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  • Dubliners

  • By: James Joyce
  • Narrated by: Chris O'Dowd
  • Length: 7 hrs and 22 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (15 ratings)

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Dubliners

By: James Joyce
Narrated by: Chris O'Dowd
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Publisher's Summary

Form-defining short stories.

First published in 1914, James Joyce defined what the short story could be with his collection Dubliners. A mixture of prose and poetry, each story can be listened to independently or as a collection. From childhood to maturity, we see what life - and ultimately death - can be, via an extraordinary cast of characters, all of whom experience an epiphany. There’s Father Flynn, the priest; Evelyn, the shop girl who dreams of escape; Mrs Mooney, the butcher’s daughter, who runs a boarding house.

Joyce described the stories as ‘a moral history of my country’. Written by a young Joyce, with the devastating potato famine still in living memory, he wanted to explore the reasons why a city and its occupants could be so paralysed. For the modern listener, the stories also provide a fascinating snapshot of early 20th-century life - from clay pipes to sixpences, petticoats to ginger beer. In your mind’s eye, walk round Stephen’s Green, wander down Grafton Street and over the River Liffey. You’ll never forget this city or its occupants.

The stories:

  • 'The Sisters'
  • 'An Encounter'
  • 'Araby'
  • 'Eveline'
  • 'After the Race'
  • 'Two Gallants'
  • 'The Boarding House'
  • 'A Little Cloud'
  • 'Counterparts'
  • 'Clay'
  • 'A Painful Case'
  • 'Ivy Day in the Committee Room'
  • 'A Mother'
  • 'Grace'
  • 'The Dead'
Public Domain (P)2021 Audible, Ltd

What listeners say about Dubliners

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Lifting the curtain on another world

I must admit I’d assumed James Joyce’s writing would overly wordy or dull, or just for a different era. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Joyce really has an understanding of life and I can’t believe he was only 23 when he wrote these stories.
Chris O’Dowd has done a brilliant job here, so many little touches that make the stories jump into focus. These characters have stayed with me, especially Tue characters from Eveline, a little cloud and a painful case. The last story was more challenging to follow, but I’ve read it’s more of a novella, and a nod in the direction Joyce took his writing after this.

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Wonderful narration of an important novel

This is a brilliant way to experience James Joyce’s short stories. A wonderful performance from Chris and a great entry point into Joyce. The stories themself are easy to get into, but offer complex characters and a powerful insight into early 20th century Ireland. Also, a great entry point into modernist writers.

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Jarring Transitions

My only issue is with the production. The transitions between stories are very sudden. It would be much more listener friendly if a short musical interlude was played at the end of each chapter, similar to the one that's played at the end of the whole book.

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Could not be done better

A marvellously evocative read by Chris O’ Dowd of these unsurpassed stories from Joyce. For the time I listened I was in Joyce’s Dublin, both of that specific time circa1900, and of the timeless universal experience he touches upon so brilliantly

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