Dubliners by James Joyce
Finished September 28, 2026
After Ulysses, I never wanted to see James Joyce again. But then I thought, “well, Steinbeck surprised me. Maybe James Joyce will do the same.”
The nicest thing I have to say is at least it was in coherent sentences this time?
In my opinion, this should have been the easiest read ever. And the easiest thing to write. These are just little stories about random people, no real beginning or end. Some plot here and there but not enough to make it difficult on the writer.
So how did he manage to make it so freakin’ boring? About a third of the way through, it finally clicked what this reminded me of: those stupid little pointless stories you read in middle school literature textbooks that end in the middle of nowhere that think they’re artsy and deep.
I will say, there was one story I liked for about ten seconds (“A Painful Case” I think was the title) but even then all I can think is “was there a single story in this whole thing not about alcoholism?” (Alright, I think maybe two stories where booze wasn’t mentioned. Not helping the stereotype though.)
Rating: At least it wasn’t Ulysses
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