This is my fourth and final instalment for Ireland Reading Challenge 2012 hosted by Carrie of Books and Movies. What first attracted me to this newly published edition (August 2012) by Modern Library was its cover. I’m very fond of Modern Library’s classics in trade paperbacks, mainly because of their elegant covers as well as the size of the type. Interesting how type size has become a factor for my reading enjoyment in recent years… ok, no more elaboration on that.
While Joyce’s later works Ulysses and Finnegans Wake are considered iconic works of 20th C. literature, for some reasons I have no desire to take up the formidable challenge of deciphering them. But Dubliners, a collection of short stories written in his early 20’s, looks to be a much more manageable task.
With this new edition comes a new introduction, written by the Booker Prize winning author John Banville (The Sea, 2005). For me, two points stand out in his introduction. First is that Joyce himself had indicated that Dubliners could well be his best work. An admission that he might not have wanted to be publicized.
Second, Banville has slipped into a sentence an implied definition of ‘greatness’ in a literary work. Here’s it is, as he talks about the story “The Dead”:
It is indicative of the greatness of this story that after nearly a century of critical commentary and scholarship dissection it remains an enigma.
If the inscrutable is used as a qualification of greatness, then there are a few great ones in this collection.
Dubliners compiles fifteen short stories. In order of their arrangement, they cover the point of view of childhood, adolescence, to adulthood, yet they share similar themes based on love and loss, life and death, religion and conscience. It’s interesting as I caught myself while reading that I did not see the characters so much as residents of Dublin. They appear borderless. Their particular location and life situation might be tied to Dublin and Ireland at a certain point in time, but the issues they have to deal with transcend boundaries.
A twist that the stories seem to share is: people are not what they appear. Often, the picture presented in the first part of a story leads to an ironic ending. Further, below the surface of a character, there are unfathomable depths of feelings, conflicts, memories, longings and desires. Joyce’s superb writing takes the reader with him as he peels off layer after layer to show us the human soul… but not devoid of charm and humour.
Most of the stories are swift and short, some maybe like scenes and vignettes, their descriptions and character depictions sharp, precise, and succinct. The last one ‘The Dead’, the one that Banville notes as an ‘enigma’ in the introduction, is the longest with 55 pages, the highlight of the whole book.
Here are my favourites:
An Encounter – sometimes a most unlikely stranger can help us see ourselves a bit more clearly.
Araby – famous story that many of us might have read in school, adolescent infatuation, missed chances and the uncontrollable happenings in our everyday life.
Eveline – One may feel discontent with one’s claustrophobic life, but given the chance to escape, freedom may just be too risky a choice to make.
A Little Cloud – Yes, the grass is always greener on the other side, but some people may just be destined to stay in less green pastures… Our lot, is it by fate, or, by choice?
A Painful Case – Anna Karenina in short story form… well, maybe just a coincidence.
The Dead – A 55 page and by far the most gratifying story for me. Joyce sets the stage with a Christmas party and presents some lively characters, slowly focusing on Gabriel, a loving husband, and maybe drenched in a bit too much self-importance and confidence.
All’s well until the twist comes at the last 10 pages. A song at the party resurrects his wife’s memory of a young lover who died for love of her at 17. As the husband excavates his wife’s long past story, he comes to a humbling self-realization. His initial passionate sentiments for her change to jealousy but finally turn into a greater clarity of what love is.
I must quote this last sentence of the story, don’t worry, no spoiler, I’ve already given you that, but just for the beauty of the prose, and the meaning that runs silent and deep:
His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling, like the descent of their last end, upon all the living and the dead.
Here is my take on this ‘enigma’ of a story…
as the snow falls upon all
it is love that connects
among the living
and with the dead.
***
Dubliners by James Joyce, with a new introduction by John Banville. Published by Modern Library, NY, Paperback Edition, August 2012, 249 pages.
My other reviews for Ireland Reading Challenge 2012:
Molly Fox’s Birthday by Deirdre Madden
Ripple Effects 
this cover is very nice – less dark than some of the others I have seen. I read the collection in high school and your review was a nice refresh for me on some of the stories.
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Maybe because of the cover, I find humor and amusing parts in the book. You can see how much a cover can do to your reading pleasure. 😉
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That does look like a nice edition. I’ve read Araby and The Dead but I’ve never read the whole of Dubliners. I survived and enjoyed Ulysses, I should probably give this book a go sometime.
