work of fiction of the 20th century at the turn of this millenium.

The style of writing throughout the book is usually referred to as "stream of consciousness". This method has been subsequently employed in other works such as "To The Lighthouse" and "The sound and the Fury". However, in my opinion, these latter two works used the style much more succesfully than Joyce.

If you are currently reading "Ulysses" at the moment, expect a very patchy book. The second half is , in general, better than the first half, with the two penultimate chapters "Cabman's shelter" and "Ithaca" standing out from the rest. After that, the description of birth in "Oxen in the sun" is also excellent , as is the part dsecribing Paddy Dignam's funeral early in the book. As to the rest of the book, I believe there is little to recommend it.

Opinion tends to be polarized about "Ulysses" . Its severest critics suggest that it is only praised by those who are scared to be criticized for not understanding the book, a sort of "emperor's new clothes" scenario. There is, however, more than a grain of truth in this opinion. It does seem incredible that a book with so much "padding" could be so highly thought of. It might have made a very good book of around 200 pages, but one does have the sensation that Joyce is taking his readers for a ride in many parts. ( Of course, his ultimate send up of his readers was "Finnegan's Wake"! ). Furthermore, the much lauded sense of humour is overblown. At best, this is a mildly amusing book with one or two laugh out loud lines. To label it as "very funny" is pretentiousness itself. Most of the humour is also of the "toilet" variety.

On the positive side, there are some interesting passages as mentioned above. However, the main interest lies in seeing this new attempt at a style of writing , and to try to fathom out why this book has become the "darling" of the ( maybe "so-called" ) intellectuals. If you want to see a better example of joyce's talents, try "Potrait Of The Artist As A Young Man", or even "The Dubliners".

ULYSSES is Joyce's Retelling of the Homerian Epic . Massive, Maddening, Enigmatic and Priceless.......2007-09-13

James Joyce (1882-1941) was a tormented Roman Catholic who forsook his faith, picked up his pen and wrote the great novel "Ulysses" based on the epic poem "The Odyssey" by Homer. It is impossible to explain Ulysses or give it an adequate review in the short space alloted this reviewer. Howwver, I would offer the following thoughts for those brave souls eager to enter the labyrinthal complexities of a genius's mind:
Joyce tells the story of one day in the life of the people of Dublin, Ireland on June 16, 1904 (the day he first met his wife Nora Baracle). As he does so in eighteen chapters linked with similar episodes in "The Odyssey." During the day (about 900 pages) we follow the two chief characters on their peregrinations and adventures. Those characters are:
Stephen Dedalus-Named for the Greek mytholgical figure Dedalus who builds wings to fly in the sky; his son Icarus flies too close to the sun and perishes while Dedalus lands in Sicily. Stephen was the chief character in Joyce's "The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man." He is tormented by his failure to pray at his dying mother's bedside; tormented by the Roman Catholic Church's burden of guilt laid upon his soul. Stephen is an aspiring author. He is ambivalent in his feelings toward his native Ireland. As the novel begins he is living in the English built castle
The Martello Tower along with his friend Buck Mulligan and an Englishman named Haines. Stephen is a teacher who is supervised by the horrible Deasy a West Englishman who in an Orange Protestant. Deasy is a false Nestor to the callow Stephen. Stephen is an intellectual with biographical correspondence to the author James Joyce.
Leopold Bloom-A 38 year old advertising man who is married to the sensuous Molly. Bloom is a middlebrow who roams the streets of Dublin plying his advertising career engaging in arguments, dreaming about a sexy young thing on the beach and saving Stephen from trouble in the famous Nighttime section of the book. Leopold does not practice his Judaism. His father was a Hungarian Jewish immigrant. The novel ends with Bloom returning home to his unfaithful wife Molly just as Odysseus returned home to his faithful wife Penelope in the Homeric epic. Bloomsday is celebrated worldwide on Feb. 2 each year (the date of Joyce's birth in 1882).
c. Molly Bloom-Her nearly fifty pages of stream of consciousness prose was until recently the longest sentence in the English language. She is a coarse, bawdy, serially cheating wife to Bloom.
I do not claim to understand everything going on in Ulysses. Joyce said it would take the professors and critics centuries to explore its rich minefield of literary allusions, jokes, and analysis of the human condition. Ulysses has been banned and blasted by literary critics as the same time it has been praised. You may find out yourself by giving it a close reading with a good commentary handy. Joyce plums the depths of the human mind. He is a great Irish genius whose work demands study.

A REAL FAILURE AS A NOVEL .......2007-08-03

As a devout modernist, I put off the pleasure of reading this book for years. I wanted to have the time and leisure to give it proper attention. I had taken a seminar with Anthony Burgess on ULYSSES at CCNY in the early seventies. We did a close reading of the Nighttown chapter and were supposed to read the rest of the novel on our own. I never did. But Burgess' enthusiasm was impressive and though I wasn't entirely convinced, I was certainly intrigued. In earlier years I had read DUBLINERS and PORTRAIT and even some of FINNEGANS WAKE and was especially impressed by Joyce's mastery of language and the poetic quality of his prose.

An early retirement offer finally had me reading the "GREATEST NOVEL OF THE 20th CENTURY" last month in Riverside Park. Some nice cigars added to the mix.

The first few chapters were stunning. The powers of description, the playfulness and musicality of language, the wit and intelligence of Stephen and Buck were a delight. I was obviously in the hands of a master. Shakespeare even came to mind.

