Ulysses is one of the greatest literary works in the English language. In his remarkable tour de force, Joyce catalogues one day – June 16, 1904 – in immense detail as Leopold Bloom wanders through Dublin, talking, observing, musing – and always remembering Molly, his passionate, wayward wife. Set in the shadow of Homer’s Odyssey, internal thoughts – Joyce’s famous stream of consciousness – give physical reality extra colour and perspective.

This long-awaited unabridged recording of James Joyce’s Ulysses is released to coincide with the 100th anniversary of “Bloomsday.”

Regarded by many as the single most important novel of the 20th century, the abridged recording by Norton and Riordan released in the first year of Naxos AudioBooks (1994) is a proven bestseller. Now the two return – having recorded most of Joyce’s other work – in a newly recorded unabridged production, directed by Joyce expert Roger Marsh.

Rejoice

Sue Arnold on a triumphant reading of Ulysses

If you subscribe to the belief that life is too short both to stuff mushrooms and to wrestle with the impenetrability of James Joyce's Ulysses, this audio could change everything. Not only will you be able to do both simultaneously, but you will marvel at your foolishness in supposing that only scholars with advanced knowledge of Greek mythology, Irish history, classical literature, grand opera and a dozen languages could understand it.

The best reason for listening to this unabridged version, brought out to commemorate the centenary of Bloomsday - June 16 1904, the day on which Mr Leopold Bloom makes his epic journey through Dublin - is that you'll find it hugely entertaining (unless you're a prude). It will make you laugh out loud. Bloom asks Mrs Breen how her husband is: "Oh don't be talking," she says, "he's a caution to rattlesnakes." You may not understand all or even half of it, but I defy anyone not to be dazzled by Jim Norton and Marcella Riordan's reading. Together they do more to clarify its legendary complexity than a shelf-full of text books explaining the meaning of what has been described as the 20th century's greatest literary masterpiece.

There's no plot as such: it follows a day in the life of Leopold Bloom, former stationery salesman, of 7 Eccles Street, Dublin. Like the blotting paper he once sold, Bloom soaks in the atmosphere of Dublin as he walks, and through him you, too, absorb the city's unique character: its streets, pubs, shops, monuments, brothels and, best of all, its people.

This is just one aspect of Ulysses. There are many more, such as Joyce's inventive use of language. Here's what he calls his "fourworded wavespeech"; say it and you'll understand: "seesoo, hrss, rsseeiss, ooos". Then there are the interior monologues in which Bloom, and most famously his wife Molly, think aloud, allowing the direction of their thought to be interrupted continually by random memories and associations.

Norton's repertoire of accents and characters is spectacular. He does the heavy work of unravelling the dauntingly dense prose, and Riordan's final tour de force, entirely unpunctuated, is literally breathtaking. Music by Mozart, Wagner and traditional Irish songs introduce the chapters, and there's an accompanying booklet and CD-rom. It will be hard not to see this as the quintessential audio against which all other serious talking books are measured.