Dubliners

by James Joyce, Colum Mccann, Terence Brown

No cover — James Joyce, Colum Mccann, Terence Brown: Dubliners (2014, Penguin Books, Limited)

256 pages

English language

Published Aug. 6, 2014 by Penguin Books, Limited.

ISBN:: 978-0-14-310745-3

(64 reviews)

Dubliners is a collection of vignettes of Dublin life at the end of the 19th Century written, by Joyce’s own admission, in a manner that captures some of the unhappiest moments of life. Some of the dominant themes include lost innocence, missed opportunities and an inability to escape one’s circumstances.

Joyce’s intention in writing Dubliners, in his own words, was to write a chapter of the moral history of his country, and he chose Dublin for the scene because that city seemed to him to be the centre of paralysis. He tried to present the stories under four different aspects: childhood, adolescence, maturity and public life. ‘The Sisters’, ‘An Encounter’ and ‘Araby’ are stories from childhood. ‘Eveline’, ‘After the Race’, ‘Two Gallants’ and ‘The Boarding House’ are stories from adolescence. ‘A Little Cloud’, ‘Counterparts’, ‘Clay’ and ‘A Painful Case’ are all stories concerned with mature life. Stories from public life …

Contains

Sisters Encounter Araby Eveline After the Race Two Gallants Boarding House Little Cloud Counterparts Clay A Painful Case Ivy Day In the Committee Room Mother Grace Dead

Also contained in:

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).