Dubliners

By: James Joyce

Narrated by: Jim Killavey

This collection of 15 stories was first published in 1914. James wrote them as descriptions of middle-class life in Ireland, but in each story one or more characters has an "epiphany," - a moment where the character has a speical moment of illumination. Many of the characters in these stories later appear in his novel, Ulysses.

The stories included are "The Sisters," "An Encounter," "Araby", "Eveline", "After the Race", "Two Gallants", "The Boarding House", "A Little Cloud", "Counterparts", "Clay", "A Painful Case", "A Day in the Committee Room", "A Mother", "Grace", and "The Dead".

Public Domain (P)1987 Jimcin Recordings

Brilliant Portraits

I had forgotten how vivid—almost cinematic—Joyce’s writing is. Thrilling in it’s particularity and because of that, in its universality. I listened to audible on my walks then often returned to read some passages in my paper copy. The people felt “knowable” not just observable. The audible reader was well paced and clear. Only wish there had been a bit more silent space between stories so I could pause for a moment.

Was not as good as expected

I really had higher expectations of this work. The stories are somewhat engaging, but I found myself confused more than once by the intro and opening paragraphs of these. The opening would start developing a character and even set the scene to introduce a conflict, then the character would just disappear and not even be mentioned again. Most of the stories felt, on the whole, like snippets of an undeveloped novel with no real beginning or ending.

I did not like the narration. The readers sounded stilted and annunciated so precisely as to sound unnatural. I found it quite distracting to the point of having to rewind frequently to catch what I had missed.

Wonderful

Wonderful stories. Narrator "lapses" into American pronunciations once in a while but overall reading is very good.

Joyce was meant to be spoken, like this.

I'll admit I may not grasp all that was written, but this I enjoy. Something is communicated in the spoken word that adds to the narrative. The setting becomes real.

Great book, poor narration

These stories are so well written, but I found the narration so monotonous it was distracting. I am redeeming another credit to find a narration that can do the stories justice.

Can't get past the narrator

I think I will like these stories when I can concentrate on them, and not on the narrator. I got to the point where I just could not listen to him any more and gave up. I have downloaded a different version with a variety of known and excellent narrators. I hope I have made a good choice. I want to understand this author, James Joyce, who many consider one of the greatest of all time.

Sorry, could not get passed the narration

I do not mean to disrespect the actor here but his take on Dubliners was not for me.