Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - Dubliners

On the precipice of revolution, Ireland's great modern author takes stock of his countrymen and their ideals—the hardscrabble lives of the denizens of Dublin. Each story is like a biopsy, subjective and internal outlooks that collectively form a patchwork picture of the eponymous city after the turn of the century and before the vicissitude of the Civil War. In just a couple hundred pages we can detect the bubbling conflict between Protestants and Catholics, between nationalism and conservatism, all within the delicate framework of a small city confronting its unknown future. Tales range from joyous to dour, often within the space of a paragraph, a mere few bottles of stout. They range all the seasons and each mood; and the final, masterful story, "The Dead," makes this early work by Joyce an essential read.

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leeyongjin's review against another edition

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challenging reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.25

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booksjessreads's review against another edition

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challenging sad slow-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

2.75

I was sceptical of this because I am not always a huge fan of short stories but I wanted to give some Irish literature a go. I did really like some short stories over overs, Clay I think was my particular favourite. However, I did feel underwhelmed with others. Furthermore, I was also using the short story summaries on Wikipedia to help me get through some of them and I did really struggle with the novella at the end.

I think for me, I rated it this because I felt the style worked really well, but I just didn't understand the stories that well. I do think that this needs several reads in order to feel more informed about what is happening with each story. I am going to come back to this and re-read after some time so I can annotate and understand the deeper meaning of the stories more. I think I did appreciate the way in which Joyce was trying to convey the mundanity of Irish life in Dublin and I think the snapshots of different lives that were provided through the short stories demonstrated the variety of lives people led. I think I just need to get my head around the text more in order for me to rate this higher.

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jayisreading's review against another edition

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reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

I don’t think there’s much I can say that hasn’t been said already about this short story collection, both good and bad. I have a soft spot for this collection as a result of having studied a fair bit of Irish literature as an undergrad. It’s also interesting to think about this collection in relation to Joyce’s writing career, knowing that this was essentially a stepping stone.

I love the way these stories capture the everyday lives of Dubliners at the time and the bittersweetness of life with such intimacy. To me, there’s something powerful about the inconclusiveness of these stories, instead, leaving the reader to sit with each protagonist’s thoughts by the end of the story. It’s also interesting to reread this collection nearly ten years later. The rose-tinted glasses are now off, and I see that it’s not perfect by any means (not that I thought it was perfect before, but I certainly was enamored with twentieth-century Irish literature).

Like most (if not all) short stories, some I loved, while others… not so much. Some of my favorites were: “Araby,” “A Little Cloud,” “A Painful Case,” and, of course, “The Dead.”

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futureofmydays's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny sad slow-paced

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

1.25

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