Students from 5e share their readings with you through Book reviews : 

The Dubliners by James Joyce

   “When you think that Dublin had been a capital for thousands of years..it seems strange that no author has given themselves to its’ world.” So said Joyce, and in 1914 The Dubliners, a melancholic collection of short stories set in – where else – 1890’s Dublin were published. Presented to us is a haunting set of tales, set in a world where religious and social mores rule supreme. Every one of them is suffused with a deep, soul-shattering sadness and tension.

  Although they are set over a hundred years ago, the pure emotion encapsulated within these pages allow us to relate to the disturbingly normal characters. No one in this book is a hero. They are simply ordinary people, with vices, loves and dreams like us all. You will hate some and love others, but if ever an author sketched in shades of grey Joyce did; you will find no storybook villains here.

  The most famous of these works is The Dead. The story begins with a tense, uncomfortable Christmas gathering and ends with snow-covered graves. It is annoyingly real; you could be there, sharing in the discomfort of a certain Mr.Conroy. It is not an easy read. My personal favourite A Painful Case, a story of love unrequited and lost, has the most remarkable, poetic ending. The rich vocabulary and tone in all of these mean that you could read them to marvel at the use of language alone.

  This is definitely a book for older and very confident readers; MATURE THEMES, combined with an old-fashioned dialect and a distinct tension make for an Everest of a compilation, but persevere and ye shall be rewarded. For lovers of unflinching realism and true-life tales, who don’t mind surrendering to a book that once read, won’t be forgotten.

by Catherine B., 5e