#6 Dubliners by James Joyce

"The Wild Ones" by Jack B. Yeats

 This book is definitely one of the most well written pieces of literature that I've come across in a long time. It is a good sign when you can reread something and receive even more enjoyment out of it the second time around. That being said, I am excited to read more by James Joyce some day, but for now it is all about Dubliners.

I began reading just before leaving for a tour, and ironically enough, my tour guide was from Dublin. It is interesting to me to find myself being pulled into these scenes when Temple Bar or the river Liffey is mentioned, but the stories really do the city and the people justice. There is such a huge difference of social functionality between cities in Ireland that I was utterly amazed. From Galway to Killarney to Cork to Dublin, the Irish are the same, but all so different!

So for Dubliners at this time, it is all about routine and fantasizing about breaking away from this daily droning into something full of spontaneous excitement. The difficulty lies in a moment when you must make a sacrifice to build something better, and in each scene the character will struggle with a reaction. It is fear or a circumstance or even a person who has such an impact that change seems impossible.

When it comes to the last story, The Dead the theme is obviously in the title. In this story, the final word leaves the reader with a somewhat reassuring truth to the matter at hand. The life of those who live outside the routine leaves more of an impact, because they were devoted to something and this force is carried over even after their deaths. They will be remembered among and even over the living for their passionate nature.

Out of all of these stories, I have to say my favorite is Eveline. There's just something very romantic about it.