Dubliners (Penguin Modern Classics) (Paperback)

~ James Joyce (Author), Terence Brown (Introduction) "There was no hope for him this time: it was the third stroke..." (more)
Key Phrases: gay fellows, painful case, Aunt Kate, Mary Jane, Little Chandler (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Joyce's first major work, written when he was only twenty-five, brought his city to the world for the first time. His stories are rooted in the rich detail of Dublin life, portraying ordinary, often defeated lives with unflinching realism. He writes of social decline, sexual desire and exploitation, corruption and personal failure, yet creates a brilliantly compelling, unique vision of the world and of human experience.

About the Author

James Joyce (1882-1941) was born and educated in Dublin. Although he spent most of his adult life outside Ireland, Joyce's psychological and fictional universe is firmly rooted in his native Dublin, the city which provides the settings and much of the subject matter for all his fiction. He is best known for his landmark novel Ulysses (1922) and its controversial successor Finnegans Wake (1939), as well as the short story collection Dubliners (1914) and the semi-autobiographical novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916).

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (February 3, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0141182458
• ISBN-13: 978-0141182452
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #116,092 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the greatest of all story collections , October 27, 2005

By	Shalom Freedman "Shalom Freedman" (Jerusalem,Israel) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

This is one of the greatest of story collections. It does in miniature what 'Ulysses ' will later do in a far more detailed and complete way i.e. give a picture of the life of the people of Dublin as a picture of the life of mankind in general. Its stories are structured thematically and connect with each other in multiple cross- reference. The surface details of each story, beginning with the names of the stories have rich symbolic meaning .
There is in the stories an intense lyricism and music which climax in the title story.
The great Joycean themes of stifling family, church, country are presented here without emphasis on what will be the central Joyce theme in 'Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man' and 'Ulysses ' - the liberating power of Art.
But the liberating power is there within the stories themselves which are deep renderings of the world Joyce has reforged in the smithy of his soul as his own.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More Than Just a Smattering of Stories, September 6, 2006

By	Jonathan Stephens "Jonathan Stephens" (Huntington Beach, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Joyce's only published collection of short stories feels like a whole work, instead of a smattering of pieces, the idea running throughout the collection that Dubliners (and perhaps humanity) are all looking for adventure of some kind. Whether adventure is finally settling down in life or not wanting to settle down, the adventure is that next unknown and shows itself in different forms throughout the stories.

Reviewed by Jonathan Stephens

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mixed Feelings, December 13, 2008

By	Nick (Switzerland) - See all my reviews

James Joyce is the kind of author you don't dare have a bad opinion of, lest you should discredit yourself as an intelligent being. Well, I'll take the risk.

I admit that for the first two stories or so, I was rather disappointed. Things got better afterwards, and there are some stories in there I really like and might reread in future, but on the whole, I confess I did not enjoy it too much.

For most stories, you find yourself looking for "the point" anxiously among series over series of dialogues about Irish or Dubling-related topics. Sometimes you get it, sometimes you don't. The impression it left on me was that entire chunks of the stories could have been removed without significantly changing them. And yes, it may be because I didn't read them as well as I should have, but I tried. In some stories, there are so many characters, I had trouble knowing who was who.

DUBLINERS reminded me of Hemingway's IN OUR TIME in that some stories seem to be merely slices of life without a specific "point" or "wow" as Hemingway would have it; and this is absolutely alright, I'm not saying that. And yes, Hemingway began writing after Joyce, I'm not suggesting Joyce copied Hemingway, if anything, the contrary. Joyce probably was an inspiration for Hemingway, especially for short stories, although that is mostly a wild guess from me.

That said, "Counterparts" was really good and its ending is heartwrenching. "A Painful Case" is another one I truly liked, and "The Dead" has a most magnificent finish.

In conclusion, not bad at all, but not a book I will recommend to everyone I know. People from Ireland or who are familiar with Dublin and/or Irish history and culture may enjoy it a lot more than those who don't; there are tons of references (all explained by the endnotes, but they only help to a point) and so direct knowledge of these things might help. Read a few stories before you buy it!