Dubliners (Naxos Edition)

By: James Joyce

Narrated by: Jim Norton

James Joyce's Dubliners is a collection of short stories about the lives of the people of Dublin around the turn of the century. Each story describes a small but significant moment of crisis or revelation in the life of a particular Dubliner, sympathetically but always with stark honesty. Many of the characters are desperate to escape the confines of their humdrum lives, though those that have the opportunity to do so seem unable to take it. This book holds none of the difficulties of Joyce's later novels, such as Ulysses, yet in its way it is just as radical. These stories introduce us to the city which fed Joyce's entire creative output, and to many of the characters who made it such a well of literary inspiration.

Download the accompanying reference guide.©2004 NAXOS AudioBooks Ltd. (P)2004 NAXOS AudioBooks Ltd.

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Nothing new to relate: excellent narrator, excellent text. If anything, I enjoyed the Naxos edition more than the text alone.

Some moving stories

I'm not often a fan of “great literature". By that I mean books that give professors of literature something complicated to fill a lecture or two with. This sort of book gives ordinary readers like myself a headache because the plot plays second fiddle to artistic technique. In this way, they're like modern art paintings. Without an expert's wordy explanation of why they're so great it's not apparent to the average person that they are in fact great. James Joyce is an author of this sort of “great literature”.

That said, I found some of the short stories in this collection poignant and worthwhile. I was genuinely moved by “Counterparts", “A Mother", “Eveline” and “The Dead”. I also enjoyed “An Encounter” and a few others. The author was able to be artistic and still tell some excellent (if perhaps depressing) stories. Full Disclosure: I had to do online research to better understand each of the stories.

My view on collections of short stories is that if there is one really great one in the bunch and/or two or three really good ones, they're worth the time and money. The Dubliners meets that standard with four excellent stories and a few more pretty good ones.

For once, I love the music

Typically, I dislike short stories because there's not enough character development and I never feel "vested" in the characters. I guess this is why Joyce is often considered the "best of the best". The stories are "small" and "every day" from a country and time far away and long ago but I was easily drawn in. I remember not liking Protrait when I had to read it in high school many years ago but with maturity- in years as well as appreciation, I will revisit.

Deep voice

good narrator, but he speaks too closely to the mic most of the time adding to proximity effect... = low resonance. good if the whole book was a movie trailer... hard to focus on subject and have to turn the volume up just to distinguish words when whispered.

What's with the interlude music?

Great book; well read and presented. However, the long and odd musical presentations between the chapters was annoying and unnecessary

Perfect in Every Way

Not only are the stories superb, the reader gets them right---he reads with understanding of what Joyce is trying to convey.

If the listener understands the style Joyce developed---aesthetics---the writing opens up as a beautiful blossom. This means the stories are about vivid, detailed description---they are not action stories. Somewhat similar to Proust who can devote 8 pages to the making of lunch, Joyce gets the reader into the scene--you're there, you feel it.

Nothing dramatic happens in any of these stories---if you are looking for action, don't look here. If you are interested in some of the best writing available, get this version. It's absolutely perfect.

Of an Irish time and place

My first encounter with James Joyce. Can't say I was terribly impressed.

Dubliners is a collection of his short stories, all dealing with Irish life. They are "slice of life" stories, mostly a day in the life of a Dubliner, mostly working-class people, from schoolboys to university students to maids to politicians.

Most are quite short, narrated in simple language (though there are many Irish flourishes of slang and references I missed). There's one about a girl who falls in love with one of her mother's boarders, and his inner monologue about not wanting to marry her but being maneuvered into it. There's one about a drunkard who goes home to beat his son. There are many about married life, about courting, about mothers and their aspirations for their children, about old people and their regrets, and through it all flows a very Irish tone, as James Joyce articulated the voice of his people at a time when Irish identity was taking on increasing cultural and political importance.

So it's the same sort of "naturalist" or "realist" storytelling as Flaubert. And about equally dry and uncaptivating. I appreciate what these stories say about that time and place - they certainly set a mood for early 20th century Dublin - but none of them really grabbed me or hooked me on Joyce's prose. He reads like the sort of author you read to have read, though I am sure there are Joyce fans who can tell me what exquisite pleasures I am missing.

An approachable Joyce

James Joyce is an author I have struggled with all of my life. I struggled with Finnegans Wake and Ulysses and gave up time and time again. In reading/listening to Michael Drout’s Approaches to Literature (Modern Scholar Part II), he recommends Dubliners over and over again so I had to try it.

Did I mention that all my life I have struggled with the short story form? They’re kind of like miniatures: miniature dogs... miniature ceramic tea cups... you know, they’re just not for everyone. I dare say this book is not for everyone either. But for me it was the best of Joyce and the best of the short story.

Nothing exciting here really; just a beautiful collection of words, elegantly assembled, eloquently delivered and all tied together with a lovely little ditty of a tune between parts. Author, narration and musical production all come together in perfection.

Sublime

This is the first of Joyce's work I've had the pleasure of listening to. I downloaded this based on the reviews, and I wasn't disappointed. The stories were charming, but it was the eloquence of Joyce's words that gave them life. I will definitely give this a second, or possibly third listen; I enjoyed the stories that much. And the narrator was spot-on. He captured the voices and mood of each story brilliantly. If you're a fan of Joyce or you've always been curious about his work, do yourself a favor and download this selection.

Simply wonderful

I can’t imagine a better reading of these quiet and beautiful stories of Joyce. Jim Norton is surely among the immortals in the universe of book narrators.