He asked himself what is a woman standing on the stairs in the shadow, listening to distant music, a symbol of.
Often cited as the be... read full description
Often cited as the be... read full description
reviews
Sep 12, 2011
That James Joyce and his final paragraphs. I have to hand it to the man, he sure knew how to end a book. The final passage of Ulysses is justly famous for Molly Bloom's orgasmic "Yes I said Yes I will Yes," but it's possible that the somnolent incantation of snow-blanketed Ireland in the final pages of The Dead is just as strong, with its repetitions and inversions ("falling softly"/"softly falling") and its vast but muted vistas. It's certainly one of those pas
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Mar 12, 2011
Julie
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The volumes of literary analysis of The Dead proclaim this as the perfect short story ever written. The instructor of a short-story writing workshop I attended recently made the same proclamtion. He admonished our gathering to read this at once and to reread it at least once a year, as an example of writing at its most sublime.
Hyperbole? I don't know that it matters. It moved me to tears.
I knew nothing of the story, nor have I read Joyce beyond an aborted attempt a dozen More...
Hyperbole? I don't know that it matters. It moved me to tears.
I knew nothing of the story, nor have I read Joyce beyond an aborted attempt a dozen More...
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Jan 13, 2012
selena
rated it:
this little sixty page novel has completely changed my mind about joyce. i don't think i've loved a book this much since i read "a hero of our time."
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i welcomed the new year in california. instead of a lavish and loud party the family went bowling then came home to play taboo. midnight came and without much fanfare, we went outside to light sparklers and look at the clear mount shasta sky. we went back inside to drink champagne. the boys started playing poker. i c More...
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i welcomed the new year in california. instead of a lavish and loud party the family went bowling then came home to play taboo. midnight came and without much fanfare, we went outside to light sparklers and look at the clear mount shasta sky. we went back inside to drink champagne. the boys started playing poker. i c More...
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Dec 05, 2011
Chris
rated it:
I know this is a short story, but I got so immersed that the time flew by in a surprising hurry. Yet, the story was so complete. There was so much imagery that I felt like I was right there with the characters.
This was the first I've read of Joyce, and I think I will have to read more, starting with the first 3/4 of Dubliners (since this story comprises the last).
This was the first I've read of Joyce, and I think I will have to read more, starting with the first 3/4 of Dubliners (since this story comprises the last).
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May 28, 2011
Matthew
rated it: 
From spoilersliterature.blogspot.com *SPOILERS*-
I don’t usually write about all the short stories I read because this blog would get so boring and would take up way to much of my time (for example, I read seven just yesterday) but I fell obliged to write about this particular James Joyce story because I have it in a little bound book on its lonesome so it deserve some special attention!
This book is a masterpiece of character studies. From Joyce’s use of the character’s th More...
I don’t usually write about all the short stories I read because this blog would get so boring and would take up way to much of my time (for example, I read seven just yesterday) but I fell obliged to write about this particular James Joyce story because I have it in a little bound book on its lonesome so it deserve some special attention!
This book is a masterpiece of character studies. From Joyce’s use of the character’s th More...
Dec 18, 2009
Frank
rated it:
Put me in the column of those who count this among the greatest stories in the English language; it's certainly one I come back to time and again.
Joyce once said that one of his goals in Ulysses was to provide a blueprint for rebuilding Dublin, brick-by-brick. I would contend he started the process in "The Dead". From the old family home in Stoney Batter on the North Side to Ballsbridge (where Mary Jane had "the organ in Haddington Road") to the O'Connell Bridge More...
Joyce once said that one of his goals in Ulysses was to provide a blueprint for rebuilding Dublin, brick-by-brick. I would contend he started the process in "The Dead". From the old family home in Stoney Batter on the North Side to Ballsbridge (where Mary Jane had "the organ in Haddington Road") to the O'Connell Bridge More...
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Mar 11, 2010
Poorfish
rated it:
The majority of this brief book felt tedious and directionless, however; the culmination of everything at the end is as powerful as anything I've read in a while. Most of the story is dedicated to a dinner party and the randomness of conversation as well as the wandering thoughts of our protagonist. Yet, it is what happens after the party, in the final pages, that showcases the significance and impact of something said in passing or the memories stirred up from a familiar song or distance glan
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Aug 19, 2011
h.
rated it:
Look, Joyce makes my head ache. To each his own. I can sit with Faulkner, Yeats for two slow eternities, yet Ulysses and Finnigan's have moldered on my shelf for years. I pick them up annually or so to see if maybe now at last I am ready --- and I have not been.
But The Dead! I have read cover to cover this book several times. That's just the way of it: I love this book and nothing else by Joyce.
Think me not indecent, but I'm a junky for the ending and few such climaxes are t More...
But The Dead! I have read cover to cover this book several times. That's just the way of it: I love this book and nothing else by Joyce.
