Dubliners

Dubliners (Penguin Modern Classics) is a collection of fifteen modernist short stories which were first published in 1914. The author writes about the day-to-day experiences of ordinary folks who live in Dublin.In Dubliners a young boy grapples with the death of priest Father Flynn. Titled The Sisters this story focuses on childhood faith and guilt. In A Mother Mrs Kearney organises a concert series in association with an Irish cultural society. She strikes a deal which she hopes will help her daughter win a place of pride. However when things start to go wrong Mrs Kearney gets infuriated. In another story An Encounter two boys skip school so that they can spend the day exploring Dublin. When they finally rest in a field they meet a creepy old man. Some other stories in Dubliners include After The Race A Little Cloud and Grace. In The Dead Gabriel Conroy suddenly gets an epiphany about the nature of his existence. The next tale Clay is about an old maid named Maria. On Halloween night she visits her former foster child Joe Donnelly. In the story titled Eveline a young girl wonders if fleeing Ireland with her sailor boyfriend is a good idea or not. In Araby a young boy wishes to buy a gift for the girl he loves but he fails in his quest. Readers will come across many more stories in Dubliners including A Painful Case The Boarding House Counterparts and Two Gallants. This edition contains an introduction by Terence Brown as well as extra notes.Dubliners beautifully covers elements of personal failure sexual desire and social decline in the fifteen stories. The narration is unique and brilliantly compelling. Dubliners (Penguin Modern Classics) published by Penguin UK in 2000 is available in paperback. About the Author James Joyce born in 1882 was an Irish author and poet. Some of his best works include Ulysses A Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man and Finnegans Wake. James is one of the most-influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century. The author enrolled into the University College Dublin in 1898 to study French English and Italian. He later emigrated to different parts of Europe and lived in cities like Paris Zurich and Trieste. James passed away in 1941. In 1999 he was listed by TIME magazine as one of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th century. <p>James Joyce's <i>Dubliners </i>is an enthralling collection of modernist short stories which create a vivid picture of the day-to-day experience of Dublin life. This Penguin Classics edition includes notes and an introduction by Terence Brown.<br><br>Joyce's first major work, written when he was only twenty-five, brought his city to the world for the first time. His stories are rooted in the rich detail of Dublin life, portraying ordinary, often defeated lives with unflinching realism. From 'The Sisters', a vivid portrait of childhood faith and guilt, to 'Araby', a timeless evocation of the inexplicable yearnings of adolescence, to 'The Dead', in which Gabriel Conroy is gradually brought to a painful epiphany regarding the nature of his existence, Joyce draws a realistic and memorable cast of Dubliners together in an powerful exploration of overarching themes. Writing of social decline, sexual desire and exploitation, corruption and personal failure, he creates a brilliantly compelling, unique vision of the world and of human experience.<br><br>James Joyce (1882-1941), the eldest of ten children, was born in Dublin, but exiled himself to Paris at twenty as a rebellion against his upbringing. He only returned to Ireland briefly from the continent but Dublin was at heart of his greatest works, <i>Ulysses</i> and <i>Finnegans Wake</i>. He lived in poverty until the last ten years of his life and was plagued by near blindness and the grief of his daughter's mental illness.<br><br>If you enjoyed <i>Dubliners</i>, you might like Joyce's <i>Ulysses</i>, also available in Penguin Modern Classics.<br><br>'Joyce redeems his Dubliners, assures their identity, and makes their social existence appear permanent and immortal, like the streets they walk'<br>Tom Paulin<br><br>'Joyce's early short stories remain undimmed in their brilliance'<br><i>Sunday Times</i></p>