I sometimes ‘read’ books by listening to them on CD. Sometimes I get a book for the delight to hear a good actor read it. The works of Dickens or “The Flashman” series do well this way, especially when the reader does a good accent.

Sometimes I choose books that are challenging to read due to its length or complexity viz. I am not disciplined enough to keep at it.  

I recently finished hearing the unabridged reading of James Joyce “Ulysses”.

I purchased it last August; I finished it the other week.   It took 40 CDs.  

Phew! 

It is a splendid book. To read it is the literary equivalent of climbing the Mt. Everest.  I’ve read it before, but the sheer volume and the difficult parts caused me to skip vast amounts of it miss a lot.  

For those who don’t know this 20th century masterpiece, it is about a man named Leopold Bloom who goes through the entire journey of the Odyssey in one day’s time, in 1904 Dublin.  It finishes with his wife’s introspective thoughts done in free association –“ and yes I said yes I will yes”. That is one of my favorite lines from literature. 

Speaking of hearing things, last year I discovered the “The Teaching Company”. They put college level lectures on CDs so you can learn history, economics, science etc. for the joy of learning. I like history. So far I have heard fantastic courses on Greek, Roman, and Russian History. We just ordered the lecture series on the history of the Vikings, How to listen to the Opera, and the history of the Medieval Ages. Yum.  

They are good for road trips and the long drive to/from work.