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A review by andredias
The Dead by James Joyce
4.0
"His soul swooned softly 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."
James Joyce's "The Dead", published in 1914, centres on Gabriel Conroy, a professor and part-time book reviewer. The story examines the relationship of the protagonist (Gabriel Conroy) with his family and friends. The plot is set in Dublin in an annual Christmas party hosted by Conroy's aunts. As the plot action goes on, a chain of events drives Gabriel's wife to reveal a significant secret that will change the life of the protagonist in a deeply existential way.
One of the finest short stories in the English language, "The Dead", is one of those lessons that makes us question love, loss and the sense of life. Personally, I was not deeply bounded with the characters of the story, but as the plot progresses, it successfully achieves a very thoughtful ending. Happiness, sadness, and national identity, the author manages to write it all in a long lost proper vocabulary.
Thought-provoking and profound, the end of the narrative leads any reader to understand life from an absurdity standpoint.
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
James Joyce's "The Dead", published in 1914, centres on Gabriel Conroy, a professor and part-time book reviewer. The story examines the relationship of the protagonist (Gabriel Conroy) with his family and friends. The plot is set in Dublin in an annual Christmas party hosted by Conroy's aunts. As the plot action goes on, a chain of events drives Gabriel's wife to reveal a significant secret that will change the life of the protagonist in a deeply existential way.
One of the finest short stories in the English language, "The Dead", is one of those lessons that makes us question love, loss and the sense of life. Personally, I was not deeply bounded with the characters of the story, but as the plot progresses, it successfully achieves a very thoughtful ending. Happiness, sadness, and national identity, the author manages to write it all in a long lost proper vocabulary.
Thought-provoking and profound, the end of the narrative leads any reader to understand life from an absurdity standpoint.
Rating: 3.5/5 stars