Rian Bolger’s Reviews > Dubliners > Status Update

Ivy Day in the Committee Room
- Always interesting when Parnell comes up with Joyce. I really struggle to hone in on what he thinks of him. I love how he casts a shadow over everything Joyce writes.
- I liked that the poem tackles everyone who let Parnell down and everyone has the sense to just agree and sit in respectful silence.
- One of the more labyrinthine stories as prose goes.

A Painful Case
- Wondered how much of this would be a stand-in for Joyce on seeing Duffy owned a copy of a play Joyce had penned a translation of. Reckon the surname "Dubh" hints at a "dark" reflection of Joyce, this is the Joyce that remains trapped in Dublin. The anti-Dedalus
- Fantastic descriptions of his time with Mrs Sinico, have to wonder if and why her name deliberately sounds like "cynical" 🤔

Clay
- Probably the most confused I've been for one of these, maybe due to the length.
- Once I straightened out what was going on, I liked it a lot more.
- Grim how central alcohol is to the story, drunkards on the tram are as prevalent as ever unfortunately.
- Poor Maria.

Counterparts
- Farrington is a percectly repugnant protagonist. God, I hated him. Naturally those last few lines broke my heart. I want to kill him.
- Fantastic sense of place as always, thankful to Joyce for so often writing about the city centre where I'm familiar with the street names and can feel smart.

A Little Cloud
- Liked this one a lot. Again he's moving around the city center so I had a great sense of place and familiarity.
- Connected with Chandler a lot. Completely understand the frustrations and longing. Seeing that you can do something someone else has but the only hurdle being a difference of drive is torture.
- Heartbreaking little ending with his young fella.
- Excessive footnotes again, Penguin?

The Boarding House

- Maybe the least remarkable of the stories for me so far. Still not bad by any means.
- My heart broke for poor Polly.
- Interesting that Doran apparently gets multiple mentions in Ulysses.

Two Gallants
- The most *Dublin* a story has felt so far. Impossible not to read the dialogue in an accent.
- Really liked the ambiguity around their end goal with the slavey.

After the Race
- Probably my least favourite so far
- Skepticism around independence as a theme did not jump out to me as early as it should have
- Really did love how Doyle just doesn't fit in. A late addition to the crew that clearly feels awkward for having shown up

Eveline:
- Very useful notes with this story; thank you, Penguin
- Love the room for intepretation on Frank's truthfulness and Eveline's home life (both afforded by the connotations of the name Eveline and of Buenos Aires at the time)
- Personally I thought Frank a liar with no fortune
- Sympathised with that feeling of paralysis

Araby:
- Most gorgeous prose yet
- Again, Joyce knows exactly how to write from the perspective of a kid. Ended up with some odd cocktail of nostalgic embarrassment
- Another great ending, a fantastic depiction of disappointment/realisation