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A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
- Narrated by: Colin Farrell
- Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
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A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
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Summary
Golden Globe winning actor and Dublin native Colin Farrell revisits his home country with a moving, authentic performance of one of Irish icon James Joyce’s masterworks, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.
The quintessential coming-of-age story follows Stephen Dedalus as he matures in an era marked by budding Irish nationalism and intensely conservative Catholicism. From infancy to adulthood, Stephen struggles to find his place, flitting between periods of guilt-ridden fanatical religious obsession and hedonistic exploration. But even as he is pulled in every direction by family, flesh, faith, and nation, Stephen longs for something seemingly forbidden–the life of an artist.
Joyce’s first work to experiment with stream of consciousness style—a technique that he and his contemporaries developed—A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man evokes both the pains and complexities of growing up and the furious optimism that accompanies youth. Pulling from events from his own past, Joyce weaves a semi-autobiographical recount of life in nineteenth century Ireland, crafting a narrative that is at once tender and sharply satirical. When combined with Farrell’s gentle brogue, Joyce’s tale soars, as much a portrait of the artist as it is a portrait of Ireland itself.
Critic reviews
"Colin Farrell's narration of this classic certainly does not disappoint. James Joyce's prose often seems like it was written to be narrated because of its natural musicality and cadence.... Farrell's emphatic, lilting voice follows Stephen's mind into the nooks and crannies of consciousness. His vocal characterizations are distinct and effective, especially his loud, bold portrayal of Simon Dedalus, Stephen's father, a striking contrast to the sensitive, soft-spoken son. Yet Farrell captures the many facets of Stephen's thoughts and emotions, which run the gamut from boldness to meekness. Farrell's ability to handle such a variety of emotions in creating Stephen's voice makes this relatively short audiobook a success." (AudioFile Magazine)
"In Farrell's reading...the great set pieces of the book - the violently argumentative Christmas dinner scene, the harrowing sermon on hell...are delivered with admirable coolness and restraint." (The New York Times Book Review)
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What listeners say about A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- RStreet
- 22-08-21
Couldn’t finish it. Nothing happens
Wanted to like this, as Colin Farrell’s narration is great, but after 4 hours of nothing happening I gave up. Couldn’t follow what was going on, and it was really boring. Not for me unfortunately.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Meggie
- 13-06-20
Narration at it's best.
Early into the audiobook are some background sounds, such as pages being turned. Truly wonderfull voice to listen to. and I will be more than happy to listen to any other narration by Colin Farrell. I am not too sure about the story.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Lindert
- 09-03-19
Beautifully narrated
I have read the book before and loved it then. The narration adds an extra layer to it, especially as it is done by an Irishman. The female voices did make me chuckle.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Beetle
- 01-09-21
Brilliant
Best narration ever. Love this book so much it makes me weep. The language the story. Everything!
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 25-06-23
Read in preparation for Ulysses
I was recommended this as a valuable introduction to Joyce’s Ulysses which I will be reading with an online book club. (Hardcore Literature Book club). I struggled with the text and the deeply religious context and feel I need a guided read to fully understand the story. I agree with another review that says this book is better being read than listened to but it is beautifully read by Collin Farrell. I ended up reading along with the narration and increased the speed by 15%.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- MR
- 11-02-20
Perfect performance by Colin Farrell
I have several versions of Portrait of the Artist and they are all very good but I found this one by Colin Farrell the best.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 12-02-22
The stirrings of what will come
Joyce, you can hear here - well narrated by Colin Farrell - is starting out on his stream of consciousness road, but this novel is bumpy at times at, a bit like Joyce himself maybe, weighed down with religion.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Stephen reid
- 21-07-19
Stunning performance by Farrell.
This a very challenging book but Farrell's performance brings it to life. The obvious struggle with his religion is the driver of all that he is . Ireland only onto recently has broken the suffocating shackles of the church ch ...
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 16-02-23
Joyce is a genius, this book is beautiful.
Colin Farell's rendition was beyond reproach, his knowledge of the subject Dublin and its people added authenticity of which I'm sure will make other audio books seem pale for a while.
Sad its over, I will listen again.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Oliver James Atkinson
- 25-01-21
Well performed but not suited
I'm not sure that an audiobook is the best vehicle to fully grasp the complexity of this book. Colin Farrell is very good but I fear I missed some of the important messages the story is trying to convey
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