Dubliners - BookWyrm

Hardcover, 193 pages

English language

Published Aug. 6, 2001 by Barnes & Noble Books.

ISBN:: 978-0-7607-2623-5

(1 review)

AIthough James Joyce left Ireland as a young man and spent most of his adult life on the European continent, all his books have Ireland as their geographic center. When asked near the end of his life if he ever intended to return to Ireland, Joyce responded candidly, "Have I ever left it?"

In the fifteen classic stories that comprise Dubliners, James Joyce seeks to explore the "significance of trivial things." While the stories can be regarded as separate and independent entities, they can also be considered as parts of a larger whole, reinforcing and illuminating each other, acting as pieces of a mosaic that captures moods from childhood, young adulthood, courtship, and married life, as well as the public life of church, state, and the arts. Included in the collection is "The Dead," Joyce's most enduring and evocative piece of short fiction, together with the often anthologized "Araby," "Eveline," …

AIthough James Joyce left Ireland as a young man and spent most of his adult life on the European continent, all his books have Ireland as their geographic center. When asked near the end of his life if he ever intended to return to Ireland, Joyce responded candidly, "Have I ever left it?"

In the fifteen classic stories that comprise Dubliners, James Joyce seeks to explore the "significance of trivial things." While the stories can be regarded as separate and independent entities, they can also be considered as parts of a larger whole, reinforcing and illuminating each other, acting as pieces of a mosaic that captures moods from childhood, young adulthood, courtship, and married life, as well as the public life of church, state, and the arts. Included in the collection is "The Dead," Joyce's most enduring and evocative piece of short fiction, together with the often anthologized "Araby," "Eveline," and "A Painful Case."

Complementing the edition are eight specially commissioned maps of Dublin that allow the reader to follow the characters in and around the city that Joyce deemed "the center of paralysis," and an introduction by renowned Joyce scholar Don Gifford. --front flap

182 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.