Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

The rating does not reflect my view of the novel Ulysses, which I love, admire, and have taught (although I am not a Joyce scholar). Nor is it a review of the paper edition of Ulysses issued by Penguin in 1992, with an introduction by Declan Kibberd. It is specifically a review of the Kindle edition purporting to represent the Penguin edition. Recently I "reread" Ulysses by listening to a recording of the classic RTÉ Radio "dramatised full production" of the novel done in 1982. This is a wonderful way to experience the book, and I recommend it to all. But at points I wanted to follow along, so I purchased a very inexpensive Kindle text of Joyce's published works, "The Ultimate James Joyce Collection." At points I noticed some typos and more serious textual errors, but since I only spent $2 for the set I wasn't bothered. It claimed to be a literal reprint of the original 1922 text, so I knew it would be problematic. That edition was typeset by French printers who did not speak English! But I wondered whether there was a reliable text of the novel on Kindle. When I saw that the Penguin edition was now available in a Kindle edition, I bought it. The Penguin edition is apparently a reprint of the 1960 Bodley Head edition, which together with the 1961 Modern Library edition represent the most accurate corrected versions before the critical Gabler edition. (As far as I can tell, Gabler's text is not available on Kindle.) I am sorry to say that the digitized version of the Penguin edition is not satisfactory. It is full of the kinds of errors that inevitably seem to come from digitally scanning text; it requires far more careful proofreading than the editors have given it. Ulysses is difficult enough on its own: the novice reader does not need to be struggling with mistakes like the following (just what I noticed from the first two chapters): "die bowl" for "the bowl" (3); "dive Kempthorpe" for "Clive Kempthorpe" (4); "Norn de Dieu" for "Nom de Dieu" (10); "virgmum" for "virgimum" (11); "discreedy" for "discreetly" (11); "Sort day" for "Soft day" (14). None of these errors appears in my Penguin paperback copy. Joyce might have enjoyed "Norn de Dieu" in Finnegan's Wake--it may even appear there--but I don't think it belongs in "Telemachus." So if you are looking for a reasonable Kindle version of Joyce's masterpiece, you should look elsewhere. I read somewhere that the revised Project Gutenberg edition is good. At least with an edition costing a dollar or two, you are getting a bargain, even if it has a few errors. The Penguin Kindle edition is not inexpensive, and it is no bargain. Caveat emptor. Update: in chapter 3, "Proteus," along with a few minor misprints like those described above, the Kindle/Penguin has Stephen ask "Where is poor dear Arms to try conclusions?" Instead of "Arms" the text should read "Arius," the "illstarred heresiarch" whom Stephen thinks about for the rest of the paragraph. As it is, the text makes no sense at all, and even an experienced reader struggling with this difficult early chapter will lose the thread of thought Joyce is working very hard to convey.