Of the writers who kicked off the Modernist literary movement, few did it with such efficiency as James Joyce. While his later books would push the English language to its breaking point, his early anthology "Dubliners" presented an even more interesting proposition when it hypothesized that the Irish city of Dublin was in a state of paralysis, refusing to grow and evolve with the times. Even if these stories do not overlap often, they present a thorough and complete portrait of turn of the century culture in a country that was in need of some fresh perspective. From the opening story detailing the death of a priest to the ending focusing around a universal death, Joyce found an entertaining way to discuss heavy and controversial themes in entertaining ways that drop the reader into a time and place where, even a century later, feels so lived in. Don't be fooled by the brevity. It's so full of minor details that one can't help but feel like they're there witnessing these events in all of their entertaining, tragic detail.
In general, a short story collection is less a unified theme than a collection of work by an author. For Joyce however, there was such an attention to detail that he wanted to become a premiere documentarian for his homeland of Ireland. As a young and ambitious writer, he sought to revive a literary movement that presented something contemporary and alive, free of the conventions of yesteryear. As a result, stories like "The Sisters" had coded themes of sexual assault within the church and "An Encounter" focused on a potentially gay man forced to wander aimlessly as a pariah. Even when the themes feel predictable, Joyce has a gift for managing to add an epiphany that forces one to be taken aback. Few moments feel as alarming as in "Eveline" where an appetizing journey to leave is sabotaged when realizing that the central couple are not in love.
What are these stories saying about Ireland? In some respect, they are all products of a culture that feels codependent on the Catholic church, where moral values will somehow bring salvation. Following a potato famine two generations prior, Joyce was part of a generation who felt trapped. Throughout the stories, he details politics ("Ivy Day in the Committee Room") and the idea that his creativity wasn't accepted by prudish forces. Many were fleeing to other countries, for Joyce it was France, and "Dubliners" would be designed as a reason to stay and try to revive the society. It would be difficult but through scathing portraits, he finds a humanity that is trying to reach through the older generations and find something worth building onto. There was a need to take pride in the community, and the push and pull exists throughout all of these stories, asking the reader to determine ways that Ireland could be improved, to have something substantial as more than a land known for misery.
At times there's stories of imports ("Araby," "A Little Cloud") and the dazzle of overseas that compete for a need to stay home. Everything thematically plays into each other, finding an ecosystem in its different forms, as if every story is its own house with its own foundation. Separately, they're character portraits that are delicately detailed with a rich Irish prose that includes Gaelic slang. Small moments find absurdity amid the tragedy, creating something complicated and requiring deeper thought. "Dubliners" isn't a collection that's easy to dismiss, where even the secondary stories come with a lot of rich history to deconstruct and understand the world that Joyce lived in. These characters feel significant even as they sit around doing nothing significant. If anything, they reflect conflicts of the country and Joyce himself. He wanted to be something greater, and that would mean taking risks that Ireland hadn't in decades. "Dubliners" is maybe the most radical, necessary work to wake up a generation to at least present truthful, authentic perspectives worthy serving as their own export.
It would be difficult to properly review every story in here, though it helps that it features some of the author's most renowned works such as "The Dead." Even as a young and hungry writer, Joyce had a gift for using a more conventional style of prose to present a perspective that desired something grander. It may be something specifically damning of Dublin, but speaks to the ambitions inside everyone. There is a want to make a difference, and it shines in every detail. For those unfamiliar with Ireland in the 20th century's early days, Joyce captures it perfectly and subsequent scholars have reflected the value of the more obscure references. Even all this time later, Joyce feels fresh because he was living in the moment, telling stories that embraced the positivity even within the negative. It's beautiful and tragic, having a remorse for the paralysis while trying to resurrect something brilliant. To say the least, time has proven his delightful arrogance successful.
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