Two Dublin schoolboys in search of an adventure have an encounter with a strange man, in this story first published in 1914 in the short-story collection "Dubliners".
James Joyce was an Irish novelist, poet, and a pivotal figure in 20th-century modernist literature, renowned for his highly experimental approach to language and narrative structure, particularly his pioneering mastery and popularization of the stream-of-consciousness technique. Born into a middle-class Catholic family in the Rathgar suburb of Dublin in 1882, Joyce spent the majority of his adult life in self-imposed exile across continental Europe—living in Trieste, Zurich, and Paris—yet his entire, meticulous body of work remained obsessively and comprehensively focused on the minutiae of his native city, making Dublin both the meticulously detailed setting and a central, inescapable character in his literary universe. His work is consistently characterized by its technical complexity, rich literary allusion, intricate symbolism, and an unflinching examination of the spectrum of human consciousness. Joyce began his published career with Dubliners (1914), a collection of fifteen short stories offering a naturalistic, often stark, depiction of middle-class Irish life and the moral and spiritual paralysis he observed in its inhabitants, concluding each story with a moment of crucial, sudden self-understanding he termed an "epiphany." This collection was followed by the highly autobiographical novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916), a Bildungsroman that meticulously chronicled the intellectual and artistic awakening of its protagonist, Stephen Dedalus, who would become Joyce's recurring alter ego and intellectual stand-in throughout his major works. His magnum opus, Ulysses (1922), is universally regarded as a landmark work of fiction that fundamentally revolutionized the novel form. It compressed the events of a single, ordinary day—June 16, 1904, a date now globally celebrated by literary enthusiasts as "Bloomsday"—into a sprawling, epic narrative that structurally and symbolically paralleled Homer's Odyssey, using a dazzling array of distinct styles and linguistic invention across its eighteen episodes to explore the lives of Leopold Bloom, his wife Molly Bloom, and Stephen Dedalus in hyper-minute detail. The novel's explicit content and innovative, challenging structure led to its initial banning for obscenity in the United States and the United Kingdom, turning Joyce into a cause célèbre for artistic freedom and the boundaries of literary expression. His final, most challenging work, Finnegans Wake (1939), pushed the boundaries of language and conventional narrative even further, employing a dense, dream-like prose filled with multilingual puns, invented portmanteau words, and layered allusions that continues to divide and challenge readers and scholars to this day. A dedicated polyglot who reportedly learned several languages, including Norwegian simply to read Ibsen in the original, Joyce approached the English language not as a fixed entity with rigid rules, but as a malleable medium capable of infinite reinvention and expression. His personal life was marked by an unwavering dedication to his literary craft, a complex, devoted relationship with his wife Nora Barnacle, and chronic, debilitating eye problems that necessitated numerous painful surgeries throughout his life, sometimes forcing him to write with crayons on large white paper. Despite these severe physical ailments and financial struggles, his singular literary vision remained sharp, focused, and profoundly revolutionary. Joyce passed away in Zurich, Switzerland, in 1941, shortly after undergoing one of his many eye operations. Today, he is widely regarded as perhaps the most significant and challenging writer of the 20th century. His immense, complex legacy is robustly maintained by global academic study and institutions such as the James Joyce Centre in Dublin, which ensures his complex, demanding, and utterly brilliant work endures, inviting new generations of readers to explore the very essence of what it means to be hum
"An Encounter" is a short story first published in the collection "Dubliners." In fact, it was one of the stories deemed so unsavoury that it took years for the collection to find its way into print.
Two schoolboys skip a day of school and seek adventure near the docks. They encounter a man, a "queer old josser" who does something that shocks the boys. "I say! Look what he's doing!"
We never see or discover what actually happened, but this encounter was enough to shock and alarm the critics, editors, and printers in Ireland, who dared not publish such salacious and disturbing material. And yet readers today might classify this story as one in which nothing happens.
The most poignant encounter, in terms of being the heart of the story, is the protagonist discovering the complex nature of his ambivalent feelings towards his schoolmate. The realization of such a development or possibility can be earth-shattering.
First off, it's "An Encounter," not "Encounters." I was surprised at how good this was. I'm new to reading James Joyce, but I have already become aware of is his ability to paint a vivid picture in your mind. Although this short-story was written over a hundred years ago, it seems as if the events could have taken place today. In fact, it created a nostalgia for, and brought back memories of, my own childhood. I thought of when I first discovered the music of my generation that rebelled against school and authority. I also thought of the sense of adventure I had when I first got my driver's license and was able to go out unsupervised with my friends. These memories paralleled with the events in the story uncannily.
When they meet the creepy old man, some of his actions were not stated but only implied. This technique that Joyce used evoked an emotion that I rarely get from reading. And finally, when the narrator is saved by the friend that he had contempt for, it hit close to home again. I too have harbored resentment towards people who were actually looking out for me. This story was relatable.
"The day had grown sultry, and in the windows of the grocers' shops musty biscuits lay bleaching. (...) The sun went in behind some clouds and left us to our jaded thoughts and the crumbs of our provisions."
A youngster's attempt at eluding the monotony and rigidity of school and his yearning for adventure leads to an uncanny experience with mature sexuality.