Think me not indecent, but I'm a junky for the ending and few such climaxes are t More...
Jan 02, 2012
Cincinnatus
rated it:
If you do not recognize the beauty of this supreme work of fiction, than I do not think you have read enough to fully appreciate the beauty or complexity of Joyce's work on the whole, or this masterpiece in particular. James Joyce has few peers with regard to writing about place, is gifted at characterization, and is masterful in developing mood and employing the stream of consciousness technique. "The Dead" is a great achievement in the short story form, commenting on family, manners,
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Jan 02, 2008
stew
rated it:
"His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling, like the descent of their last end, upon all the living and the dead."
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Oct 06, 2007
brian
rated it:
goddamn is this good. it's those last two pages... you plow through the story and then you reach those two pages and WHAM! if it doesn't destroy you, then you just ain't human.
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Aug 11, 2011
In its entirety, this is a good story. It has a decent ending, but an incredibly confusing beginning. James Joyce seems to be notorious for this type of writing, it doesn't seem too special. I hear they have semester long courses on analyzing this book. I just wonder what sort of job that is and what the pay is. It can be deep, but it just seems like a pointless story with an ending that makes sense. Maybe I'm saying it wrong, it is dull and then explodes. The ending could definitely carry the e
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Oct 03, 2010
Taka
rated it: 
More like 3.5 (between "I liked it" and "I really liked it")--
The thing that amazes me about this novella/longish short story is the smoothness of the prose I can characterize only as "mellifluous." It's nothing flowery, but Joyce the author achieves complete invisibility from the world he creates--which is what authors should strive to do. The rhythm, the word choice, and everything mesh into one natural flow, which, I suppose, is the best instrument for More...
The thing that amazes me about this novella/longish short story is the smoothness of the prose I can characterize only as "mellifluous." It's nothing flowery, but Joyce the author achieves complete invisibility from the world he creates--which is what authors should strive to do. The rhythm, the word choice, and everything mesh into one natural flow, which, I suppose, is the best instrument for More...
Oct 28, 2009
Resa
rated it: 
My teacher ruined the joy of this book. He said, "I want you to read these next few literature pieces without emotion. I do not care if you like them or not...in fact I do not want you to like them. Because we are studying the literary qualities that make them great...not your opinion." Ok so I just exaggerated and murdered what he said, but that was the point. And I could not disagree more. You can enjoy literature. Telling us that we should not, not only bleeds the book of its joy, b
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Dec 16, 2010
Patrick
rated it:
Amazon review:
“The Dead is one of the twentieth century’s most beautiful pieces of short literature. Taking his inspiration from a family gathering held every year on the Feast of the Epiphany, Joyce pens a story about a married couple attending a Christmas-season party at the house of the husband’s two elderly aunts. A shocking confession made by the husband’s wife toward the end of the story showcases the power of Joyce’s greatest innovation: the epiphany, that moment when everything More...
“The Dead is one of the twentieth century’s most beautiful pieces of short literature. Taking his inspiration from a family gathering held every year on the Feast of the Epiphany, Joyce pens a story about a married couple attending a Christmas-season party at the house of the husband’s two elderly aunts. A shocking confession made by the husband’s wife toward the end of the story showcases the power of Joyce’s greatest innovation: the epiphany, that moment when everything More...
Jan 14, 2012
JZ
rated it:
. Sometimes you encounter a "work of art' when you are meant to. This is the case with this astounding short story, The Dead, by James Joyce. This is my first experience reading the famed Irish author.
Why James Joyce now? I'm taking an adult literature class.
A month ago, I quickly read The Dead and then just let it settle in. Today reread it, and truly realized the beauty of this subtle ,gentle, intimate story.
A family gathers to celebrate the "epiphany" More...
Why James Joyce now? I'm taking an adult literature class.
A month ago, I quickly read The Dead and then just let it settle in. Today reread it, and truly realized the beauty of this subtle ,gentle, intimate story.
A family gathers to celebrate the "epiphany" More...
Apr 16, 2011
Sonia
rated it:
I feel like I've just volunteered myself for a mafia hit by only rating this at three stars, but I stand by that choice. Still, my ego is prompting me to explain that decision.
Why did I read The Dead? I haven't heard a lot about James Joyce. In fact, earlier than about two months ago, I'd never even heard of The Dead. Of course, after hearing about it, I read that in many critical opinions, it is considered to be (drumroll please) THE BEST SHORT STORY EVER WRITTEN. That is why I More...
Why did I read The Dead? I haven't heard a lot about James Joyce. In fact, earlier than about two months ago, I'd never even heard of The Dead. Of course, after hearing about it, I read that in many critical opinions, it is considered to be (drumroll please) THE BEST SHORT STORY EVER WRITTEN. That is why I More...
