Classics Without All the Class discussion

Hello, everyone! I'm delighted to be leading the discussion for Dubliners, and I can't wait to hear what everyone has to say about one of the greatest story collections in literature. Let's start by playing favorites. What is your favorite story or stories so far?
(I hope the responses will help some of you pick and choose which ones to read, in case you can't get to them all.)

Here are a few of my favorites—to help you prioritize if you haven't started reading yet. "Araby," "The Boarding House," "A Little Cloud," "Eveline." And "The Dead" is a must, as it's one of the most talked-about stories in the classics canon.

I found I was waiting for something else to happen in "the dead". It was suspenseful from the start and led you think the danger could come from any of the many threads in this story. I found many story's had quite a disappointing ending from the perspective of the characters at least.

The thing about THE DUBLINERS is this--you should read the stories in order. It's about Joyce's memories, fragmentary as they are, of Dublin. He comes to grips with his life in Dublin, tames Dublin, so to speak, to his art. THE DEAD is the culmination of his grappling with all he really dislikes about Dublin and Dublin society. After THE DEAD, Joyce is done with it all. It's not a coincidence that Joyce never wrote another short story again. He was done with that form; it'd served its purpose.

I seem to recall being particularly fond of "An Encounter", a delightfully dark little tale of two childhood friends and an old man. Another stand-out tale was "Counterparts", a sad bit about a man who is terribly depressed about his life and how much better his peers' turned out (the main character reminded me strikingly of my brother). Really, the only story I did not like was the one about the politicians, since I lack a knowledge of Irish 1910 inter-political workings.

All of your comments have a common theme, a theme that runs throughout Dubliners: disappointment, darkness, depression, sadness. Is the dark tone of these stories a turnoff for you?

I wouldn't say the disillusionment in the stories is a turn-off, exactly, but it does mean that you start every story wondering who is going to be disappointed this time, and how. But I think the writing is very psychologically realistic and probably a fairly true reflection of the restricted possibilities of life in Dublin a hundred years ago.

Having said that, I rather like "Clay" because for once it has a contented protagonist (in Maria) whose only disappointment is the loss of her plum cake. Of course she's surrounded by the discontent and shallow sentiment of others, and her pleasure is only based on her limited understanding. However that doesn't make her of less value as a character. She has at least found a way to live and an acceptance of herself: although others laugh at her, she looks at herself with "quaint affection" in the mirror - "in spite of its years she found it a nice tidy little body." And she's a nice tidy little person.

I am not surprised that Joyce is considered to be a great writer. His portrayals really take one back to the Ireland of his day. I very much respect The Dead for its contrast with flippancy and the sombre ending.

John and Emma, you both mention the realism of Joyce's stories. And I do think he is a master of showing us the small, often ordinary lives of people we know or come into contact with every day. I really feel as if I know a lot of these characters, do you?

I just finished and I loved it! There are some moments that really showed off Mr. Joyce as a virtuoso! I think a great writer is one who can put to words those feelings that are indescribable to all but your own heart. But then when you come across the words they almost catch you off guard because of the way they resonate with some inner workings of the soul. Really impressed!

My favorite was "A Mother" because it provided me with a little comedic relief, which I needed after some of the dark undertones in several of the other stories.

It also has my favorite quote from the book:

“She respected her husband in the same way as she respected the General Post Office, as something large, secure and fixed: and though she knew the small number of his talents she appreciated his abstract value as a male.”

Lea wrote: "My favorite was "A Mother" because it provided me with a little comedic relief, which I needed after some of the dark undertones in several of the other stories.

It also has my favorite quote fro..."

That quote is a bit of perfection. I also love the description of Mr. O'Madden Burke: "His magniloquent western name was the moral umbrella upon which he balanced the fine problem of his finances." Joyce at his best!

I'm reading the stories 2 at a time (at lunch!), and one of today's was "A Mother". I have to agree with both Lea and Lady Vowell - those are both great lines. Both of them deserve savoring. Both are fantastic writing and sly wit.

I'm just half way through- have to pick it up with only a few days left! My favorite so far is probably Eveline; I liked that it didn't just depict a difficult time in someone's life, it had a focus on a particular clear conflict and the decision the title character needed to make- we don't get to learn what she decided but I was ok with that.