It was interesting to read your treatment of Dubliners for me at this precise time, because I've been reading Barthes recently. He draws a distinction between work and a text, in an essay entitled "From work to text". He says that a work is something that can be displayed, while a text is something that can be demonstrated, by being a process, a movement of discourse. I think your treatment here, and the modelled debates you mention, demonstrates how aptly that distinction of Barthes applies to Dubliners. Like several others here, you've inspired me to revisit the collection.
Beautiful analysis, Kate — I could feel your ❤️for these stories so strongly. “Araby” has been a foundational text for me since first reading it in high school, its fascinating mix of longing and loathing resonated so much with this angsty teen in the ‘90s.
Now I’m inspired to revisit the rest of the collection, perfect selections as we take our first steps into autumn! 💙
Troy and Kate, I hope you won’t mind a second comment: THANK YOU for sending me back to Araby! The experience of reading that story was akin to returning to a home I had grown up in after many years; the darkening street, the music shaken from the horse’s harness, and all the longing of youth came back to me in a moment. I hadn’t read that story in 30 years or more, but those sentences lay so close to the surface of my memory. Now I’ll have to read the whole collection.
Never read any Joyce, but this sure makes me want to.
Wonderful thoughts as ever, Kate. You are a true scholar and thinker.
"But of course, modern art and literature ask us to embrace just that: the ambiguity and nuances of truth, the unfixed concept of beauty." -- I think this sums up just about everything that I love about literature.
"Transported to the parallel universes of fiction - new worlds, new perspectives - we can play with ideas and discover both who we are and how to live." Nicely put, Kate. It's a while since I read the whole collection of stories and you make me want to go back to it. Thank you for celebrating the openness of texts like Eveline. It's how we need to learn to read the world.
Bravo, Kathleen! Although I didn't read this work of art, I feel pumped to do so through your penetrating analysis. I love ambiguities in art (especially in poetry), and we often do live in ambiguous experiences and feelings, don't we as humans? Thank you Troy for this fantastic first essay on your wonderful book club. I look forward to more!
I wrote a 20-page paper on Dubliners for my Irish Lit course in college, specifically textual differences between the published and draft versions of some of the stories. As much as I just can’t get through Ulysses, I very much enjoyed Joyce’s short stories.
That was lovely, rekindling my memories of reading that book many years ago. I’m about to lead a book club at a local middle school this fall … I’m thinking I might add “Araby” to our reading list.
Yeah, it’s an affiliate of Big Brothers Big Sisters, with the goal being to help kids reach their potential if they’re not getting enough support at home
Thank you so much for this treatment of "Dubliners" Kate - I had never read it, but picked up a copy of the Collins Classics edition while I was in Dublin, the least expensive of the available (and the smallest to pack). Imagine my surprise at the number of typos! 😂 More on the unsigned introduction in a moment.
The story that spoke to me most, and the one you mentioned first - "A Painful Case" - which is indeed painful, no less for Mr. Duffy (maybe) as for the tragic Mrs. Sinico. I really felt for her on reading this line:
[Captain Sinico] "had dismissed his wife so sincerely from his gallery of pleasures that he did not suspect that anyone else would take an interest in her."
What a horrible predicament to find herself in, unloved by her husband at a time when divorce was impossible. And no wonder that when she meets Mr. Duffy, who seems to have so many common interests in music and books, she finds herself enamored of this "confirmed" bachelor willing to share his time with her.
I've read suggestions that, of course, Mr. Duffy is queer and closeted. The evidence is everywhere.
He writes in his papers: "Love between man and man is impossible because there must not be sexual intercourse and friendship between man and woman is impossible because there must be sexual intercourse." What more obvious declaration could there be in a story written in 1905, just 10 years after Joyce's countryman Oscar Wilde's trial and imprisonment? Even more interesting is how Mr. Duffy wanders into Phoenix Park at night and happens upon a scene of clandestine carnal relations which even today is known for gay cruising (according to the internet... ;)
I wonder why Joyce would write so openly about a gay man in his debut collection? Our tour guide on the James Joyce's Dublin walking tour said that Joyce was at odds with his time, his country and even his religion over many things: he was not a Romantic, and wanted to look to the future, not back to an idealized Irish past which ultimately led to the successful independence movement; he lived with Nora Barnacle for 27 years and had two children before marrying her, an affront to Catholicism; he had a somewhat libertine youth, and may have contracted syphilis in a brothel.
Maybe he was an early champion of "the love that dare not speak its name" - or any unsanctioned pursuit of happiness - while it was still quite virulently prosecuted? Hard to say; but some of the final lines of "A Painful Case" certainly echo with a loneliness and despair familiar to many queer people - he even repeats one of them twice.
"He gnawed the rectitude of his life; he felt that he had been outcast from life's feast ... No one wanted him; he was outcast from life's feast ... He felt that he was alone." So sad.
