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Dubliners (Penguin Modern Classics) by James Joyce (2000) This is my desert-island book, and I will never tire of it. Overall, I really like this oversized, illustrated edition (from Other Press). I jumped right into a re-read immediately when it arrived. I read Ulysses the first time in my 20s, far from home, with seemingly endless amounts of time on hand. I barely finished, struggled through it, and had to stop until I could find a reader's guide. Fast forward a quarter century and I barely finished after struggling through it, again. I have developed less tolerance for 'working' through anything - if it doesn't hold my interest I am less likely to see it through. The initial chapters were fine, I barely finished creepy old man at the beach, and skimmed the endless page after page of dialogue. I kept going because I remembered Molly's final chapter, and it again delivered. Leaving this in case I chose to re-read later in life, better off to just skip to the final chapter, even if you don't 'earn' it by suffering through the rest of the 700 pages. The illustrations were wonderful. I had started - and abandoned - Ulysses several times in the past - certainly I am not the only one to whom that happened. Now, 100 years after the first publication with all the publicity given I was determined not to give up and succeeded ! (but was nevertheless frequently tempted to put it aside). It is certainly an extraordinary work but requires determination, stamina and commitment from the reader, even then it will be impossible to follow more than a few of the (probably) thousands of hidden references. One could spend years, a life-time, with this book but that is not for me but once I met somebody who had a large facsimile of a proof-print with Joyce’s handwritten corrections for which he had made a special stand to place it on. Perhaps one needs to be a Dubliner or at least Irish (although that person wasn’t) to fully appreciate this perambulation around Dublin streets a hundred years ago each section written in a different voice and style. (II/III-22) Some links to interesting contributions: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m00141tf https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/jan/29/dangerous-voyeuristic-transgressiv... https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/jan/20/centenary-recording-of-ulysses-to-... and a good review: https://www.librarything.com/review/12094263 Another great Irish writer, Kevin Barry, says Joyce “put everything on the page,” comparing him to Beckett, who took everything off. Joyce does put it all down here. Everything, and more. The writing is lyrical, dense, and all-inclusive. Too much, almost, to take in at once. Ulysses needs to be savored, given full attention, and read at leisure. It’s probably best read in prison or on a long sea voyage. I'll probably have to read it again to get the full picture of life in Dublin on June 16, 1904, as lived by Stephen Dedalus, Leopold Bloom, and Molly Bloom.
For readers to whom books are an important means of learning about life, it stands preeminent above modern rivals as one of the most monumental works of the human intelligence. During the one exciting day in Dublin, Joyce turns the mind of Bloom inside out. The history of Ireland comes to us in refracted rays. Through Stephen Dedalus we are introduced to Joyce's own profound spiritual uneasiness, his sense of loss, his hatred of the pragmatic commercial ethic, his need for the moorings and soundings of the medieval Catholic synthesis, his mental honesty that won't permit him to accept a religion, no matter what its appeal, so long as his intelligence tells him it is a figment of dream. Belongs to Publisher SeriesArion Press (27) Delfinserien (433) edition suhrkamp (1100) — 16 more Keltainen kirjasto (60) Modern Library Giant (G52) Neue Folge (Bd. 100) Penguin Books (3000) Perpetua reeks (55) st (2184) Suhrkamp Taschenbücher (2551) Is contained inDubliners, A portrait Of The Young Artist, Ulysses (Three Acclaimed Classics In One Volume) by James Joyce Has the (non-series) sequelHas the adaptationWas inspired byThe Odyssey by Homer InspiredHas as a reference guide/companionHas as a studyHas as a commentary on the textHas as a concordanceHas as a student's study guideHas as a teacher's guide
Considered the greatest 20th century novel written in English, in this edition Walter Gabler uncovers previously unseen text. It is a disillusioned study of estrangement, paralysis and the disintegration of society.From the Trade Paperback edition. No library descriptions found. |
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![]() GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.912 — Literature English {except North American} English fiction Modern Period 1901-1999 1901-1945LC ClassificationRatingAverage:![]()
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