Quo’s review of Dubliners > Likes and Comments
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Bill, like you I've read Dubliners a couple of times. I like your use of the term confinement. I've noticed that a lot in other Irish authors too such as the many books I've read by William Trevor. People trapped in tedious boring lives and no wait out. I wonder if the on-going Irish economic miracle will ruin Irish literature? LOL
Jim: Thanks for your comment. I suspect that Dublin & Ireland in general are vastly different today than when James Joyce declared the Irish a "priest-ridden race". Today, they may even be importing priests from Africa & elsewhere to cover a shortage. Beyond that, jobs in technology & other newer professions seem to have changed the Irish landscape, with a net gain in population the result, this after diminishing numbers of residents for rather a long time.
Joyce rebelled against his religion (while continuing to be attracted to it culturally), his own family (excepting his brother Stanislaus) & Irish nationalism, feeling himself a citizen of the world. And yet the longer he lived in exile from Dublin & Ireland, the more his consciousness seemed rooted in its memory. Bill
I enjoyed reading your outstanding review.
Hello Dianne, Thanks for your positive comment for reading my review of the early stories by James Joyce.
Thanks for this interesting take on his early work Bill. I really loved The Dead in particular. I have not read Ulysses yet but I’m hoping to get to it soon. I just started Swann’s Way by Proust so it will be a while until my next book.
Sylvia: The most amazing aspect about Ulysses is Joyce's ability to tell a linear tale, a single day in Dublin in 1904 focused on the life of Leopold Bloom & others, while doing so in a manner where every chapter seems written in a different voice or style. It can be disorienting but at the same time extraordinary.
If you can wade through Proust, I suspect that you will enjoy Joyce's master work. Even if you don't make it through at first attempt, you will gain by just concentrating on the words--thousands of them, some of which PhD's in linguistics can't fully fathom. This is why I like to remember the image of Marilyn Monroe sitting in a playground with a copy of Joyce's novel. When asked about her choice of a book, she responded that she "just like the words". This is as good a beginning as any. And the more Joyce's eyesight became diminished, the more the sounds of words became elevated in importance. Bill
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Jim
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Dec 11, 2025 06:40PM
Bill, like you I've read Dubliners a couple of times. I like your use of the term confinement. I've noticed that a lot in other Irish authors too such as the many books I've read by William Trevor. People trapped in tedious boring lives and no wait out. I wonder if the on-going Irish economic miracle will ruin Irish literature? LOL
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Jim: Thanks for your comment. I suspect that Dublin & Ireland in general are vastly different today than when James Joyce declared the Irish a "priest-ridden race". Today, they may even be importing priests from Africa & elsewhere to cover a shortage. Beyond that, jobs in technology & other newer professions seem to have changed the Irish landscape, with a net gain in population the result, this after diminishing numbers of residents for rather a long time. Joyce rebelled against his religion (while continuing to be attracted to it culturally), his own family (excepting his brother Stanislaus) & Irish nationalism, feeling himself a citizen of the world. And yet the longer he lived in exile from Dublin & Ireland, the more his consciousness seemed rooted in its memory. Bill
I enjoyed reading your outstanding review.
Hello Dianne, Thanks for your positive comment for reading my review of the early stories by James Joyce.
Thanks for this interesting take on his early work Bill. I really loved The Dead in particular. I have not read Ulysses yet but I’m hoping to get to it soon. I just started Swann’s Way by Proust so it will be a while until my next book.
Sylvia: The most amazing aspect about Ulysses is Joyce's ability to tell a linear tale, a single day in Dublin in 1904 focused on the life of Leopold Bloom & others, while doing so in a manner where every chapter seems written in a different voice or style. It can be disorienting but at the same time extraordinary. If you can wade through Proust, I suspect that you will enjoy Joyce's master work. Even if you don't make it through at first attempt, you will gain by just concentrating on the words--thousands of them, some of which PhD's in linguistics can't fully fathom. This is why I like to remember the image of Marilyn Monroe sitting in a playground with a copy of Joyce's novel. When asked about her choice of a book, she responded that she "just like the words". This is as good a beginning as any. And the more Joyce's eyesight became diminished, the more the sounds of words became elevated in importance. Bill