But then something happened. The humanity and poetry seemed to drain out of the thing as we were treated to yet another chapter of theoretical "experimentation in narrative technique". The idea of writing a novel, each chapter of which is written in a parodistic or borrowed style seems to me a doomed one. (And more postmodernist than modernist). Apparently even Ezra Pound objected. I found myself asking, "Couldn't Joyce have found his own voice and style to narrate this section?" An entire narrative chapter in the question and answer form of a Catholic Catechism seems affected at first. After thirty pages it is deadly and even embarrassing. And then another in the style of a men's sporting magazine, and then another in the style of a women's magazine? What's the point? (Other than showing off?) And the Freudian/Surrealist kitsch of the endless Nighttown chapter was downright infantile. Talk about dated! This is novel writing from the outside in. First you have an "experimental" concept and then you fit in some narrative stuff. It's no wonder academics use this book as major fodder. It seems to be written with them in mind.

Likewise the useless tie ins with Homer's ODYSSEY. One can't help thinking of them as a desperate attempt to add structure, incident and theme to a book fairly bereft of them. Not to mention adding a bit of literary pedigree to offset the "obscenity".

Which brings me to my last point. The fancy smorgasbord of styles cannot disguise that as a novel, ULYSSES is sorely lacking. All the criteria by which we judge a novel - character depth and development, involving narrative, thematic focus, depth of feeling etc., seem totally absent. Basically what we have here is a brief Balzacian "realist" sketch, padded out and styled-up beyond belief.

Now this is really a minority opinion: not only is ULYSSES a failure, but the reason I think it is a failure is that it is a transitional work. Joyce was obviously bored with novelistic narrative but still felt obliged to accommodate. With FINNEGANS WAKE, he hit stride and finally found his métier - a book as a place to play with language and psyche for his own pleasure, without regard for traditional novelistics.

A NOTE ON EDITIONS: The huge academic controversy about which edition of ULYSSES is "authentic" or "correct" is, as one might expect, much ado about very little. Serious textual issues are minimal. Most of the typos in the 1922 edition were corrected in 1960/1 by the editors of the Modern Library in consultation with Richard Ellmann. That text was also used for the Bodley Head and current Everyman editions. Gabler later went overboard, making some highly questionable decisions. His edition is also difficult to read due to small print, layout, line-numbering etc. Danis Rose's edition went even further and "corrected" Joyce's compound words etc. - a disgrace.

I ended up reading an online version edited by Jorn Barger - a very sensible amalgam of the best work of previous editors. It took some time and expense to print out, but it was definitely worth it.

Classic of Modern Literature.......2007-07-23

While this text is undoubtedly one of the most difficult that I have read, the sheer skill at manipulating language that Joyce demonstrates is remarkable. The result is a novel that offers a most intimate study into the human method of thinking.

Not for the faint of heart, however, because this is a text that requires dedication, as the games that Joyce plays with language and the thinking of his characters often obfuscates the meaning.

Well, it's a classic, it once earned deserved praise as new & original but..........2007-07-10

Many scenes stick in one's mind forever, for example when Leopold Bloom releases his bowels or when the coffin falls on the road. I finally came to understand the stream-of-consciousness technique and realized it's not Joyce's stream we're wading in but the carefully reproduced stream of the character's consciousness. I found this particularly effective and fun reading of Stephen Dedalus's morning at school. Other scenes like Molly Bloom's grand finale are simply beautiful and literally breathless, especially if you take punctuation as a breathing signal.

And I'm especially glad to read it now that I live in Dublin. I've lived in Ringsend three months, I've visited a friend in Mullingar, and I've shopped at Buckley's butcher shop, all of which are mentioned in Ulysses. I even bought my copy of the book at the Martello tower featured at the start of the novel.

But overall, one feels Ulysses is somewhat contrived. Crucify this humble critic if you will, but reproducing the structure of the Odyssey is a clever but artificial way of bringing epic grandeur to what is nothing more than a very ordinary day. Why go through all that trouble? I do agree with the lesson but find it rather long winded. In painting, a still life by Chardin is as realistic as an imperial coronation scene by David, but with much less fuss.

And then there are the inside jokes. References to Walt Whitman and to Edgar Allen Poe (which I got only because I remembered Tom Hanks reciting Poe's "To Helen" in The Ladykillers) and other writers abound. Shouldn't a great work stand on its own, at least where its intended audience is concerned? Ulysses fails utterly in this respect unless we restrict the audience to academics.

Vincent Poirier, Dublin

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all action, plus a little R-rated sex
Ulysses
MY 6TH GRADE STUDENTS LOVE IT!
WORST BOOK I'VE EVER READ
this book sucks

The Adventures Of Ulysses
Bernard Evslin
Manufacturer: Scholastic Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Customer Reviews:

all action, plus a little R-rated sex.......2006-07-23

This is the young reader's version of the Odyssey, with every chapter a new adventure, most in 6-8 pages. In each chapter there is a terrific line such as "Heroes are made when retreat is cut off," or "Bad luck makes good stories." As a middle school teacher I use those key lines as focal points for each day's reading. This is one of my all-time favorite books for young adoescents.
As a read-aloud, when Circe confronts Ulysses, the boys are all but paralyzed in trying to not to look at each other or anywhere else - I think they all think they're the only one "thinking it." Yes, mythology is hot.

Ulysses.......2005-06-07

Ulysses was a wonderful book! It had a lot of made up characters. It was fun to read about all the weird characters! The author must of had a wonderful imagination! The book had a lot of adventures. Ulysses had to go through a lot! A lot of people gave him a hard time and made his life, life threatening. I hope when your thinking about reading a book you read Ulysses!

