Reviews

Dubliners, by James Joyce

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petekeeley's review against another edition

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challenging reflective slow-paced

4.5

jking236's review against another edition

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5.0

The audiobook of this on Spotify is immaculate, 10/10 recommend looking it up

lapetiteprincesse's review against another edition

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2.0

i recently learned that james joyce likes queefs

This book is a collection of short stories by James Joyce. They are really short and easy to read.Each of them deals with the idea of epiphany, how at one moment of one character's life he comes to an illumination. Joyce do not leave out every detail,in a way everything is important to understand how they come to that epiphany, this is why he gives so much background info, it is very dense and detailed. Even in the description he goes from the clothes to the nostrils.

"But real adventures, I reflected do not happen to people who remain at home: they must be sought abroad."

katherine_shelton's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I absolutely love most of these short stories, and I still really like the rest. I'm always enamored with authors who can pack so much meaning and symbolism into short stories. I honestly have no interest in trying to read Ulysses (I started it once, but... no!) or Finnegan's Wake. But I hope people give Dubliners a shot because I really think it's just a masterpiece in terms of writing. Most people seem to resonate with The Dead, the very last story, or at least they reference that particular story a lot when the subject of the book comes up. But I think The Sisters, Araby, Eveline, and Clay were some of the best short stories, not only in the book, but that I've ever read. Ever.

kmt75's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

marobbins's review against another edition

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4.0

This was the perfect book for me to read soon after my sojourn to Dublin, Ireland, for a conference presentation combined with a mother-daughter vacation with my mom. I learned a lot about Irish culture, religion, and politics both from watching the play Ulysses at The Abbey Theatre and from reading these short stories. Believe it or not, I had not read or experienced Joyce's work in the past. But now, I am excited to read A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, which I know will be more of a challenge, but worthwhile, as I'll read it over a longer span of time. First of all, Ireland is very much worth experiencing as a country and as a culture. The people were very nice, and the country itself is beautiful. 99% of the people there speak English, and only 36% speak Irish, although many school districts are now requiring students to learn Irish. Between reading Joyce and Louise O'Neill this spring and summer, I feel that I have made a dent in Irish literature, although I realize there's so much more to experience. Dubliners is worth a read right now because it was written during an era of nationalism in Ireland, which is, I believe, what we are currently experiencing in the US.

thelaurasaurus's review

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4.0

Another day, another book I've had for 15 years because I'm too intimidated to read it. This time round it's because I want to get to know my Irish side, but I'm worried Joyce is not an accessible way to do that.

Upon picking it up, I was dismayed to discover it was short stories (not my scene), and surprised to find that I'd actually read the first one at some point in the past, because the page was turned down at the start of number two.

After getting over these hurdles, I really enjoyed this book. I skipped one story because I couldn't get into it but otherwise I found them readable and the themes are still relevant today. I guess people don't change...