Dubliners by James Joyce (Epub)

Description

This Prestwick House Literary Touchstone Classic includes a glossary and reader’s notes to help the modern reader understand Joyce’s use of textures, dialect, and symbols. Each of the beautifully written short stories in this collection precisely details a brief scene in the life of a resident of Dublin at the turn of the 20th century. Although the characters do not know each other, their experiences unfold along the same streets and often overlap thematically. Their tragedies mirror that of Ireland, a country struggling for political identity and held back, in Joyce’s view, by rigid religious ideas and adherence to tradition. Joyce’s great skill at dialect offers a sense of the city’s complex social structure, while themes of isolation, emotional paralysis, violence, regret, and death run throughout the collection and link all of the stories. Chronologically, too, the stories appear to progress; portrayals of youthful confusion and disillusionment in the opening story, “The Sisters,” become the haunting midlife meditations of “The Dead.” Like his masterpieces Ulysses and Finnegan’s Wake, James Joyce’s Dubliners displays consummate control of nuances, emotions, and images.

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⭐ James Joyce’s “DUBLINERS” is an exceptional collection of stories/portraits about some of the residents of Dublin, Ireland early in the 20th century. Joyce’s writing is lyrical, intimate and insightful. His characters run the gamut from very poor to very wealthy, and all have their personal battles, triumphs, and jarring revelations. I had heard of this book for years, but never read it because I was intimidated by the fear that his writing would be difficult to understand. Well, nothing could be farther from the truth! Joyce writes in a modern tone that is easy to read and understand. His characters could easily be people from our present day, as their situations transcend time and cultures. This is a book to be read one or two stories at a time (the better to reflect upon). As a whole, DUBLINERS is both astounding and fulfilling. I highly – highly – recommend this classic to all readers!

⭐ Much has been said about his work, which is one of the problems with Joyce. We all know of him, but how many of us have read him? I read A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man many years ago, and remember almost nothing of it. And like many others before me I tried to tackle Ulysses and got about ten pages in and said, “Bugger this!” (Imagine me saying it in my poor approximation of an Irish accent, and you’ll get the idea.) But it occurred to me that hearing the words spoken might be exactly the way I should approach Joyce this time, and if it worked, if I found myself enjoying one of the more accessible books, then perhaps the audio book of Ulysses or Finnegan’s Wake would go on my list.In the end I discovered that I liked Joyce. I’m not a huge fan, but I like the sound of his words, particularly when read by Irish actors. And in the Caedmon version, the quality of the narration is up and down, with possibly the best reading being done by Stephen Rea, who gives us a version of The Dead that sounds as if it comes from the depths of a weary soul. Props also to Ciaran Hinds, Colm Meany, and Dan O’Herlihy. Alas the one Irish actor I’d have loved to hear narrate one of these stories was not included. Donal McCann, who left us far too soon, would have done an outstanding job, but it was not to be.As for the stories themselves, I began to see that they were all about who people think they are and why. They’re brief glances into events, even moments of the characters’ lives that are so telling, that make their identities so clear that you come away from each one understanding what they hope for, and why they are suffering.One story in particular — I don’t recall the title at the moment, so apologies for being vague here — is the best sketch of an alcoholic I have ever read. I listened, becoming increasingly impatient with him until I wanted to shove him down the stairs. And then I recognized the knowledge that he was fleeing from, and felt terribly sad. It didn’t excuse him, but it did explain him.I’m not sure if I will go any further with Joyce, even in audio form, but I did enjoy Dubliners tremendously, and that’s all you can ask from a book.