MY 6TH GRADE STUDENTS LOVE IT!.......2005-01-21

I HAVE BEEN USING THIS NOVEL IN MY SIXTH GRADE LITERATURE CLASS FOR THE PAST NINE YEARS! IT IS ALWAYS A FAVORITE AMONG MY STUDENTS. THEY LAUGH WHEN POLYPHEMUS CAN'T SEE AND CHEER ULYSSES ON WHEN HE CONFRONTS PENELOPE'S SUITORS! I HIGH RECOMMEND IT. IT GOES NICELY WITH OUR SOCIAL STUDIES CURRICULUM ON ANCIENT GREECE. I GUARANTEE YOUR STUDENTS WILL ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!

WORST BOOK I'VE EVER READ.......2004-12-10

it was just bland and boring, thats all, the plot was ok, but not worth reading. the only reason i'd buy is so that i could use it for scrap paper, or maybe for oragami. otehr than that, its honestly useless.

this book sucks.......2004-09-02

Im too old to read this book. I had to read it for my 12th grade english honors class for a side project. Some of it was ok but most of it was really boring and immature. This guy Ulysses and his men ran from all the monsters when they were suppost to be these great war heroes. I think they werent very brave running all the time. If i was them i would have atleast tried to fight and kill the monsters. I would not recommend this book to anyone my age or under 12. The old literature bored me to death that i didnt want to read anymore of it.i feel bad for anyone who has to read it. (...)save your time and dont read this.

Ulysses S. Grant : Memoirs and Selected Letters : Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant / Selected Letters, 1839-1865 (Library of America)

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U.S. Grant in his own words...
Review of Memoirs of US Grant
A Masterpiece
A History Buff's Wet Dream...
essential

Ulysses S. Grant : Memoirs and Selected Letters : Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant / Selected Letters, 1839-1865 (Library of America)
Ulysses S. Grant
Manufacturer: Library of America
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0940450585

Book Description

Grant wrote his "Personal Memoirs" to secure his family's future. In doing so, the Civil War's greatest general won himself a unique place in American letters. His character, sense of purpose, and simple compassion are evident throughout this deeply moving account, as well as in the letters to his wife, Julia, included here.

Customer Reviews:

U.S. Grant in his own words..........2007-06-26

U.S. Grant is often said to have been a failure at everything in his life except his marriage, war, and his memoirs. The latter, written as he was dying of throat cancer in 1884-1885, provide a straightforward account of his years in uniform during the Civil War.

Grant passes quickly over his Ohio boyhood and time at the United States Military Academy. His service in the Mexican War and his financial misfortunes out of uniform between the wars get only slightly more coverage. His story really begins with his return to uniform in 1861 as a commander of Illinois volunteers. The narrative follows Grant's campaigns in Missouri, Tennessee, Vicksburg, Chattanooga, his elevation to supreme command of the Union Armies, and the final grinding agony of the war in Virgina. The account ends with the cessation of hostilies in 1865.

Grant's memoirs are remarkable reading for a number of reasons. First, they provide insight into the first-rate military mind of a consistantly successful general. Grant's ability to determine the essentials of a situation and remain focused on them are evident. Second, the memoirs are a classic example of clear, simple, English narrative. Third, they display the considerable modesty of a naturally reserved man, a departure from the egotism often found in the personal memoirs of famous men. Grant himself continues to be something of a mystery to historians; these memoirs do not really lift the veil of his sense of privacy.

The Union Army of the Civil War had more than its fair share of politicians in uniform and politically-minded generals. Grant was not immune to spinning history his way; careful-eyed scholars have found more than a few instances where Grant remembered only part of the story or settled a few scores with old opponents. Nevertheless, Grant's memoirs are a valuable resource for understanding the conduct of the Civil War, not least because Grant became such a key figure in the winning of it.

Grant's memoirs are highly recommended to students of the Civil War, and to scholars seeking to understand the art of war in the midst of rebellion.

Review of Memoirs of US Grant.......2006-07-10

General Grant's use of the English language is very interesting and informative. Absolutely a pleasure to read.

A Masterpiece.......2006-02-22

This book is a must-read for any Civil War or American history buff. Grant's writing is consistently clear, elegant, beautiful. He gives an engaging account of his wartime experiences that are accurate to the best of his ability, and he writes with introspection and humility. The personal letters at the end of the volume reveal much about this fascinating man, and are a welcome addition. Please read this one! Another wonderful book in this series is the volume containing Frederick Douglass's autobiographical works.

A History Buff's Wet Dream..........2006-01-17

This is certainly a great book, and in parts, it is a good book. Grant has a very terse, matter-of-fact style, which makes for easy reading. The bulk of the book is devoted to the Civil War, and there are dry patches, and multitudes of "We went to the ridge, and then to the river, and moved our artillery up to the picket" and such-like. But that is what happened, and so you can't fault Grant for his meticulous detailing of troop movements, correspondence with fellow officers, etc. As I said, the great majority of the book is devoted to the Civil War, and there is not a word about Grant's tenure in the White House. Personally, of all topics covered by Grant, I find him to be most fascinating on the subject of the Mexican-American War of 1847. This is not something commonly focused on in history classes, but Grant's account is riveting. Additionally, Grant's remembrances of Lincoln are very interesting, as is his almost awed reverence for the military abilities of Sherman. The book is long, but it doesn't seem long, and if you have a love of history, this is indispensable stuff.

