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The book was delivered quickly and arrived in the condition stated by the seller. Great service, great product.
The writing is very straight-forward, with the occasional subtle nuance which escalates this compendium into the realm which we now classify as literature. Honestly, I fell right in to his technique (which is how it's presented here) and discovered that this practice makes for very palatable reading. To save time it's best to just note that Joyce encountered discord in getting this work published because various influential factions found it to be "blasphemous." This outdated assessment represents the Irish Catholic View of the age which had somehow carried over from the Victorian Period. These people were subjugated by archaic laws, dissolute politicians, greedy employers, by one another, but most of all by the hop and grain.
In the end, this work of top British (Irish) literature eventually saw publication in 1914.Joyce embraced certain caveats which he wanted included via the publishing process -- he used dashes to set out dialogue instead of quotation marks as he considered the latter to manifest unnecessary baggage. First, a little about the Modern Library edition.Astute scholars have toiled quite diligently here to preserve the fifteen stories which make up this work in the precise way that James Joyce himself wanted them presented. At times James is as morbidly dreary as Dostoyevsky in Crime and Punishment (Wordsworth Classics) and at others he panders a level of acerbity which William Faulkner conveyed in As I Lay Dying (Norton Critical Edition). The Irish poor somehow managed to live a slightly more civilized existence than the aforementioned groups but they were still enslaved to their overwhelming social burdens -- Joyce brought these actualities to life. He also wanted many corrections made to the original text and as many as possible were included in this 1993 edition.As to the stories, I savor Joyce to the highest degree because I can relate to his paradigm -- my own writing is quite like his.
These are all culturally folksy tales of Dublin salt-of-the-earth residents.Each story chiefly focuses upon members of a repressed society, the urban working Irish at the outset of the 20th Century. He lifted the mundane, indeed the melancholy, to the plateau of the melodramatic without being in the least exploitive of their collective plight. Today one might characterize these tales as very slightly irreverent, if that. Alcohol was as vast a problem for the Irish as it has historically been for both Russians and Native American Indians. I am James Joyce just as Dan Quayle was JFK.
Anyway, here we have fifteen fictional accounts over the course of 286 pages (the product description is incorrect). The ultimate consequence for all three cultures has been essentially equivalent. His writing style, especially his vague story conclusions, best lend themselves to suit the analytic ponderer.If you would like to begin your reading of Joyce in chewable bites rather than tearing into Ulysses (Penguin Modern Classics) or Finnegans Wake (Penguin Modern Classics) then this book is precisely what you're seeking.Highly recommended.
I especially appreciate the editor's notes in this edition, which clarify a range of topics, including Dublin topography, vocabulary and slang that has gone out of usage, obsolete social and political matters. Indeed, each story is linked to the next by recurrent vocabulary and imagery--for instance, conceptual images of light and dark, vision & blindness, paralysis, and death--among others--to be understood both literally and figuratively.
I can only tell you the reasons why I adore this book. Since Amazon seems to have lumped reviews of sundry editions under one category, I have specified the exact edition on which I am commenting instead of a proper title for my review.It would be presumptuous of me to comment upon Joyce's prose, which in "Dubliners"--in my reader's opinion--seems flawless.
The stories seem intended to be read in order from beginning to end. Joyce views his residents of Dublin--of various ages and social classes--through a melancholy lens, albeit tinged with grace and humor.
Of all the stories, my favorite is "Araby," which recaptures the expectations, frustrations, and delusions of adolescence. All these images have been interwoven so carefully that unless one is looking for them, they will be noticed only subliminally; they nevertheless contribute to the feeling of satisfaction after Joyce brings them together in his final heartbreaking paragraph, which will linger in one's thoughts long after one has closed the book.
This Penguin Edition is therefore excellent for students as well as for the serious reader.
"I lingered before her stall, though I knew my stay was useless, to make my interest in her wares seem the more real. Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Dubliners--By James JoyceJoyce's earlier works are his most accessible and personal. The narrator encounters a series of physical and spiritual experiences, including losing his virginity and wrestling with his faith, on the journey to manhood. In stories like "Araby," the narrator has a sudden revelation or insight (Joyce called it "epiphany") that brings out a significant truth.The boy who narrates "Araby" dreams of going to a street fair where he hopes to meet a girl, but his uncle is late getting home to give him the money.He arrives as the fair is closing, and lingers while the carny's finish their work. Gazing up in the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger."Joyce's language is sparse and economical, but still evocative of a time and mood. He is attracted toward the priesthood because of its ceremony, but afraid of the commitment it requires:"A flame began to flutter on Stephens's cheek as he heard in this (priest's) proud address an echo of his own proud musings.
I allowed the two pennies to fall against the sixpence in my pocket. His semi-autobiographical "Portrait of the Artist" traces the personal and spiritual growth of the protagonist, Stephen Dedalus. Then I turned away slowly and walked down the middle of the bazaar. How often had he seen himself as a priest wielding calmly and humbly the awful power of which angels and saints stood in reverence. He had seen himself, a young and silent-mannered priest, entering a confessional swiftly, ascending to the altar steps, incensing, genuflecting, and accomplishing the vague acts of the priesthood which pleased him by reason of their semblance to reality and of their distance from it." "A Portrait of the Artist" ranks among the finest autobiographical essays like "The Education of Henry Adams." "Dubliners" is more a series of vignettes than a collection of conventional short stories. I heard a voice call from one end of the gallery that the light was out.
This purchase was very satisfactory and was received in a timely fashion. The book was in great condition and I was very pleased.
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