But back to the unsigned Collins Classics introduction - I wish they'd given attribution because I'd like to see what else the writer has said about Joyce. Here are some interesting lines:
"Some scholars describe "Dubliners" as a panoply of the city's society, but in truth it feels more like Joyce was finding his feet as a writer." Well. Nothing wrong with that - every writer has to start somewhere, and I suppose I can salute an editor who dares to suggest that Joyce was a man, not a literary god. They go on:
"Initially publishers could see that his work wasn't accomplished enough for their readership, but eventually he learnt to turn his limitations into a distinct style. In fact "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" was a rewrite of a manuscript he had failed to publish a decade before, and "Dubliners" suffered a similar publishing history, having originally been completed in 1906 . It's a curious thing, but nowadays Joyce is celebrated as an important literary genius and influence, with the suggestion that he struggled to get published because he was ahead of his time, rather than because he needed to mature as a writer."
He just gets it, doesn’t he? I think he gets so many kinds of people and that’s why this is such a special book. You’ve chosen some gorgeous passages.
Thank you for featuring my work here, Troy! I love your writing as well as your publication ideas. So wonderful to be here with you and your readers 💜💜💜
Excellent essay, love the lively discussions in classrooms, and wonder if that is something that still happens today. I would hope so!
Thanks so much, Alexander! It was wonderful to be a guest here and also work with Troy on some edits.
These discussions certainly happen in my classroom! :)
Honor's all mine xo
Also, I have taken my copy of Dubliners off the shelf now and put it on my desk!
It was interesting to read your treatment of Dubliners for me at this precise time, because I've been reading Barthes recently. He draws a distinction between work and a text, in an essay entitled "From work to text". He says that a work is something that can be displayed, while a text is something that can be demonstrated, by being a process, a movement of discourse. I think your treatment here, and the modelled debates you mention, demonstrates how aptly that distinction of Barthes applies to Dubliners. Like several others here, you've inspired me to revisit the collection.
Thanks Terry! Sorry I missed this. Love the Barthes connection
Beautiful analysis, Kate — I could feel your ❤️for these stories so strongly. “Araby” has been a foundational text for me since first reading it in high school, its fascinating mix of longing and loathing resonated so much with this angsty teen in the ‘90s.
Now I’m inspired to revisit the rest of the collection, perfect selections as we take our first steps into autumn! 💙
Really appreciate your comment Michael, thank you!
Thank you, Michael! Hope you enjoy it. I’ve just added it to this week’s lessons for some of my students :) 💙💙
Wonderful insight here Kate. I haven't tackled Joyce yet but this encourages me to take the leap.
Go for it, Matthew! This is a great one to start with. Or even just the film of The Dead - gorgeous. Thanks a lot ☺️
Troy and Kate, I hope you won’t mind a second comment: THANK YOU for sending me back to Araby! The experience of reading that story was akin to returning to a home I had grown up in after many years; the darkening street, the music shaken from the horse’s harness, and all the longing of youth came back to me in a moment. I hadn’t read that story in 30 years or more, but those sentences lay so close to the surface of my memory. Now I’ll have to read the whole collection.
Wow that makes me so happy, Tom! It’s such an incredible story and it’s amazing how literature can transport us that way. Thank you ☺️
THAT is just about the greatest endorsement for what we’re trying to do with TBW❤️C as any I can think of. Thanks Tom!!
💜💜
Never read any Joyce, but this sure makes me want to.
Wonderful thoughts as ever, Kate. You are a true scholar and thinker.
"But of course, modern art and literature ask us to embrace just that: the ambiguity and nuances of truth, the unfixed concept of beauty." -- I think this sums up just about everything that I love about literature.
Yes! I think that's the endurance of the modern literary perspective. It's so applicable also just how to read.
Thanks for all the kind words. Hope you enjoy some Joyce soon, Nathan!
"Transported to the parallel universes of fiction - new worlds, new perspectives - we can play with ideas and discover both who we are and how to live." Nicely put, Kate. It's a while since I read the whole collection of stories and you make me want to go back to it. Thank you for celebrating the openness of texts like Eveline. It's how we need to learn to read the world.
We do, we do! You look at this concept so wonderfully in your newsletter, Jeffrey. Thank you for reading and the kind words.
I am yet to read this, but after that interesting and thorough analysis I am very excited to do so.
Thank you Kathleen for enlightening me to this book.
And thank you Troy for enlightening me to Kathleen's work.
Thanks Michael! Hope you enjoy the book :) I go back to it every year!
Thanks from both of us, Michael! Kate is lovely - def check out her current serial, An Interpreter in Vienna, it's so good. :)
Bravo, Kathleen! Although I didn't read this work of art, I feel pumped to do so through your penetrating analysis. I love ambiguities in art (especially in poetry), and we often do live in ambiguous experiences and feelings, don't we as humans? Thank you Troy for this fantastic first essay on your wonderful book club. I look forward to more!
