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  • A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

  • By: James Joyce
  • Narrated by: Colin Farrell
  • Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (420 ratings)
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A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man cover art

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

By: James Joyce
Narrated by: Colin Farrell
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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.

Public Domain (P)2018 Audible, Inc.

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

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

If Only Colin Farrell had time to narrate Ulysses

A great book, fascinating following a young boy through his early education and reaching adolescence and making his own choices and decisions. The early part of the book reads as a child wrote it and becomes more eloquent as he ages and goes through change.
Colin Farrell is a natural narrator of Joyce's works and hopefully some day he has time to take on the bigger ones, very clear spoken, soothing and harsh when needs be but always at the perfect speed

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6 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • 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

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

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

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

VERY BADLY READ

JAMES JOYCE would turn in his grave if he heard the dull and monotonous way Colin Farrell has read this wonderful work. Someone has to know Joyce and be able to love the way he uses words so poetically and musicall to appreciate his genius I could not get past the first chapter I felt so depressed and bored having done an MA on Joyce at Trinity College Dubln.

A total waste of money

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Struggled through it.

I never got into this audiobook at all. The story was boring from the start and it didn't get any better as it progressed.

The positive was that Colin Farrell was great at narrating this audiobook and his voice is very easy to listen to.

Perhaps the story was wasted on me, but it just wasn't my type of audiobook.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A Masterpiece

Collin Farrell's performance was peerless, the story, the feeling and context of the times, and Stephen's searching was brought to life in a realistic and unpretentious manner.

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3 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

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

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

The anguish of youth.

A joy to hear this wonderful story read by a true native Irishman, as if I am hearing it for the first time.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

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

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Lovely

Beautiful. It comes together at the end to create a true enchantment of the heart. I've never been so moved by anyone's writing. And the performance by Farrell was brilliant.

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2 people found this helpful