James A. W Heffernan

This series of twenty-four thirty-minute lectures examines James Joyce's landmark novel Ulysses in great detail. "After considering the controversies it provoked when it first appeared and the reasons for which it has come to be known as a major contribution to twentieth-century literature, the lectures will show how Joyce's novel recalls and at the same time radically reconstructs the adventures of Ulysses, the protagonist of Homer's ancient epic...

From the anonymous author of the Epic of Gilgamesh in ancient Mesopotamia to William Faulkner writing about Mississippi 3,600 years later, many of Western culture's greatest figures have been writers. Their landmark themes, unique insights into human nature, dynamic characters, experimental storytelling techniques, and rich philosophical ideas helped create the vibrant storytelling methods we find reflected in today's authors. These 84 brilliant lectures...