essential.......2005-10-04

A unique chronicle of one who saved the Union. Lucid, entertaining, and expansive. A rare view of one of the most important lives in the 19C. Highly recommended

Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant (The American Civil War)

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Grant on Grant: The Most Impartial View of U.S. Grant
Grant
Better appreciation of a great American
the greatness within a seemingly unremarkable man
A Class Act

Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant (The American Civil War)
Ulyssess S. Grant
Manufacturer: William S. Konecky Associates
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Passing of Armies: An Account Of The Final Campaign Of The Army Of The Potomac

ASIN: 0914427679

Amazon.com

In 1862, a prominent Republican visited President Lincoln and called General Ulysses S. Grant an incompetent drunk who created unnecessary political problems. Lincoln, frustrated with all his generals but this one, famously replied: "I can't spare this man; he fights." Indeed, Lincoln had gone through a series of unheroic generals before settling on Grant to lead the Union's Army of the Potomac. Grant's success at marshaling the industrial might of the North eventually pounded the South into submission. This memoir, finished as its author was dying of throat cancer in 1885, is widely admired for its clear and straightforward prose. The volume was an enormously popular hit upon publication (by Mark Twain, no less), and today Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant ranks among the finest pieces of military autobiography ever written.

Book Description

Grant was sick and broke when he began work on his Memoirs. Driven by financial worries and a desire to provide for his wife, he wrote diligently during a year of deteriorating health. He vowed he would finish the work before he died. One week after its completion, he lay dead at the age of 63.

Publication of the Memoirs came at a time when the public was being treated to a spate of wartime reminiscences, many of them defensive in nature, seeking to refight battles or attack old enemies. Grant's penetrating and stately work reveals a nobility of spirit and an innate grasp of the important fact, which he rarely displayed in private life. He writes in his preface that he took up the task "with a sincere desire to avoid doing injustice to anyone, whether on the National or the Confederate side."

Download Description

Among the autobiographies of great military figures, Ulysses S. Grant's is certainly one of the finest, and it is arguably the most notable literary achievement of any American president: a lucid, compelling, and brutally honest chronicle of triumph and failure. From his frontier boyhood to his heroics in battle to the grinding poverty from which the Civil War ironically "rescued" him, these memoirs are a mesmerizing, deeply moving account of a brilliant man, told with great courage as he reflects on the fortunes that shaped his life and his character. Written under excruciating circumstances (as Grant was dying of throat cancer), encouraged and edited from its very inception by Mark Twain, it is a triumph of the art of autobiography.

Customer Reviews:

Grant on Grant: The Most Impartial View of U.S. Grant.......2007-05-22

It is surprising that the most balanced and impartial view of U.S. Grant should be written by Grant himself. His style of writing is clear and sparse, recounting fact as fact and without lengthy editorializing. A must read for any civil war buff or serious historian.

Grant.......2006-07-09

I think this is the only real account you can get of the civil war. It's...Great!

Better appreciation of a great American.......2006-06-05

This book really provides incredible insight into Grant and what made him a great general. In a plainspoken & straightforward manner he gives a recount of his role in the war and his military philosophy (attack). Unlike a modern autobiography we get nothing personal or confessional (not necessarily a bad thing). Any mention of drinking, or his dismal presidency are omitted and his family gets only a paragraph or two; which is fine because no one is interested in Grant's parenting or presidenting tips.

the greatness within a seemingly unremarkable man.......2006-05-17

Although Grant doesn't blow his own horn, a close reading of his campaign accounts supports the "revisionist" view that far from being a butcher of men and Lee's inferior, Grant's victories (other than Shiloh) were tactical in nature, not brute force charges. (OK, there was Cold Harbor, but that was one mistake in a year-long campaign to destroy the South before the North lost its will to fight. Time was not on Grant's side.) Furthermore, Lee, Jackson, Johnson, et. al. always had the easier side of the equation, playing defense and disrupting the North's long lines of supply and communication.

This is also an interesting study on how an apparently unremarkable person find greatness within himself when he is in his element, and how a great general can fail as a president because the leadership roles are quite different.

There is a dry wit in much of Grant's writing which makes it a fun read even if you don't care for the details of his capture of Vicksburg and his eventual destruction of the South's Eastern armies. Grant does not shy away from describing the slogging nature of the war or his mastery of maneuver warfare.

A Class Act.......2006-01-15

I concur with the really good reader reviews above. I will add that what makes Grant's prose so engaging is that it is simple, unadorned, not self flattering, not pompous. It isn't pedantic, dull or uncertain either. In a word, it is Grant. It's probably the best way that you will get to know him. It is the portrait most often attempted by his supporters and the exact opposite of the portrait painted by his detractors. So, Grant presents himself and he is authentic.

You cannot help admiring Grant for his strengths and endearing qualities, his military accomplishments and his everyman characteristics. If you take his version together with what may be valid criticisms from those less admiring, then you get a pretty well rounded view of Grant. You won't find anything in his autobiography that conflicts with that totality.

Grant only covers his Civil War in this memoir, not his Presidency. He was in the last stages of a fatal throat cancer and trying to provide for his family. He had that clarity of a man writing to tell the truth about himself. No need to lie or hide. But that's also the reason that we don't hear about some of his grievances, disputes, recollections and characterizations of his contemporaries. We could have learned a lot from that but Grant is very forgiving and like a gentleman - he just won't tell.

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Great finish in an outstanding trilogy
Very Affecting Novel on the last years of the Civil War in the East
Moving finale of the Civil War trilogy
A fine study of the last year ...
Great book!

