Customer Reviews

James Joyce's Dubliners: An Illustrated Edition With Annotations

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I found several copies of the book, new and unused, for sale at Heffers bookstore in Cambridge, UK.

The drawings, photographs, and newspaper clippings provide a first hand sense of what Joyce's Dublin was like then. Like a mail order fountain pen, whose newspaper advertisement from Christmas 1903 is reproduced in the book. Maybe Gabriel Conroy bought one. I've never used a fountain pen - to me the advertisement is a subtle reminder of how distant Joyce's Dublin is from us now.

Warning - It's tempting to spend more time reading the notes and annotations than reading Joyce himself.

The voluminous notes gave me a richer understanding of this work. The book is beautfully laid out and much easier to read than other "annotated" books. I wish the author's would tackle ULYSSES next.

My only complete reading of Dubliners was from this version. What makes Dubliners so amenable to an annotated edition is that it is essentially an immediately accessible work of fiction - Joyce's only (the Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man being slightly trickier). Why are annotations so crucial to this work? The multiple place and character references make up a significant portion of these stories: Without a knowledge of the settings you're left with the virtuoso, stand-alone, psychological complexities of Joyce's style.

For example, Margaret Mary Allicott. Passing reference is made to her in Dubliners; Buck Mulligan refers to her also in Ulysses as "Margaret Mary ANYcock". Without annotations, what can you make of that? Who was she? The annotated Dubliners points out that she was a figure of considerable religious veneration in Dublin at the turn of the century. Icons of her graced many Irish homes. Seeking sainthood in the Roman Catholic Church, she would drink only dirty washwater and eat only the pus from her numerous sores. This gives some idea of the crudity of public ideas of morality at the time. The annotation permits you to enjoy not only the bizarre Irish Zeitgeist but also appreciate the Buck's nasty pun. This is just one example of the value of annotations for this work. You can easily imagine that the instances are numerous, and that the pictures included throughout this annotated Dubliners also breathe life into the stories.

Most of all, if you like Joyce's fiction, this is a fun copy. And remember, these stories were originally read by people who *did* understand the numerous references and allusions. My experience of Dubliners is that this is the only truly readable version. Enjoy these heartwarming yarns of a city's moral and psychological twilight: Paralysis, disillusionment, collapse.

Marvelous work.

I purchased this collectible edition of Joyce's Dubliners from seller lightjoy. Although the book is a gift for a friend who really loves Joyce's Dubliners, I am extremely satisfied with the quality of the book. It looks brand new, the pictures look amazing, and the annotations are really helpful in understanding references made by Joyce in the book.

James Joyce's "Dubliners" is a shining example of the beautifully expressive power of the English language. The book offers a compilation of short stories, each as intriguing and captivating as those that precede and follow.

To truly enjoy the remarkable magnificence of this book, it is important to first recognize the three key aspects of each story: symbolism, imagery, and character development. The first of which to be examined is the most vital, as each story of the book is enveloped and completely built upon Joyce's deep and profound symbolism, with each character also defined by the same.

We can first look upon the title character of "Eveline," for whom the lattice-work of a window represents the bars of her prison-cell, and the fading streetlights beyond depict the hope of her life dissipating in the darkness of ever-encroaching night.

Easy to recognize, the symbolism of "Dubliners" is amazingly proficient in its ability to provide a deeper insight and understanding that truly does raise this book above the stature of its otherwise common stories. Joyce's masterful use of this literary technique is then placed within simple linguistic structures that are easily identified, yet powerful and splendidly thought provoking in its very core and concept, as well as by the nature in which it is employed. The careful explication of, and adequate attention give to this symbolism is very relevant, as it is essential in achieving a greater appreciation of each story being told, the characters portrayed within, and of Joyce to entertain with each.

Wild and vivid imagery frames the story through the author's immense, yet extremely enjoyable descriptive nature. A majority of each story's progression takes place between the dialogue, which is sparse to say the least, giving ample opportunity for Joyce's spectacular, though usually dark and gloomy imagery. It is also within this narrative that the characters spring to life. Being depicted as ordinary people suffering internal conflicts, they are tightly bound to the reader through relative and universal experiences. Eloquent and poignant examples of this can be found in the title characters of both "Eveline," and "Araby."

The central characters of "Dubliners," at first glance, appear quite flat, as seen in their dialogue. But upon closer inspection, the depth of Joyce's imaginative narrative bring them round, and fully-developed. Each of these characters, in their own respective way, is brilliantly constructed through elaborate thoughts and feelings, which, ironically, display the faults, failures, and weaknesses that they bring into their personal struggles. This appears to be Joyce's unique and quite genius way of building to climax, in which the audience is forced to believe in the strength and courage of characters of which we already know them to be deficient. It is, therefore, a cleverly devised surprise when they remain weak-willed, and are lead into despair, even though this path has been clearly laid out from beginning to end. Correlations can then be drawn between these characters, and the settings of the stories in which they appear. Being the same throughout, his setting is the Irish city of Dublin, which Joyce goes out of his way to portray as bereft of light, warmth, and color.

Though Joyce's obvious theme and intent was the portrayal of the internal conflicts of common people, this subject does become redundant when replicated throughout all stories of the book, offering the one real drawback of "Dubliners."

Overall, Joyce's simplistic use of language is evocative, as it conveys complex ideas in very simple words, making it an easy read for even the least literary-minded of readers. The thought and story progression is virtually flawless, being laid out in a proper and unmistakeable order that can be widely enjoyed for both its surface-value, and its underlying literary techniques. The philosophical themes are relative to virtually anyone, making this a book well worth spending time on.

The copy I bought was in a good shape.
The picturenotes recount a story of its own and are very
comfortable if you wish to great a greater understanding of
Joyce's short stories.