Dubliners

the corrected text with an explanatory note by Robert Scholes and fifteen drawings by Robin Jacques

by James Joyce

mass market paperback, 262 pages

English language

Published Jan. 19, 1988 by Flamingo.

ISBN:: 978-0-586-08785-5

(61 reviews)

Dubliners was James Joyce's first masterpiece, a collection of stories dealing with fleeting episodes in the everyday lives of lower-middle and working class Dubliners that virtually invented modern narrative prose-and whose original printer destroyed it on the grounds that it was probably libellous or indecent or blasphemous (or all three).

Following his master Flaubert and building on his own earlier 'epiphanies' (attempts at directly reproducing moments of heightened experience in his notebooks), Joyce tried to eliminate the moralising, explaining authorial voice that had dominated Nineteenth Century fiction and to make his stories solely out of the speech and perceptions of his characters.

The stories deal progressively with youth, adolescence, young adulthood and maturity. Continuity is provided by the themes of repression, entrapment and revolt. But the unique wit of the Irish and the irony of those who have little else with which to fill their mouths also bubbles frequently to …

186 editions

Julie R reviewed Dubliners James Joyce 1914 by James Joyce

Much more interesting than I expected

4 stars

If you've been avoiding Joyce because of Ulysses, this book feels like a warm-up both for the reader and the author. There are beautiful phrases buried inside intriguing vignettes. Yes, the political and social commentary is there (and opaque for those of us without knowledge of the time period and history), but the stories are enjoyable independent of those allusions. (Except for Two Gallants. I felt like that one went right over my head, but I also noted the excessive walking similar to Ulysses.) I found a lot of pain in these stories, but I was also struck by the deep sense of community and family. Most of these "stories" don't have an ending as we think of story structure, but are open to interpretation and thought. Reminded me a bit of all those lessons in high school about the Lady and the Tiger by Stockton.

K reviewed Dubliners by James Joyce

Review of 'Dubliners' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Excellent, and I’m sad that I finished it.

Watty62 reviewed Dubliners by James Joyce

Ian Watt

4 stars

See comments.

Adrián Astur Álvarez reviewed Dubliners by James Joyce

Review of 'Dubliners' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

I've read this collection a few times before and something new comes up every time. This time I was struck, not only by the perfection of The Dead, but by Joyce's ability to connect with the reader by revealing a lot of his characters' vulnerabilities early on in each story. It gives him the permission he needs to take his narrative wherever he wants since he is free from the constrictions of plot.

franksbooks reviewed Dubliners by James Joyce

Review of 'Dubliners' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Unlike so many writers of his age, not a single paragraph, sentence, word in this collection feels dated. Perhaps the greatest presenter of character in fiction, these stories use those characters to highlight everyday life as it was more than a hundred years ago and in subtly different ways as it is today.

Fionnáin reviewed Dubliners by James Joyce

Review of 'Dubliners' on 'GoodReads'

4 stars

Rated at Joyce's standard. "The Dead" alone is a good enough story to pull this book through, but there are so many others. The characters are creepily modern; living in Dublin today the stories could all still take place (with taxis replacing carriages and street-lights replacing lamps). Mystifying.

Applemcg reviewed Dubliners by James Joyce

Review of 'Dubliners' on 'LibraryThing'

4 stars

a lesson in accessible joyce. some stories are easier to get into. others are in his own impenetrable style. i started this in paper, finished on an e-reader. a vote in their behalf, i'm cylcing four books while commuting; i typically get to three in a round trip. i looked forward to 'dubliners' (and the others as well).