The Last Full Measure
Jeff Shaara
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0345434811
Release Date: 2000-05-02

Amazon.com

Author Jeff Shaara rounds out the Civil War trilogy started by his late father Michael Shaara, whose book The Killer Angels describes the Battle of Gettysburg. Just as Jeff Shaara's Gods and Generals covers action prior to Gettysburg, The Last Full Measure picks up with Confederate General Robert E. Lee's retreat from Pennsylvania and continues through the end of the war. Shaara focuses on the characters of Lee and Union commander Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, both of whom play prominent roles in the earlier books. He also introduces a new one: Ulysses S. Grant, the Union general who would finally defeat the South--something no soldier before him could manage. The Last Full Measure is often exciting and poignant, and fans of The Killer Angels and Gods and Generals won't be disappointed. --John Miller

Book Description

In the Pulitzer prize-winning classic The Killer Angels, Michael Shaara created the finest Civil War novel of our time, an enduring bestseller that has sold more than two million copies. In the bestselling Gods and Generals, Shaara's son, Jeff, brilliantly sustained his father's vision, telling the epic story of the events culminating in the Battle of Gettysburg. Now, Jeff Shaara brings this legendary father-son trilogy to its stunning conclusion in a novel that brings to life the final two years of the Civil War.

As The Last Full Measure opens, Gettysburg is past and the war advances to its third brutal year. On the Union side, the gulf between the politicians in Washington and the generals in the field yawns ever wider. Never has the cumbersome Union Army so desperately needed a decisive, hard-nosed leader. It is at this critical moment that Lincoln places Ulysses S. Grant in command--and turns the tide of war.

For Robert E. Lee, Gettysburg was an unspeakable disaster--compounded by the shattering loss of the fiery Stonewall Jackson two months before. Lee knows better than anyone that the South cannot survive a war of attrition. But with the total devotion of his generals--Longstreet, Hill, Stuart--and his unswerving faith in God, Lee is determined to fight to the bitter end.

Here too is Joshua Chamberlain, the college professor who emerged as the Union hero of Gettysburg--and who will rise to become one of the greatest figures of the Civil War.

Battle by staggering battle, Shaara dramatizes the escalating confrontation between Lee and Grant--complicated, heroic, deeply troubled men. From the costly Battle of the Wilderness to the agonizing siege of Petersburg to Lee's epoch-making surrender at Appomattox, Shaara portrays the riveting conclusion of the Civil War through the minds and hearts of the individuals who gave their last full measure.

Full of human passion and the spellbinding truth of history, The Last Full Measure is the fitting capstone to a magnificent literary trilogy.

From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews:

Great finish in an outstanding trilogy.......2007-04-04

I think this book, and the two preceding it should be required reading in school. I had no idea how horrific this war was, particularly more so as the brutalities committed on both sides were against our own. There were so many moments when I wanted to stop and cry for the loss of life, and especially at the end when the one man who was capable of healing the country and bringing us all back together as one nation, Abraham Lincoln, was assassinated.

The research was impeccable and telling the story from the viewpoints of the various generals absolutely fascinating. The honorable Robert E. Lee, Chamberlain (loved his gracious salute to the surrendering army), and the ever fascinating U.S. Grant.

One quote from so many in the book that just brought tears to my eyes: "Yes, it was horrible, horrible indeed. But he had to tell himself that, remind himself to see it that way. There was no sickening revulsion, no outrage, no indignation at the barbarism. It was just one more scene from this war, one more horror, one more mass of death, blending together with all the rest."

Highly highly recommended, and will definitely open your eyes to the horror of war.

Very Affecting Novel on the last years of the Civil War in the East.......2007-03-20

This is the novel that it seemed that Shaara came into his own. This part of the Civil War was incredibly brutal and Shaara depicts this well. The campaign that Grant and Lee waged was epic and Shaara brings out the humanity of these two men. This book seems just a notch below the "Killer Angels" and is superior in many respects to "Gods and Generals". It is populated by a very human Grant (this book made me want to read more about him) and a very ungodlike Robert E. Lee who propel the story. Chamberlain and his struggles are also depicted and are very relevant because his actions in the last year of the war were as heroic as his actions at Gettysburg. Appomattox is also depicted very movingly. Hopefully this novel will eventually be made into the definitive Civil War film.

Moving finale of the Civil War trilogy.......2007-01-24

I echo the positive sentiments previously expressed. Let me add that the chapters covering Lee's surrender and Chamberlain's salute are among the most moving I have ever read.

A fine study of the last year ..........2007-01-14

... of the American Civil War. I would say this is an excellent history for those who do not particularly have the patience or care to read a history book.

Set as a novel viewing the events of the war through the eyes of it's major players, the story begins with Lee's army at the swollen banks of the Potomac after his retreat from the disaster at Gettysburg. Although the novel does not include the recruitment process of Grant for command of all Union forces as Lt. General (a rank last held by George Washington), nor the strategy session between Grant and his favorite, Gen. W.T. Sherman; it does give a glimpse of why Lincoln chose this man to led the Army.

With the selection of Grant the focus of the war is changed from the dubious capture of Richmond as a means to defeat the South to the defeat of Lee himself. Grant sums it up in a sentence to Gen. Meade (who he leaves in charge of the Army of the Potomac) saying, "Where Lee goes, you will go too." Grant knows that the fighting heart of the South is not in Richmond, but in its most popular leader, Gen. R.E. Lee. When Lee is beaten, the war will end ... and of course, history bears this out.