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Aug 05, 2011
janine
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Mar 10, 2011
Armand
rated it:
Let’s be honest- if you are actually reading this, you already have a sense of what to expect from James Joyce. Obviously, the man is a master story teller who a bring a poets touch to fiction- someone who seeks to chart the human soul. The Dead is worth reading and rereading.
Instead, in the review, I want to take focus on the specific edition that I read. I picked up a kindle edition of the Dead (not The Dubliners in its entirety, but just The Dead, by itself) from Coyote Canyon press More...
Instead, in the review, I want to take focus on the specific edition that I read. I picked up a kindle edition of the Dead (not The Dubliners in its entirety, but just The Dead, by itself) from Coyote Canyon press More...
Dec 01, 2011
Erik
rated it:
So now that I've read Dubliners, I really should take this book off my shelves. I just can't bring myself to do it, though. I like having lots of books on my "read" shelf and going backwards is just sooo depressing.
According to my initial review, I read this book at Stanford camp, and it was one of the first books that I really analyzed. While this is only half true (honors nine and ten had some of it), I think it's a pretty big stepping stone. It was definitely one of the More...
According to my initial review, I read this book at Stanford camp, and it was one of the first books that I really analyzed. While this is only half true (honors nine and ten had some of it), I think it's a pretty big stepping stone. It was definitely one of the More...
Sep 10, 2008
Amanda
rated it:
This has been touted as one of the best short stories ever written. Upon finishing my Librivox recordings, I think I have to agree.
First of all, download the Librivox version. The person who recorded this story was absolutely phenomenal. He had the Irish brogue to go with the story and was just a fantastic reader.
On to the story: The Dead is part of the Dubliners collection of short stories. This story focuses on Gabriel Conroy and is set at his aunt's annual dance and di More...
First of all, download the Librivox version. The person who recorded this story was absolutely phenomenal. He had the Irish brogue to go with the story and was just a fantastic reader.
On to the story: The Dead is part of the Dubliners collection of short stories. This story focuses on Gabriel Conroy and is set at his aunt's annual dance and di More...
Mar 20, 2008
Derek
rated it:
"The Dead" is the last story in James Joyce's "Dubliners" and since I was already reading "Dubliners," when I got to the final story in the book, I skipped over to this version which includes a number of critical essays from different schools of literary critique. I really enjoyed reading Dubliners, but I must admit that I was often baffled with it. Remembering my rather unsuccessful reading of "The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" many years ago, I
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Feb 12, 2009
Ayne
rated it:
Rightfully considered a short story masterpiece, this story by Irish author James Joyce tells the tale of a man (Gabriel) who, at a party hosted by his aunts in Dublin in the early part of the 20th century, has a moment of self-realization and spiritual awakening when his wife tells him about a relationship she had as a young girl with a youth who loved her passionately. A beautifully written story by an masterful author.
Sep 03, 2009
Becky
rated it:
Oh wow!!! I loved and adored this story from page 1 to the end. You have to read this; this is an absolute must-read from James Joyce if you're a contemporary novelist. His narrative fiction techniques will take your breaths away, 100% guaranteed. I couldn't put this book down even though this was read for a class again...yes, I'm an English major, can you tell? I'm also a piano teacher.
May 02, 2011
Salha
rated it:
I really like the last part of this very interesting novella.The end back-shadows the beginning, I mean the party and Christmas. The detail descriptions of every moment is very skillful.I think it is a comparison between the dead lover and the living husband. The later is lovely dead and the first is probably living in same women. Strange feeling indeed and excellent comparison .
Dec 30, 2011
Joshua
rated it:
I believe `The Dead', from Joyce's collection Dubliners, is one of the greatest pieces ever written in any language, in any age, anywhere. You just have to let yourself slowly sink into the narrative and live the party and the carriage ride and, of course, the snow softly. Highly recommended. Beautiful piece.
Jan 31, 2010
Renee
rated it: 
Read for school. I know when we discussed this story in class, I understood more about it, which helped, but I really just found it boring. It was too long for what it was. The writing's still very good and I know I liked the ending alright, though I don't recall it now.
Sep 19, 2009
Misshouse
rated it:
My goodreads is suffering from star inflation. I don't want to give The Dead five but at four it's hanging out with The God of Small Things which makes me uncomfortable. I'll fix this whole domino star mess another night.
Nov 13, 2011
Hawkgrrrl
rated it:
This may be the perfect novella. The absurdity of the randy husband when juxtaposed with the wife's dead lover is almost comical, but mostly tragic how it exposes the impossibility of real intimacy in marriage.
Nov 14, 2010
Merrideth
rated it:
It was a bit too descriptive in some places, but the story itself was thoughtfully done. I love the character of Gabriel because he's such a clueless man. The poetic ending is beautifully done.