⭐ Just finished The Dubliners by James Joyce. I hadn’t read any of his works. This is a good start for anyone thinking of reading real literature. It’s astonishing to think he was 22 years old when he’d completed these stories. But I guess true genius shows up early. I see why he is so revered. I would like to learn the art of short story writing and Joyce is the master.This book is a series of vignettes, snapshots or sketches. Just the ticket for those who want a brief read before turning out the light, perhaps. But all the stories have a streak of sadness and harsh reality of those years before World War I, so your dreams may not be so sweet. There are fifteen stories but I will refer to just three.I loved THE BOARDING HOUSE. This covers the life of the boarding house owner, Mrs. Mooney and her daughter Polly. Polly starts a dalliance with one of the boarders—thirty-five-year-old, Mr. Doran—a man with a fairly good job—a decent catch. Madam will deal with matters of emotion ‘like a cleaver to meat’, as Joyce delicately puts it, especially where her daughter’s honor is at stake. No man would be allowed to abuse her hospitality and get away with it under her own roof. Like Polly, now sullied, Mr. Doran stands to lose everything.ARABY is one of my favorites and tells the story of a boy who falls for the girl across the street, the sister of a friend. He is obsessed with her and she fills his thoughts for every moment, at school, at home. He sits by the parlor window staring at her door across the street. Love is painful. This story is relevant to all of us at that age as boys and girls who become smitten. Puppy love. Eventually the girl speaks to him under the lamp light. He notices every detail about her. Joyce describes the light on her body and her petticoat. She tells him she would love to go the Araby market on Saturday, but she has to go to a church meeting. Thrilled, the boy tells her he is going and will bring her something back. He now has a mission and a reason to get closer to her. He counts the hours until he can go after getting permission from his aunt and promise of money from his uncle. Frustratingly, his uncle comes home late that Saturday evening and has forgotten about his promise. His aunt persuades him to give him the money and let him go. Joyce describes the lonely train journey to the bazaar. He’s been given a florin (two shillings—about twenty-five cents in today’s money) and spends most of it on the train fare and a shilling to get in. Once inside, most of the stalls are now closed. Deflated, he stares at a stall with jars and things and the girl who he’d heard talking with two men asks him if he wants to buy something. He tells her ‘no’. Most of his money is gone now. He notices the accents of the girl and two men are English. Why? It just is. And it makes it all the more real. He storms out feeling angry with himself for what he realizes is a fool’s errand, for his stupidity and pride—one of those coming-of-age moments in a young man’s life.Joyce makes the complex look simple. He does not explain anything and leaves somethings as a mystery. Why does he mention that they live in a house where a priest had died? Why does the boy live with his uncle and aunt? Where are his mother and father? We must presume they are dead. That is how things are in the boy’s life. And that’s how the best writing is. Things left unexplained.These are stories like beautifully prepared simple meals. Every bite, every word, delicious. Of course, simple meals aren’t always so simple. Often preparation is complex, resulting in exquisite, memorable taste.THE DEAD is reckoned to be one of Joyce’s masterpieces and John Huston filmed it beautifully and showed his own genius. The main character, Gabriel, takes his wife to a Christmas celebration at the house of his two aunts with many in attendance. Later that night, he takes his wife home by carriage in the snow and all the while he is feels his love for her, as he’d done all evening, and looks forward to making love to her at their hotel room. Once there, and after chatting with her, he realizes she is distraught. He learns of a previous love she had had for a boy she’d known when she was young and who had died, or willed himself to die when she left to live in another town. Gabriel’s own sadness and crushed spirit are evident as, with tears in his eyes, he looks out into the gently falling snow that must be falling on his wife’s sweetheart’s grave and across all of Ireland. The last paragraphs are said to be some of the greatest writing in English literature. John Huston’s excellent film maybe viewed on Youtube.On looking back over The Dubliners, I have to ask myself: are these stories and Joyce’s writing so impactful that they could change how you think? Yes, I think so. I’ll read them again and again. The more one delves, the more one sees. It’s not really so much about the dreary lives of people Joyce writes about, but about the writing itself that conjures up emotional experience.

⭐ I originally had to purchase Dubliners for an English class a couple years ago for a condensed summer semester course. I found this copy online and took advantage of the extremely low price. Even though it is only $1, the copy arrived in good shape as far as the cover and the pages, and it was printed well.I figured this book was going to be like any other book I’ve had to purchase for a college course. As a student you’re pressured to purchase it per the course guidelines and ultimately you do so not to negatively affect your grade since the assignments and exams are based off of the readings. To my surprise, I really really enjoyed this book. My professor was pretty out there, but incredibly smart, and provided insightful information on each chapter from Dubliners. Oddly enough, I still think about these short stories regularly as I see certain themes from the book transpire in my own life. To fully experience James Joyce’s Dubliners, I would encourage students / readers to further inspect the events and the characters, especially as they relate from one story to the next. The underlying message that James Joyce weaves throughout the book is one that I will never forget; I will use as motivation in such a crucial point in my life where I’m faced with important decisions and I ultimately get to choose my path and what lies next.I loan out my copy of the book frequently, and would definitely recommend checking it out.

⭐ What the hell? This book read like it was written by Google translate. Joyce’s language is so peculiar anyway – but this made it a 100% more strange. The kindle copy inserted words like eBook, for ‘book’; u.S.A. for country’; and homosexual for ‘gay’. I don’t know how many others and will now have to read the book again to discover if Joyce meant to say spherical’ for ‘around’, and ‘coronary’ for ‘heart’…

⭐ Great book, but this Kindle edition has a number of typos. Example “It was the third stroke” was written as “It was the third store.”, making no sense at all. “The cars” was written as “She cars.” It was very frustrating, and it’s probably worthwhile to pass on this free edition and pay for something that’s better edited.

⭐ This was my introduction to James Joyce. I thought that a collection of short stories would hold my interest (they did) and that I would gain insight into the work of a celebrated author (which I did). I found the book well-written, and the characters were fleshed out and interesting.On a personal note, I had a lot of trouble getting through the book. I have been slowly wading through “Dubliners” for four months, reading a story and then setting the book down and picking it up weeks later and reading another story. I finally “bit the bullet” and read the final eleven stories over the last few days. While Joyce certainly achieved his goal of presenting stories of introspective characters, a whole book of people who are realizing they are not who they thought they were is one full book of misery.So even though the stories are excellently crafted, I didn’t particularly enjoy reading it. There is a dash of negativity in each story that just doesn’t sit well in my cup of tea…or my pint of Guinness. Still, one has to appreciate good work. Five stars.

⭐ This was recommended as a pre read before I attempt Ulysses later in the year. Went into this collection of shorter stories with some trepidation but found the writing style and delivery relatively palatable. As with most collections I had my preferences.These are more character than action or plot driven, almost “snapshots” in the lives of the inhabitants of Dublin at the turn of the century. Well worth a look at.

⭐ 5 stars for book, 1 star for this editionThe size of this book is very unusual. It’s large and thin. Consequently, there is way too much text on each page to make reading comfortable. It’s the amount of text you’d find spanning at least 2 pages in a typical novel. Plus the typesetting and binding, combined, are conducive to a comfortable read. When you open the book on any page, the text is so close to the centre crease that you have to really hold down the crease (flatten the book) to see what’s in the centre. It’s truly an awful copy.

⭐ This book is not intelligible. It is certainly not the original writings of James Joyce.Amazon please check the content. It is mostly gibberish. We found the correct copy elsewhere and are SURE that this one is defective.

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