The tale takes us through the Union defeat in the burning thickets and forest of the Wilderness; Lee's (and Stuart's) brilliant disengagement and race to Spotsylvania and the mule shoe salient -- where the most vicious fighting of the war takes place -- the two armies positioned literally yards from each other, clubbing and stabbing one another to death over and through chinks in the log barricades. It follows Lee's move to the North Ana River where Grant's leaders make a terrible mistake in deployment, but are spared disaster because Lee remains in his tent, too ill to take advantage of the situation. The fight moves further south to Cold Harbor and the wholesale slaughter of Union troops in Grant's biggest mistake of the war. Over 7,000 men are killed in twenty minutes of battle. And finally to the siege of the strategic rail center at Petersburg.

Ultimately Lee will leave Petersburg and march his army west only to be dogged by the Union and finally give up the fight as hopeless at Appomattox.

Although slow moving at times, the average reader will come to know the last year of the Civil War in a way that standard history texts cannot tell it. This is the most critical period of time for each nation's survival. If Lee can hold out for a few more months and Lincoln is not reelected, the pacifist movement in the North will permit the Confederacy their independence and the Union will be broken. With the defeat of Lee in Virginia and the victories of Sherman in Georgia, the South will give up the fight and the Union preserved. We all know the eventual outcome of the struggle. This book gives us the personalized details of how desperate a fight it really was.

Some of the more avid history buffs might be a bit disappointed at the coverage of some events (such as the battle of Cold Harbor), but all in all, this is a fine book on the greatest event in American history. Well written and very readable.

*** Highly Recommended ***

~pjm~

Great book!.......2007-01-11

Jeff Shaara does it over and over again. I cant tell you how much I enjoyed this book. I have read all his books on the Revolutionary War and the Civil War and I feel like I was actually there! He is certainly a great writer and I would recommend his books to everyone.

Ulysses: A Facsimile of the First Edition Published in Paris in 1922

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A beautiful edition of one of the most important books ever written
Best of best
Mr Leopold Bloom ate with relish
It's the whole pie with jam in.
The book for a serious reader of Joyce

Ulysses: A Facsimile of the First Edition Published in Paris in 1922
James Joyce
Manufacturer: Orchises Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0914061704

Customer Reviews:

A beautiful edition of one of the most important books ever written.......2007-09-17

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.......2007-08-03

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.

Mr Leopold Bloom ate with relish.......2007-05-19

The three previous reviews are right on: to my mind (and I confess that I am not unique in this) Ulysses is the greatest novel in world literature. It is unrivalled in style (who could rival it?) or in character. And who is not moved by the pathos and humor of the book, the sorrows and triumphs of L Boom? This lovely edition befits the novel itself. You may want to read and re-read and take notes in "corrected" editions. This is the one to stare at lovingly, longingly.

It's the whole pie with jam in........2007-02-20

Let's not mince words: Ulysses is one of the highest achievements of literary modernism. But it is also a book that must be read again and again (and again) if it is to be understood and enjoyed. Why buy a pulpy and cheaply made edition that falls to pieces on the second read? The Orchises edition, as a physical artefact, is not only aesthetically worthy of the text it presents (including the generous white space framing the text itself)--it also has the durability and weight you'd normally expect from a Bible.

Other reviewers have detailed how this book is a faithful facsimile of the 1922 editions. The only other thing I would add is that this is the edition whose colour scheme Joyce himself oversaw: The white text and blue background of the cover symbolise the pentelic marble of Greece and the greenblue of the Mediterranean respectively (which are also the colours of the Greek flag).

I thoroughly recommend this beautiful book for anyone who is serious about Ulysses.

The book for a serious reader of Joyce.......2001-04-19

The Orchises Press edition stands out for three reasons. The first is that it reproduces--with impressive attention to detail--the first edition of Joyce's novel. The second reason is that the large, widemargined pages add the pleasure of reading to the pleasure of reading Ulysses (there is something missing, after all, in the insubstantial, tinytype levity of the paperback editions). Finally, the weight of the paper, the strength of the binding makes this edition one that will last (and you will not, as with the paperback editions, be forced to transcripe all your notes from a book that falls apart after three readings). For those who seek the "authenticity" of a first edition, who admire Joyce or who will be studying the novel for years to come, this is the edition to buy.

The Ulysses Voyage: Sea Search for the Odyssey

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Coming Face to Face with Ulysses
The story behind the myths?
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The Ulysses Voyage: Sea Search for the Odyssey
Tim Severin
Manufacturer: Dutton Adult
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0525246142

Customer Reviews:

Coming Face to Face with Ulysses.......2001-08-19

Tim Severin's "The Ulysses Voyage" is more than a fascinating adventure/detective story. It is, above all, a fine piece of scholarship, marshalling evidence from Homer, from a modern understanding of the geology and meteorology in Ulysses's time, and from what is known about local myths to construct a convincing account of the reality behind Homer's wondrous tale. The book, which includes color photographs of the likely waypoints on Ulysses' journey, inspired me to visit some of these waypoints, myself. I've now been to the land of the Cyclops and had coffee with the local expert Tim Severin spoke with, visited the Isle of Aeolius, and snorkeled in the bay where the Laestrygonians destroyed all but one of Ulysses'last 12 boats. "The Ulysses Voyage" is among the most valued books in my collection. Others of Severin's books are not far behind.