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Kudos to you for surviving Ulysses, Stefanie. There had been times that I attempted to read it, but had given up the idea. Since I didn’t have to read it for school, so I never did. But I’m sure it’s quite a contrast with Anna K., do you think? And I so look forward to reading your thoughts on Anna K. in our wrap-up post come Nov. 15.
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I have had this on my to-read shelf for ages, and this is the first review I’ve read that has me excited to read it! Thanks. 🙂 I’ve linked this review to the main Ireland Challenge page.
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Thanks Carrie for hosting this interesting Challenge and linking. I just noticed that I’d entered my link twice in the second list (both 68 and 69). Could you please delete one for me? As for the book, yes, I’m sure you’ll find it a worthy read.
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I’ve always been intimidated by Joyce but, as usual, you tempt me to give it a try. A short version of Anna Karenina?? I’m in!
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nikkipolani,
His short stories are both beautifully written and accessible. I think you’ll enjoy Dubliners… yes, see if you can pick out Anna K. 😉
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What a beautiful edition! The Dead is my favorite story in the collection… Joyce at his most ‘readable’!
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JoAnn,
I like The Dead the most, albeit some others are also memorable. But I admit, there are a few that remain an ‘enigma’ to me. 😉
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I’m a little intimidated by Joyce, too! Studied The Dead when I took the Irish literature module for my degree course and it is a wonderful story. I enjoyed reading this post.
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Nicola,
Dubliners is an accessible collection of Joyce’s short stories. I think you’ll enjoy them. Thanks for stopping by and leaving your comment.
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Whenever I look at a copy of Finnegan’s Wake or Ulysses, my life suddenly feels very short and precious…. I did read The Dead, however, for an online short story group several years ago, and loved it. I should really pick up The Dubliners one of these days. Thank you for the lovely review.
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litlove,
That’s a powerful response to the two books. I’m always eager to know your views on books, esp. the classics, old or new. Thanks for sharing.
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It’s so interesting that Joyce thought Dubliners might be his best work. I don’t think I’d agree, even though I like the book very much, but I also think the author’s opinion is far from the most important one, so it doesn’t matter much what Joyce thought. Except that it’s an interesting way to think about Joyce himself. I’d love to know what his reasons were for making such a claim.
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Rebecca,
I’m glad you raised that question… allowing me to clarify somewhat. Banville at the very beginning of his intro relays an incident about Joyce meeting an old Dublin friend in Paris late in his life, albeit it’s probably ‘apocryphal’. Here’s the excerpt from the intro:
“The Dublin friend, a plain man, speaks highly of A Portrait of the Artist, of Ulysses, and even of Finnegans Wake, but then, after a pause, ventures that in his opinion the stories collected in Dubliners, written when Joyce was a very young man, still represent his best work. Joyce ponders for a long moment and then, glancing this way and that to make sure he is not overheard, says, “Do you know what? — I think you’re right.”
One can take this in whatever way one wants to I guess. But while we’re on this issue, I recently read an article on short stories (which I forgot where, shucks) the writer shared this same view, emphasizing that it was just his own opinion and didn’t want to spread this further on. Ummm… maybe he’d heard of this same anecdote too. 😉
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I had to smile at your remark about type size. I’ve heard several people mention that as a reason to move to readers like the Kindle – they can enlarge the print. As for the cover of this edition, it is attractive, though if I were in charge I would have gotten rid of that white medallion. It jars me, somehow – doesn’t seem to fit. That’s purely personal, of course.
“Dubliners” is one I’ve dipped into over the years, and enjoyed it. That last sentence you quoted is a humdinger. The reversal of “faintly falling” and “falling faintly”, the alliteration, the deliberate ambiguity of the phrase “last end” (as opposed to former ends?)… It’s all wonderful stuff, and a reminder to go look for my copy again.
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That is indeed a beautiful cover. I’ve seen the new Modern Library editions of The Count of Monte Cristo and Moby Dick, and both are equally lovely. I can imagine the typesize and the feel of the paper of your book. It’s tempting. Dubliners has been on my list for awhile. Also tempted by the new Penguin English Library cover, this: http://fsebmat.tumblr.com/post/31070584244/james-joyce-dubliners-1914-penguin-english
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