[LISTENED TO: October 5, 2010] Dubliners Part I
I found listening to Ulysses to be rather satisfying. And, since I have recently commenced an indoor exercise regime, I thought it would be “fun” to listen to some audio books during the workout. I started with Dubliners because and because Jim Norton is the reader (and I enjoyed his style on the abridged Ulysses) and because I own it.
It’s disconcerting to read/listen to Dubliners after Ulysses because Dubliners is such a conventional collection of stories. There’s nothing untoward about them, there’s nothing scandalous (except for drinking and mistreating wives), and there’s nothing to be confused about (except maybe early 20th century Irish political references). But one thing that is abundantly clear is that Joyce was a great writer, right from the get go.
This disc’s stories are mostly between 10 and 21 minutes long, although “A Little Cloud” runs to half an hour. The titles included in Part I are:
The Sisters
An Encounter
Araby
Eveline
After the Race
Two Gallants
The Boarding House
A Little Cloud
Counterparts
Clay
I’m not really going to review the quality of the audio. It is uniformly very good, with Norton conveying accents wonderfully. And those accents really bring the stories to life. There is music in between each story, and the songs are all relevant to the time, if not the individual story. As with most of these audio books, it could be mixed louder, but that’s a minor quibble.
As for the stories themselves, I’ve read most of them three or four times at this point. And, now that I’m older (older than Joyce was when he wrote the stories) I find a great affinity for them. And I can see that the stories, while not about the same person, follow a pattern of with the protagonist aging through the stories.
“The Sisters” is about a young boy who spends a lot of time with a local priest. I studied this story pretty intensely in college, so I know a lot of the language play at work. The use of the word gnomon, sentences that end elliptically, all indicate the lack of depth with which the family confronts the priest’s death. It also works as something of a gnomon for the book as a whole (symbolism alert!).
“An Encounter” is also about young boys. This story is also elliptical, although not typographically so. The school boys ditch school and go on an adventure which gradually deteriorates from the wild excitement that they planned into just hanging out in the fields. They encounter a man who whips himself into a frenzy which he walks away to take care of. Although it is all alluded to and is surprisingly discreet, it’s still rather disturbing.
“Araby” is the last story of childhood. A young boy, who greatly fancies the neighbor girl waits all night to go to the Araby fair. When he finally gets there, he sees something of the behind the scenes of the fair and is let down by the reality of the seemingly magical production. It is a moment of lost innocence.
“Eveline” is a beautifully constructed tale of a young woman’s desire to escape with her suitor, until reality intrudes. The first time I read this I didn’t get it, but now that I’m older it seems much more clear exactly what’s happening. And I was quite moved by it.
“After the Race” is the first story that seems distant from its characters. The first four stories are all very close narrators, while this one pulls back so that we can see a vast array of characters. And the vast array of characters are all wealthy sportsmen, showing off after the successful race. But when the protagonist, college student Jimmy, tries to fit in, he finds that the gregarious, wealthy men are not as warm and inviting as their personas seem. It’s yet another story of disillusionment.
“Two Gallants” sees two men who I believe appear in Ulysses as well. The title is sarcastic, as the men are anything but gallant. Corley has seduced a woman who pays for him and gives him gifts. Lenehan thinks this is pretty great and wants to get a look at the lady. Although they seem to be working in conjunction, Lenehan spends much of the story ruing his current lot in life.
“The Boarding House” is the first story in which multiple perspectives are used so that the reader can learn things that the characters don’t. The owner of the boarding house is a woman whose daughter also lives in the house. When the landlady learns that a man has been dating her daughter, she strives to make them an honest couple. As the story progresses, we see his point of view and then at the very end her point of view. It’s a neat twist on a conventional story.
“A Little Cloud” is one of the darkest story in the bunch. It’s another story of a middle class man meeting with Ignatius Gallagher, an old friend who has left Dublin and returned with great success. Little Chandler, the middle class man, is a bit in awe of Gallagher. But he finds that his life simply cannot compare with the charismatic playboy. Chandler returns home to his family, and he is overwhelmed by the reality of his life. As the story ends, we see how drink and sadness combine.
“Counterparts” is the first story that’s set at work. And its ending is even darker than “A Little Cloud.” Farrington is a scrivener, who is distracted by the mundanity of his life. He’s also distracted by his job and what he perceives to be his low status. There is some hilarity when he mouths off to his boss, but he is quickly put in his place and this sours him even further. He longs for the wild days of his youth and when he sets out for another night of it, he finds it surprisingly empty. When he returns home and blames his family situation, the ending is quite shocking (and I found Norton’s reading of it to be particularly emotional and rather disturbing).
“Clay” is a lighthearted-seeming story (especially after the previous pair) with the repeated refrain of “till the tip of her nose nearly met the tip of her chin.” And yet, it ultimately ends in sadness, too. Maria, a spinster, is looking forward to a holiday party. The party is at the house of a man whom she nursed when he was a boy. Although her best plans fall through she has a reasonably good time at the party. Symbolism is rampant in this story and sadness is implied by a lot of what is left out (like a verse of the song that Maria sings “I Dreamt That I Dwelt in Marble Halls.” This story presupposes some knowledge (about the symbols and the song) that I didn’t have so I had to look up some extra details, which definitely flesh out the story more. And they also increase its sadness.
I don’t think I ever really thought of Joyce’s stories as “sad” before. But in revisiting them all in a short span, it is quite clear that sadness and disappointment is pervasive for him. Not to mention the evils of drink and intemperance (more on that in Part II).
But what really stands out is the economy of Joyce’s writing. He has not yet reached the excesses of Ulysses, and there is very little in the way of the flashiness of the later work. His love of language is still evident, but it seems to be in its simple beauty rather than it’s fun complexity. These stories are precise, with his word choices being exacting and impactful.
It’s a great collection of stories (and yes, Part II will come next week).
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