The story behind the myths?.......1999-12-02

I read this book many years ago, and it gave me a new perspective on the Odyssey. Tim Severin is an adventurer, but here he is searching for a reality behind the old myths. He does it in a very convincing as well as entertaining manner. As the Iliad was brought from the sphere of myths back to history by the discovery of the ruins of Troy, Tim Severin's re-tracing of a route from Troy to Ithaca, at least in my mind has turned the Odyssey into a historical event.

search.......1999-01-27

i am producer and i look for to join Tim Severin i work on Ulysse's documentary and i would like to known if Tim Severin get always his boat called Argos.

Thanks a lot

Book Description

This remarkable biography traces the life and times of Joshua L. Chamberlain, the professor-turned-soldier who led the Twentieth Maine Regiment to glory at Gettysburg, earned a battlefield promotion to brigadier general from Ulysses S. Grant at Petersburg, and was wounded six times during the course of the Civil War. Chosen to accept the formal Confederate surrender at Appomattox, Chamberlain endeared himself to succeeding generations with his unforgettable salutation of Robert E. Lee's vanquished army. After the war, he went on to serve four terms as governor of his home state of Maine and later became president of Bowdoin College. He wrote prolifically about the war, including The Passing of the Armies, a classic account of the final campaign of the Army of the Potomac.

Customer Reviews:

A true American Hero.......2006-03-29

In the Hands of Providence is a very well researched look of the life of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. Alice Turlock presents a definitive biography of this modest professor from Bowden College, who met challenge after challenge to become one of the greatest leaders in Civil War history. Chamberlain had extraordinary observational and superb writing skills. His persistence at recording the historic events, which included his emotional reactions, gave Trulock's wonderful historic accounts for her book.
The book starts by giving us an in depth look at his obscure Christian upbringing in rural Maine, and follows his processes of becoming a great young man. He was an exceptional college student, receiving the praise of his instructors. He was also highly regarded by his neighbors and towns' folk alike. Many considered him to have the highest moral and ethical standard. He was so trusted and respected as a young man in his home town that an older business man of Maine, who was an acquaintance of Chamberlain's, entrusted him with the dealings of his estate.

While finishing his studies at Bowden, Chamberlain married his sweetheart Frances Caroline Adams. They had a very close and loving relationship. But during the war, the constant distance between them put a great deal of strain on their relationship. After graduation, he accepted a position as a professor at Bowden, and held that position for several years. Chamberlain maintained a very close relationship with his family, and he was especially close to his father in law George Adams.

When the war broke out in 1861, Chamberlain ask for a leave of absence from Bowden to enlist, but was turned down. Not to be left out of the war, he again applied for a sabbatical to study in Europe, and this time it was granted. He had no intentions on going to Europe, and instead immediately enlisted in the army as a lieutenant colonel, and never looked back. He played a huge role in the recruitment of the men for a regiment, which would later come to be known as the 20th Maine.

With no military experience, Chamberlain showed great promise in his leadership shills and military expertise. He became friends with his unit's commander, Colonial Ames, who became his tutor. According to Trulock, Chamberlain held a great deal of respect and admiration for Ames, and he gave Ames credit for his military success.

Trulock's description of Chamberlain's military life is extraordinary, and she supplies us with great details about the battles in which he was involved. At the battle of Antietam, Chamberlain was not directly involved in the fighting but was brought up in reserve the next day. Trulock gives a very vivid description of horror that Chamberlain witnessed upon arriving at the battlefield that day where 22,000 lay dead or wounded on the field. It was the bloodiest, one day battle in the Civil War.

Next, she transports us to the Fredericksburg, and the final assault by the North on Marye's Heights - the charge that involved the 20th of Maine. All the other divisions that day were either driven back, laid dead or wounded on the field. She describes tremendous courage that Chamberlain and his men showed as they made their charge on the now famous wall at Marye's Heights, the wall that was heavily guarded by Confederates. The division suffered great loses that late afternoon. They remained among the dead or wounded for 2 days and nights before the order was given to retreat.

The episode in history that Chamberlain is most remember for is the courage and heroism he displayed at the battle of Gettysburg. He was ordered to the top of a hill known as The Little Round Top where he was placed at the far left flank. There, Chamberlain was instructed to hold that position at all cost. The 20th Maine repelled assault after assault by the Confederates that day. When ammunition ran out, Chamberlain ordered a bayonet charge, an event that many historians say was the turning point of the Civil War.

Trulock also gives a very detailed account of the battle of Petersburg, where Chamberlain was horribly wounded. After hearing of his heroic actions during the battle, General Grant immediately promoted Chamberlain on the battlefield to Brigadier General. This was the only battlefield promotion ever issued by Grant. Somehow, Chamberlain survived his wound, due to the skilled surgery that was preformed on him that night and next day. Chamberlain's two close friends, Dr. Shaw and Dr. Townsend worked for hours repairing the damage inflicted by the mini ball. The wound he received that day would trouble him all of his life and required numerous surgery's to repair the damage.

His persistent heroism and outstanding leadership were the deciding factor when Grant chose Chamberlain to receive the Confederate surrender at Appomattox. He showed great respect for his fellow countrymen that day when he gave the order to his men to give a solders salute to the surrendering confederate men. His honorary actions that day were later critized by many people.

This book contains a lot of historic photos of Chamberlain's family, friends, fellow soldiers and numerous battle maps. The book also gives a great account of Chamberlain's life as Governor of Maine and President of Bowden College, but these accounts do not compare to the bravery and patriotic devotion that Chamberlain displayed during the Civil War. His actions made him a hero to his men, and the country he served.

