Dubliners by James Joyce

Name: Dubliners by James Joyce
Rating: 4.5 (1 reviews)
ISBN: 9798892821940

By James Joyce & Kevin Theis

Publisher Description

"Dubliners" is an early collection of short stories by legendary Irish author James Joyce. Joyce was, at the time, concerned about the changing identity of the Irish people and crafted a series of stories to hold up a mirror to the nation and force his readers to confront some hard truths about the country's history, priorities and cultural life. The collection also contains one of Joyce's best known stories, the novella "The Dead," which has been adapted numerous times for the stage and screen.

Originally rejected by a number of publishers - some of whom claimed that certain of his stories were "obscene" - Joyce finally found a company willing to publish the work and in 1916, the London publishing house Grant Richards released the book to great acclaim. "Dubliners" came out at about the same time as Joyce's other short story collection, "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" and both books are now considered to be among the finest works of short fiction ever written.

"Dubliners" is presented here in its original and unabridged format.

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Dubliners by James Joyce Reviews

4.5

Hawaii Miss

Created 4 months ago

“I really loved returning to Dubliners. For me that began in middle school (about 13 years old). It’s one of those books that feels different every time you meet it — and somehow heavier, even though the stories themselves never change. Across fifteen stories, Joyce lets a whole city reveal itself through routines, silences, and unrealized hopes. Dublin isn’t just a setting here; it’s a presence, shaping lives through family obligation, social expectation, and a kind of quiet paralysis that settles in before the characters know what to call it. Each story gives us a moment of clarity rather than a dramatic turning point — a flicker of understanding that arrives just a little too late. A child dazzled and disappointed, a man realizing the limits of his nerve, a gathering slowly dimmed by the snowfall in “The Dead.” These moments don’t explode; they land softly and stay. This time found how tender the book actually is to be my focus. It’s often labeled bleak, but the honesty feels human rather than cruel. Joyce never exaggerates; he simply refuses to look away from ordinary disappointment, from longing that never quite finds its outlet. Coming back to it now, I felt more unsettled than before — sometimes frustrated by how clearly Joyce shows us all the points where people hesitate instead of act. By the time I reached “The Dead,” I wasn’t just admiring the craft; I was feeling the accumulation of all those small, human failures settle in, quietly and irrevocably. It’s a book that lingers. Or maybe haunts is the better word.”

About James Joyce

James Joyce (1882-1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, short story writer and literary critic. He is regarded as one of the most influential and celebrated authors of the 20th century and his novel "Ulysses" has been hailed as one of the greatest works of fiction ever created, featuring a wide variety of literary styles, tropes, symbolism and stream-of-consciousness experimental writing that causes the book to be analyzed, annotated and examined to this day. Born in Dublin in 1882, he attended University College of Dublin, met his future wife Nora and moved to the European continent, traveling from country-to-country, serving as an English teacher. Joyce dabbled in writing for years, penning various short stories and poems - many of which were published - until he finally received recognition for his short story collection "The Dubliners" (1914) and, soon after, the novel "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" (1916). The couple finally settled in Paris in 1920 where they would live until 1940. Joyce published his opus, "Ulysses" in 1922, but the book wasn't published in the UK or America for years due to it's sexual content, which was labeled "obscene." (Copies of the book were smuggled into these countries and bootleg versions were widely available.) He would begin his next novel, "Finnegan's Wake" in 1923, but it was not published until 1939. Joyce and Nora continued to travel extensively throughout Europe, often returning to Dublin, and he sought medical care in Switzerland for his severe eye problems and to care for his daughter Lucia, who suffered from mental illness. When the Nazis invaded France in 1940, Joyce moved his family to Zürich where he would die in 1941 following surgery for a perforated ulcer. There are few authors whose works are examined as minutely as are the novels of James Joyce. The books are so rich in detail, so impenetrable and dense in structure, so wildly experimental that literary critics have spent decades trying to plumb the depths of his writing. He is regularly hailed as one of the great writers of all time.

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Finnegans Wake

Dubliners by James Joyce

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