Hard to say anything new about this story but I’ll say I love it, firstly! A very perfect short story with the last few pages building up in the way a short story should do- a little bit of a twist and an understanding of the world is shown through the eyes of Gabriel, the main character.
I love so many things about this story-the fact it is set in snow and winter and Christmas. The quirky dinner party, singing and drunken people.The hugely interesting main characters of Gabriel and Gretta, his wife. The human relationships at the heart of it, the fact that we cannot truly no a person or think we know. The shock of it all.
Peter Murphy takes on this story in the new Dubliners 100. I am almost afraid to read it as I have read many reviews that say the original Dead is not even noticed or referenced in Murphy’s story. I have also read interviews with him where he says he wasn’t phased about this task. I find that odd and wonder if this is the truth. I think when you have the world’s greatest and most well-known short story, that to say you wouldn’t be phased by re imagining it is slighting unnerving to me.
The Dead is the last short story in the Dubliners collection by James Joyce.