This is a collection of stories first published in 1891 originally consisting of four stories. A fifth story, “The Portrait of Mr. W. H.” was added toThis is a collection of stories first published in 1891 originally consisting of four stories. A fifth story, “The Portrait of Mr. W. H.” was added to later editions.
The first two stories are semi-humorous mysteries, the fourth a quick humorous story, the fifth a mystery about the person that Shakespeare dedicated his sonnets to. As with most of Wilde’s work, the stories include irony and satire. My favorite is “The Canterville Ghost,” a gothic ghost story that starts out hilarious but then becomes quite touching.
The stories: Lord Arthur Saville’s Crime (4/5) The Sphinx Without a Secret (3/5) The Canterville Ghost (5/5) The Model Millionaire (4/5) The Portrait of Mr. W. H. (3/5)...more
This is a collection of four dark fairy tales first published in 1891. The stories explore themes of class, greed, cruelty, and love. All the stories This is a collection of four dark fairy tales first published in 1891. The stories explore themes of class, greed, cruelty, and love. All the stories have beautiful prose but I thought the last story was too heavy handed, as was the ending of the first one. On the other hand, the second story was a dark gem and I loved “The Fisherman and his Soul,” a deep story that asks questions about love and the soul. Still thinking about it.
The stories: The Young King (3/5) The Birthday of the Infanta (4/5) The Fisherman and his Soul (5/5) The Star-Child (2/5)...more
Dubliners collects fifteen stories about Irish middle class life at the turn of the century. The stories focus on moments in characters' lives that soDubliners collects fifteen stories about Irish middle class life at the turn of the century. The stories focus on moments in characters' lives that sometimes lead to some form of self-realization.
“The collection is methodical, even mathematical in its construction: stories center first on childhood, then on adolescence, then maturity. It confronts notions of nationalism, paralysis, solipsism, mediocrity, greed.” - Colum McCann from his introduction.
I loved the prose at times, especially the description of characters. While I enjoyed most of the stories, it took a little extra work. First, I had to refer to the appendix quite often as the stories include a lot of unfamiliar vocabulary and slang. Second, after I finished each story I read a summary online. This helped me to understand a lot of symbolism that hadn’t been clear to me. Overall it was worth the effort. The stories are filled with linguistic richness and some were deeply moving leaving a strong impression on me.
Two more quotes from Colum McCann’s introduction:
“The triumph of Dubliners is that most of the main characters — and by default, then, the reader — achieve an epiphany. The epiphany is often ambiguous, or faintly suggested. We must work to step into it.”
“The stories in Dubliners, with their sudden endings, their lack of dramatic resolution, their frequent repetitions, call on us, as readers, to constantly evaluate our own everyday lives.”
The stories: Two Sisters (3/5) An Encounter (4/5) Araby (5/5) Eveline (3/5) After the Race (3/5) Two Gallants (4/5) The Boarding House (4/5) A Little Cloud (5/5) Counterparts (4/5) Clay (4/5) A Painful Case (5/5) Ivy Day in the Committee Room (2/5) A Mother (3/5) Grace (3/5) The Dead (5/5)...more
This is a collection of five stories for children first published in 1888. The stories are filled with metaphor and allegory exploring themes of respoThis is a collection of five stories for children first published in 1888. The stories are filled with metaphor and allegory exploring themes of responsibility, compassion, and self-sacrifice. They’re not very subtle and while they may have been written for children, there’s plenty of humor, irony, and satire of the absurd for adults to appreciate.
The stories: The Happy Prince (5/5) The Nightingale and the Rose (4/5) The Selfish Giant (5/5) The Devoted Friend (5/5) The Remarkable Rocket (4/5)...more
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