I am so grateful for this wonderful short story. First of all, it is so beautiful, magical and full of tenderness. Then, it helps with my goals of understanding better and reading more of the works of James Joyce, winning in the end- the great prize- finishing Ulysses. James Joyce may very well be the greatest writer of the last century, together with Proust, but, if I have read A La Recherche du Temps Perdu twice, my attempt to read Ulysses has failed, so far. I did not have the proper mindset, the necessary attention and perhaps, circumstances. But I will be at it again, and finish it- Insha’Allah.
„IT WAS Joe Dillon who introduced the Wild West to us. He had a little library made up of old numbers of The Union Jack , Pluck and The Halfpenny Marvel .”
This is the exhilarating start of An Encounter, where we meet with a few children from the first few lines, and then go along with them on a Joy Ride...
- “Real adventures do not happen to the people who stay at home”
The adventure comes in the form of, I would say a few, not just An encounter as suggested by the title.
Religion is pervasive, in the works of Joyce that I have read so far: A Portrait of The Artist As A Young Man and The Dubliners, the latter I read again now. There is father priest on every other page, at least that is the feeling I have, going back and forth through the first two stories. Reading through Ulysses, on and off, religion came in a different form there, but that is a work which stands on its own, completely different from both Dubliners and The Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man.
James Joyce is an Inspiration. The magnitude of his genius is self- evident in these Dubliners stories which are wonderful, albeit much less acclaimed than Ulysses and The Portrait of The Artist As a Young Man, which are placed in the top three books of the 20th century, in the list compiled by The Modern Library
James Joyce is also intimidating. How can one write about Joyce, even for personal use, with the knowledge that hardly anybody would look on these notes, and even then, it would be by accident?
You can be in awe, aspire to write at least a few lines encouraged by the possibility that a tiny drop of the enormous talent may somehow transfer to you. You wish!
- „But, however well we fought, we never won siege or battle and all our bouts ended with Joe Dillon's war dance of victory
- Ya! yaka, yaka, yaka!"
The story is amusing and small incidents bring a smile on the reader’s face, if not roars of laughter.
"What is this rubbish?" he said. "The Apache Chief! Is this what you read instead of studying your Roman History? Let me not find any more of this wretched stuff in this college. The man who wrote it, I suppose, was some wretched fellow who writes these things for a drink.”
One of the boys is caught by father Butler, with the wrong book, as you guess from the quote and we are amused again, if worried for the boys who were frequently and physically punished in those days.
Indeed, we meet a character, who seems to be the one referred to in the title, which turns the rather funny tale into a bit of a “Horror Show „as Alex used to say in A Clockwork Orange.
The old man is creepy and seems to have sadistic and perhaps even pedophile inclinations, speaking of whipping with such pleasure that he nearly brings the reader to nausea.
He reminded me of Louis CK who has some outrageous material. In the latest episode I have watched, which is mind you one of the first in the first series, not the latest- the comedian speaks about pedophiles and the way to get kids back. Society may have to be more lenient and in this way, more children would be saved.
There is sarcasm and humor on the edge there.
I loved An Encounter and it makes dream of the day when I can say that about Ulysses. Alhamdulillah- Allah in his greatness may help me, or perhaps Buddha…for I must say I like the sound of God is great in Arabic, but do not believe there is only one God and Mohamed is his prophet…albeit I may come to that, if I ever achieve (at least) my literary goals
You can read this online, within copyright law, at:
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Thy kingdom come. Let the reign of divine Truth, Life, and Love be established in me, and rule out of me all sin; and may Thy Word enrich the affections of all mankind
A mighty oak tree standing firm against the storm, As sunlight scatters the shadows of night A river nourishing the land it flows through
The short story "An Encounter" by James Joyce belongs to the famous collection of this prominent Irish writer - "Dubliners".
The narrator is a boy who tells a story about games which children used to play, books which they have to read in school and those they want to read and so on.
The central part of the story is a meeting which boys have during their journey. They encounter a strange man who talks about things that children can't understand. As often takes place in James Joyce’s stories, the story can have many different interpretations which are good for discussion.
James Joyce’s vantage point of everyday life in Ireland during his childhood would be interesting for readers who want to know more about Irish culture.
I liked this one much more than the first story in this collection.
"An Encounter" is about two boys who skip school. Like "The Sisters" that preceeded it, a predominant theme here is the appearance of another pedophile, this one definitely required far less analysis to pick up on though.
I'm making the assumption that the point of these last two stories are just to give us a little window into random lives, although these two are of course loosely connected in terms of their themes, rather than trying to find any deeper meaner within them. In a sense, they're seemingly simple tales with some darker subtext which in of itself is fun to read and explore and interpret.
Als eerste kennismaking met het werk van James Joyce niet echt bemoedigend. Begint beloftevol en herkenbaar: jongens die een dagje spijbelen. Dan een dreigende ontmoeting met een sadist, maar net als je verwacht dat het demarreert volgt een bruusk onafgerond eind...
The introduction to the book itself has 49 pages, written by Terence Brown. The short story itself has 10 pages. The short story itself is annotated, 44 annotations making up 6 pages.
Close call as this was slightly better than the first short story, still tho...
So far I have yet to find something that makes me a fan of James Joyce...This story was ok, and better than Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, but I think he's just not my cup of tea.
Después de leer Los Muertos este relato se me ha quedado algo flojo, pero lo he disfrutado. Joyce no falla, sobrevuela la escena y después, te encamina a un lugar recóndito e inesperado.
Chilling tension. I had wanted to read (and finish) something Mr. Joyce had written, to know his voice. After finishing this brief story I could see what all the hoop-la was about his work.