Trulock has given us a great biography, not only one of the Civil War's greatest commanders, but one of the United States most distinguished citizens. The book flows very smoothly while covering details of battles that would interest even the most die hard Civil War enthusiast.

Finally, a book that does justice to an astonishing person. I highly recommend this book.

Man of character, man of faith whose story should be proclaimed!.......2006-01-25

Chamerlain's heroism is similar to Teddy Roosevelt, Alvin York, and Audie Murphy who came behind him, but have been better publicized.

The difference is that his act of confidence, courage and decisiveness may have been the one that changed the outcome of the Civil War, the 1864 election and the future of America.

In The Hands of Providence is the story of Chamberlain's exemplary character before, during and after that momentum changing moment. All Americans should read and learn this story.

- Richard V. Battle - Author of The Four Letter Word That Builds Character

Well rounded biography.......2005-05-10

I found Alice Trulock's biography on Joshua L. Chamberlain to be quite readable, well researched and well grounded. Considering the length of the book, Trulock's book read quite well for most readers of any level. Well, it may not be good as the one written by John Pullen but it definitely is superior to the one written by Edward Longacre. I put that in just for comparison purpose.

I think this biography may served as a good introduction to Chamberlain who's name have definitely reached near mythological level nowadays among Civil War readers thanks to Jeff Daniels and his role in that movie "Gettysburg". Of course, most readers would probably be disappointed that Jeff Daniel's portaryal of Chamberlain will not jive with Joshua Chamberlain of Trulock's book.

The biography covers all aspects of Chamberlain's life. The book does a good job covering Chamberlain's military career which proves to be the most important period of his life from which Chamberlain's life will be centered around until his death. I do wish to make a point here. He died at the age of 86, a very ripe old age and I doubt if his wounds he got from Petersburg really hasten his death, it may have cause him a lot of pain but even in modern days, most people don't live that long!

Overall, an very good biography on one of Union's more natural soldiers. A non-professional who performed better then most professional soldiers.

Excellent Title of an Excellent Leader.......2005-03-13

The Duke of Wellington supposedly stated that it is impossible for a Christian to serve in the military. Too bad he wasn't around during the American Civil War! Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson from the South and Joshua Chamberlain and Otis Howard from the North are notable exceptions to Wellington's thesis.

Trulock has written what is the best account of the hero of Little Round Top and who personally oversaw the surrender of Confederate troops at Appamattox.

Among the important events in Chamberlain's life covered include:

1. Birth and Christian upbringing in rural Maine.
2. His days as a student and adminstrator at Bowdoin College.
3. His early Civil War service including the formation of the famous 20th Maine Regiment.
4. Fascinating accounts of his involvement in major Civil War battles: Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Petersburg, and other engagements.
5. The horrible wound suffered at Petersburg that eventually killed him some 50 years later.
6. His loving yet strained marriage to Frances Caroline Adams.
7. Postwar public service as President of Bowdoin College and Governor of Maine.

Reading the book was a joy - the narrative flowed smoothly while covering several details of a fascinating character. The author managed to keep the story from becoming too bogged down in dry detail without insulting the reader's intelligence. Oh, how I wish more biographies were written like this!

The book also contains excellent battle maps and numerous photographs of the main characters: Chamberlain, his wife, parents, sister and brothers, many Civil War officers, and other important people in Joshua Chamberlain's life.

All in all, an excellent and highly recommended read. Read and enjoy!

Well Researched Look at a Major Civil War Figure.......2004-10-02

Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain was the epitome of the American citizen-soldier. Since the birth of the republic, American soldiers have left home and hearth to serve the nation and many of them have come home physically shattered and haunted by what they have seen while still others have not come home at all. Thrown into the breech, some of the citizen solders found they did not have the fortitude for what was asked of them while many others have excelled, performing better than graduates of West Point or Annapolis, America's most prestigious military academies. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain was a citizen soldier who became a great hero of the Civil War, a man who met challenge after challenge and became a great leader of men and afterward, the course of his life was forever altered. An academically inclined young man, Chamberlain left Bowdin College and his studies and teaching in theology to accept a lieutenant colonel's commission in the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment. The modest young professor took part in most of the important battles of the North's Army of the Potomac. He was a participant in the Battle of Antietam, still the bloodiest single day in American history. Today, we can walk the battlefield off Sharpsburg Pike, in rural Maryland and see "Burnside's Bridge and the cornfields where so many men fell and get some small measure of what men like Chamberlain went through. We can also visit the battlefield at Fredericksburg and see the heights that he and his 20th Maine and the Union Army tried to take in bloody frontal assaults into the teeth of Confederate guns and under the pounding of their artillery on the hills. Today Chamberlain's comrades - as well as the fallen Confederate troops - are buried on the commanding heights they failed to take, one of the Civil War's bitter ironies. Colonel Chamberlain then immortalized himself at Gettysburg's Little Round Top where he anchored the Union left, repelling assault after assault and winning the day by leading a charge down the slope that broke the Rebel troops. He was given a general's star by General Grant at Petersburg and was honored to receive the Confederate surrender at Appomattox. His heroism and leadership qualities helped him win the Governorship of Maine no less than four times, after which he retired to the Presidency of Bowdin College, his alma mater. Alice Trulock who wrote this book, was not a professional writer and after her retirement from civic affairs, this book took her ten years of careful research, writing and rewriting to complete. She based her work on a great deal of new research and handles the account of infantry combat beautifully. Unfortunately, Trulock died before the book was released and so she wasn't able to accept the accolades that were due to her for such a well-written and moving biography of an emblematic Civil War figure.

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