Oxford Bookworms Library: Level 6:: Dubliners audio CD pack

Although James Joyce began these stories of Dublin life in 1904, when he was 22, and had completed them by the end of 1907, they remained unpublished until 1914 — victims of Edwardian squeamishness. Their vivid, tightly focused observations of the life of Dublin's poorer classes, their unconventional themes, coarse language, and mention of actual people and places made publishers of the day reluctant to undertake sponsorship.

Today, however, the stories are admired for their intense and masterly dissection of "dear dirty Dublin," and for the economy and grace with which Joyce invested this youthful fiction. From "The Sisters," the first story, illuminating a young boy's initial encounter with death, through the final piece, "The Dead," considered a masterpiece of the form, these tales represent, as Joyce himself explained, a chapter in the moral history of Ireland that would give the Irish "one good look at themselves." But in the end the stories are not just about the Irish; they represent moments of revelation common to all people.

Desi James Joyce a inceput aceste povesti despre viata din Dublin in 1904, cand avea 22 de ani, si le-a finalizat pana la sfarsitul anului 1907, acestea au ramas nepublicate pana in 1914 - victime ale smecheriei eduardiene. Observatiile lor vii, strans concentrate asupra vietii claselor mai sarace din Dublin, temele lor neconventionale, limbajul grosolan si mentionarea oamenilor si locurilor reale au facut ca editorii zilei sa fie reticenti in angajarea sponsorizarii. Astazi, insa, povestile sunt admirate pentru intensitatea si disectia magistrala a „dragului Dublin murdar” si pentru economia si gratia cu care Joyce a investit aceasta fictiune tinereasca.