Dubliners

In Dubliners, Joyce paints vivid portraits of the denizens of the city of his birth, from the young boy encountering death in the first story, “The Sisters,” to the middle-aged Gabriel of the haunting final story, “The Dead.” The collection is both an unflinchingly realistic portrait of “dear dirty Dublin” and, as Joyce himself explained, a chapter of the moral history of his country from which his countrymen could get “one good look at themselves.” It is a remarkable look, by turns bawdy and witty, but always darkened by a paralysis of spirit and emotions. Each of these fifteen stories startles the reader into realizing universal truths in moments Joyce called epiphanies. Dubliners is one of the greatest short story collections in the English language and a crucial preface to the later works of this century's most influential novelist.