reading – Page 6

July 16, 2014July 18, 2019

A Mother, a short story by Elske Rahill, Dubliners 100

Dubliners 100 was an ambitious project. There was always going to be comparisons in style and theme but the more I read, I think the secret to the success of Dubliners 100 is in how well the writer shows us a social commentary of Dublin as it is now.

This is what A mother aims to do. A story of a mother who is quite the middle class and conservative woman. She marries an accountant but would have preferred a solicitor. They obviously don’t love each other yet have children who they send to a Colaiste, where the best Leaving Cert results. Similar to Joyce’s version yet brought brilliantly up to date. We get honest insight into how the education system works in Ireland today. A very truthful look at why parents really send their children to certain schools. It mentions Educate Together and Gaelscoileanna and I think it really hits on the debate of where we send children to be educated. Interesting.

The mother in this story is on the parents’ association of her child’s school, something that probably didn’t exist in Joyce’s Dublin.

The story spirals slightly out of control, ending in a bizarre party where mothers can relive their wedding day. I don’t think it works though I get what the author was trying to do. It has a compares cleverly with the scene at the concert hall in Joyce’s story.

This story succeeds as it has completely caught on one of the “elephants in the room” in terms of social class, education and parenting in Ireland today. Joyce would have been confused and definitely have laughed at these people.

A Mother is available in Dubliners 100 by Tramp Press.

July 15, 2014July 18, 2019

A Mother, a short story by James Joyce

A Mother by James Joyce

A Mother is a brilliantly observed piece of society in Dublin at the time. A mother who has married because she feels she has to. Sends her children to the best schools where they learn French and Gaeilge. They learn piano and the harp. One of the daughters is due to play at a concert but the Mammy is organising and managing everything. We don’t really hear from the daughter. We end on a huge eruption on the part of the mother in front of the other performers at the concert the daughter is meant to be performing at.

This story has the most to play about with in an updated version. Ireland hasn’t moved on that much. I’ll be looking to see how the middle-class Mammy will be depicted

A Mother by James Joyce is available in Dubliners.

July 4, 2014July 18, 2019

Ivy Day in the committee room by James Joyce

Too much! Again!

My least, least favourite of the lot of Dubliners. Thought this when I read it and think it still.

Ivy Day commemorates Charles Stuart Parnell’s death in 1891 and it takes its name from the Dubliners who, at Parnell’s funeral, wore the ivy growing by his grave in their lapels and this story is saturated with his presence.

It is Ivy Day and we find a group of political canvassers gathering together in a committee room( formerly Parnell’s headquarters) to drink, talk political stuff and wait for their money for their wages. We have a rendition of the poem “The Death of Parnell” towards the end of the story, a poem that basically celebrates Parnell. This poem causes the men to think about their lack of action, in general towards politics and history.

This story is about the death of Irish politics and the way it used to be. The Committee Room in London was where Irish politicians chose not to support Parnell as a leader in December 1890. This destroyed Parnell’s career, and, Joyce’s story suggests, the future hopes of the next generation as well.

The men in this story too are full of betrayal and have beliefs that go all over the place. They focus too much on the past so as there is no action taken. The men are also caught in the paralysis or circle of inactivity. They realise that political energy is needed and call on the spirit of Parnell but they know they will not be able to take this job on. Instead, they sit there, year after year, inactive.

I think I dislike it so much because of its content, the past, history and politics. It is also a highly male story. No women. No emotions. No thoughts for me to ponder.

Eimear Mc Bride was given the short straw with this story, come back to my next post and we will see if her unique writing style can deal with it!

Ivy Day in the committee room by James Joyce is published in Dubliners.

July 3, 2014July 18, 2019

A Painful Case by Paul Murray, Dubliners 100

Paul Murray wrote this story way back before the idea for the new Dubliners 100 was born. It is a thought provoking piece that brings the old Joyce story up to date but retains the themes of loneliness, silence and missed opportunity.

The character in the story, James who feels this great loneliness, does not realise it though. In Joyce’s there is some recognition of where the main character is at. In Joyce’s original, the pop of the story comes when the married lady touches James’ hand. In Murray’s story, the pop of the story too comes with a touch of the hand and it is a revelation to the reader and the main character when it happens.

Murray’s story really reaks of the loneliness and futility of life in a busy, switched on world. Murray has done a great job of making this story his own but while keeping to the original’s feel. Joyce would like and laugh,

A Painful Case by Paul Murray is published in Dubliners 100 by Tramp Press

July 2, 2014July 18, 2019

A painful case by James Joyce

A painful case by James Joyce in Dubliners.

Like the story, Eveline, we see a character waste an opportunity. James meets a married woman, Mrs Sinico. They start to get to know each other, emotionally and mentally, if you know what I mean! their affair is ended by James and a few years later, James receives some bad news about his former lover. He is ultimately left lonely as was she.

