Dubliners - (Dover Thrift Editions: Short Stories) by James Joyce (Paperback)

About the Book

In these masterful stories, steeped in realism, Joyce creates an exacting portrait of his native city, showing how it reflects the general decline of Irish culture and civilization. Joyce compels attention by the power of its unique vision of the world, its controlling sense of the truths of human experience.

Book Synopsis

Although James Joyce began these stories of Dublin life in 1904, when he was 22, and had completed them by the end of 1907, they remained unpublished until 1914 -- victims of Edwardian squeamishness. Their vivid, tightly focused observations of the life of Dublin's poorer classes as well as their unconventional themes, coarse language, and mention of actual people and places made publishers of the day reluctant to undertake sponsorship.
Today, the stories are admired for their intense and masterly dissection of "dear dirty Dublin" and for the economy and grace with which Joyce invested this youthful fiction. From the first story "The Sisters," illuminating a young boy's initial encounter with death, through the final piece, "The Dead," considered a masterpiece of the form, these tales represent, as Joyce himself explained, a chapter in the moral history of Ireland that would give the Irish "one good look at themselves." In the end the stories are not just about the Irish; they represent moments of revelation common to all people.
Now readers can enjoy all 15 stories in this inexpensive collection, which also functions as an excellent, accessible introduction to the work of one of the 20th century's most influential writers. Dubliners is reprinted here, complete and unabridged, from a standard edition.

From the Back Cover

Although James Joyce completed these fifteen stories of Dublin life in 1907, they remained unpublished until 1914--victims of Edwardian squeamishness. Their vivid, tightly focused observations of the life of Dublin's poorer classes as well as their unconventional themes, coarse language, and mention of actual people and places made publishers of the day reluctant to undertake sponsorship.
Today, the stories are admired for their intense and masterly dissection of "dear dirty Dublin" and for the economy and grace with which Joyce invested this youthful fiction. From the first story "The Sisters," illuminating a young boy's initial encounter with death, through the final piece, "The Dead," considered a masterpiece of the form, these tales represent, as Joyce himself explained, a chapter in the moral history of Ireland that would give the Irish "one good look at themselves." In the end the stories are not just about the Irish; they represent moments of revelation common to all people.

About the Author

Sooner or later, most undergraduates encounter him, and some scholars devote their careers to his exuberantly eloquent prose. James Joyce (1882-1941) led the vanguard of 20th-century fiction, and his experimental use of language and stream-of-consciousness technique continue to captivate, intrigue, and influence modern readers and writers.