Dubliners

Book excerpt: This collection of fifteen short stories by Irish author James Joyce examines how one's surroundings can shape and influence a person. Although initially considered too edgy for publication, Dubliners later became a classic as readers began to appreciate Joyce's realistic fiction. In each story, Joyce documents the daily lives and hardships of fictional Dublin citizens. Joyce's collection progresses from the struggles of childhood to the struggles of adulthood. This collection includes one of Joyce's most famous short stories, "The Dead," which depicts the ways memories of the past can intrude upon the present. Joyce provides a glimpse into twentieth-century Irish culture and history in this unabridged short story collection, first published in 1914.