Dubliners is a collection of short stories by James Joyce set in his hometown of Dublin, Ireland.

They are
arranged in sub-collections in the book, the first three sub-collections are based on the relative ages of
the main characters. “Childhood” has three stories; “Young Adulthood” and “Mature Life” have four
stories each. A collection of three stories are grouped under the heading “Public Life” and take place in
the political sphere, musical world, and business realm of Dublin. The final story, in its section, is “The
Dead”. This illustrated and annotated version displays the text of the stories on the right-hand page with
pictures and notes on the left-hand page. Photographs, drawings, newspaper clippings, and maps all add
to the understanding of the time and place of the stories.

When I go too long without working my way through a book, I forget how fun it is. My experience with
Dubliners reminded me of reading Macbeth last year, Macbeth by William Shakespeare. In the end, I
suspect I’m more likely to pick up another Shakespeare play than a second book by James Joyce.
Although my appreciation for Joyce grew over the time I read the book and with a bit more work, I think
I could make myself a fan. Reading A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is a possibility I would
consider.

Dubliners might not have been my best choice for an introduction to James Joyce. I’m not much of a fan
of the short story form, finding it generally a vehicle for grim and detached cleverness, not a state of
mind I choose to cultivate. I may have never previously read a collection of short stories by one author,
so I hadn’t realized that would be a partial cure. I got used to the mood of Dubliners and was able to get
past it to appreciate the use of language and symbols. It didn’t hurt that the stories near the end
lightened up just a little.