Thanks, Nadia! I figure those ideas are right up your alley...you have a great mix of poet + careful editor + thinking writer.
Aww, Kathleen, you’re making me blush. <3
Thanks Nadia! I'm also looking forward to seeing where the ❤️ leads us... xo
I wrote a 20-page paper on Dubliners for my Irish Lit course in college, specifically textual differences between the published and draft versions of some of the stories. As much as I just can’t get through Ulysses, I very much enjoyed Joyce’s short stories.
Oh, I'd love to know more about the differences! Were you using archives? Fascinating.
20 pages, that's a serious paper! I imagine he edited the stories quite a lot between 1906 an 1914... Thanks Ty!
That was lovely, rekindling my memories of reading that book many years ago. I’m about to lead a book club at a local middle school this fall … I’m thinking I might add “Araby” to our reading list.
Definitely a good choice.
Araby is delightful!! Thanks so much, Tom.
Thanks from both of us, Tom! Is it a book club for youngsters? (Have I really reached an age where I'm using the word "youngsters"...?! 🤣)
Yeah, it’s an affiliate of Big Brothers Big Sisters, with the goal being to help kids reach their potential if they’re not getting enough support at home
Thank you so much for this treatment of "Dubliners" Kate - I had never read it, but picked up a copy of the Collins Classics edition while I was in Dublin, the least expensive of the available (and the smallest to pack). Imagine my surprise at the number of typos! 😂 More on the unsigned introduction in a moment.
The story that spoke to me most, and the one you mentioned first - "A Painful Case" - which is indeed painful, no less for Mr. Duffy (maybe) as for the tragic Mrs. Sinico. I really felt for her on reading this line:
[Captain Sinico] "had dismissed his wife so sincerely from his gallery of pleasures that he did not suspect that anyone else would take an interest in her."
What a horrible predicament to find herself in, unloved by her husband at a time when divorce was impossible. And no wonder that when she meets Mr. Duffy, who seems to have so many common interests in music and books, she finds herself enamored of this "confirmed" bachelor willing to share his time with her.
I've read suggestions that, of course, Mr. Duffy is queer and closeted. The evidence is everywhere.
He writes in his papers: "Love between man and man is impossible because there must not be sexual intercourse and friendship between man and woman is impossible because there must be sexual intercourse." What more obvious declaration could there be in a story written in 1905, just 10 years after Joyce's countryman Oscar Wilde's trial and imprisonment? Even more interesting is how Mr. Duffy wanders into Phoenix Park at night and happens upon a scene of clandestine carnal relations which even today is known for gay cruising (according to the internet... ;)
I wonder why Joyce would write so openly about a gay man in his debut collection? Our tour guide on the James Joyce's Dublin walking tour said that Joyce was at odds with his time, his country and even his religion over many things: he was not a Romantic, and wanted to look to the future, not back to an idealized Irish past which ultimately led to the successful independence movement; he lived with Nora Barnacle for 27 years and had two children before marrying her, an affront to Catholicism; he had a somewhat libertine youth, and may have contracted syphilis in a brothel.
Maybe he was an early champion of "the love that dare not speak its name" - or any unsanctioned pursuit of happiness - while it was still quite virulently prosecuted? Hard to say; but some of the final lines of "A Painful Case" certainly echo with a loneliness and despair familiar to many queer people - he even repeats one of them twice.
"He gnawed the rectitude of his life; he felt that he had been outcast from life's feast ... No one wanted him; he was outcast from life's feast ... He felt that he was alone." So sad.
But back to the unsigned Collins Classics introduction - I wish they'd given attribution because I'd like to see what else the writer has said about Joyce. Here are some interesting lines:
"Some scholars describe "Dubliners" as a panoply of the city's society, but in truth it feels more like Joyce was finding his feet as a writer." Well. Nothing wrong with that - every writer has to start somewhere, and I suppose I can salute an editor who dares to suggest that Joyce was a man, not a literary god. They go on:
"Initially publishers could see that his work wasn't accomplished enough for their readership, but eventually he learnt to turn his limitations into a distinct style. In fact "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" was a rewrite of a manuscript he had failed to publish a decade before, and "Dubliners" suffered a similar publishing history, having originally been completed in 1906 . It's a curious thing, but nowadays Joyce is celebrated as an important literary genius and influence, with the suggestion that he struggled to get published because he was ahead of his time, rather than because he needed to mature as a writer."
LOVE some good literary sacrilege. 😂😉🤪
He just gets it, doesn’t he? I think he gets so many kinds of people and that’s why this is such a special book. You’ve chosen some gorgeous passages.
Thank you for featuring my work here, Troy! I love your writing as well as your publication ideas. So wonderful to be here with you and your readers 💜💜💜
Indeed, I've come to appreciate so many aspects of his legacy. So glad to have you here, Kate. 💜