Eveline was given a chance to leave Ireland in the short story of her name. James is given a chance to love, connect. But, he misses it.

It is a story, again, of paralysis. The colours of brown and yellow saturate James’ world. His floors, walking stick, food and drink. In this way, Joyce links all of the stories.

This story is another favourite of mine from the Dubliners.

A painful case can be read in the short story collection, Dubliners.

July 1, 2014July 18, 2019

Clay, a short story by Michele Forbes

Conor is the main character in Michele Forbes’ take on Joyce’s short story, Clay. We find him sitting on a luas on the way home. We also find that he is very fat but likeable, some similarities with the original Clay story.

This story has more in common with Belinda McKeon’s story, Counterparts. We see the addictive and obsessive nature of social media. Conor is addicted to facebook and twitter. He lives his life through them. A somewhat overused idea of the overweight person being hooked on the net.

It is Halloween and some trick or treating teenagers arrive at Conor’s door. They are overtly sexual and Conor cannot handle it correctly. The story ends with an unnerving but great scene, a throwback and homage to the original Clay and the song that Maria sings and repeats by mistake. We see the awkwardness replayed here with Conor and the song choice is wonderfully fitting.

A good and interesting take on the story Clay, Michele Forbes seems to have loosely interpreted the theme and story. I enjoyed it.

Clay by Michele Forbes is published in Dubliners 100 by Tramp Press.

June 30, 2014July 18, 2019

Clay, a short story by James Joyce

Clay, a short story by James Joyce.

Joyce works like an engineer in the Dubliners collection. Each story is fit into the last and forecasts the next. Clay follows the dark, angry story of Farrington, a nothing character who causes so much tragedy in his life and others.
When you read Clay the first time, your brain will think “meh”, a nice, gentle story about a gentle woman who likes her cakes. But, go read it again. No, read it three times.
This story has been molded to contrast with the badness of Counterparts, the story before it. But, in many ways,the characters and setting are the same and come to the same conclusion. This story is needed.

Clay can be read in Dubliners by James Joyce. you can download it for free on kindle or buy a physical one for €3!

June 25, 2014June 24, 2014

Counterparts, a short story from Joyce’s Dubliners

Counterparts, short story by James Joyce.
This is the most depressing story and most despicable of characters in Dubliners. Farrington is an office clerk who is an angry man. Terribly angry at everyone and everything. His job is hateful and he is bullied by his boss. His friends fleece him for money that he pawns for his watch and his wife bullies him when he is sober and he bullies her when he is drunk.

We see the full of the city in this story, with Farrington going on an angry and pointless journey from work to pub to home. He realizes he is in a bad situation but has no solution to what he might do. He doesn’t even realize the extent of his problems are of his own making.
I hate reading the ending of this story, it is a violent and awful one. We can only imagine that the next day for Farrington nuns his family and friends and workmates will be the same. The theme of routine plays strongly in this story. An aggressive routine that most Dubliners go under, Joyce comments.
I’ve read a couple of reviews on the Belinda Mc Keon’s take on this story. I really do like her style and energy so I am looking forward to getting stuck into her version of this hideous tale.

Counterparts is a short story published in the collection, Dubliners by James Joyce.

June 21, 2014June 20, 2014

A little cloud by John Kelly, a short story from Dubliners 100

A little cloud by John Kelly, a short story from Dubliners 100

This is a strange one to review. I really like John Kelly’s style and his humour. He writes very observational stuff and this strength helps cement this story as a worthy version of Joyce’s A little cloud.

The small thing, and it is a small thing is that Kelly takes Joyce’s story and simply changes certain details. He makes Gallaher into an author and Chandler’s daughter into a teenager and his wife into a deplorable person. These were clever adjustments as Joyce reflected on Dublin society and what a mess it was, especially the pitiful life of Chandler.

However, the story is copied and pasted, almost word for word in many areas and the story arc is totally copied. Again, Kelly was probably making a point in that Ireland hadn’t really changed that much and that Joyce’s universal vision of melancholy of the routine of life is still there and will remain there.

A good take.

A little cloud written by John Kelly is published in Dubliners 100 by Tramp Press

June 20, 2014June 20, 2014

A little cloud, a short story by James Joyce

If any of the Dubliners’ stories could summarise the pain of human beings, A little cloud would be it, I think!

Little Chandler is, well, a little man and he bumps into an old friend, Gallaher. The two are in total contrast. Little Chandler has a wife and baby and steady job. Gallaher is a rich and party type animal of a journalist who has travelled everywhere, including Paris and London!

Little Chandler spends most of the story having very depressing thoughts intertwined with uplifting ones only to be brought back down to sudden and dark epiphanies. He dreams of being a poet. He feels he is trapped in the routine of life, like many of Dubliners’ characters. The story and his life go around in a boring circle. He wants what Gallaher has but is not prepared to do anything to get it.

A great story and great fun.

A little cloud is written by James Joyce and can be found in the short story collection of his called Dubliners.