The Dead

By James Joyce

Book Overview

Described by T.S. Eliot as "one of the greatest short stories ever written," The Dead is a beautifully crafted novella by Irish novelist and literary critic, James Joyce.

It's Christmastime in Dublin. The snow is falling. And a thirty-year strong annual Christmas party is underway. Gabriel Conroy, nephew to the hosts, frets over his impending after-dinner speech, while Gretta, his wife, wanders the affair thinking of her childhood home. The lavish festivities proceed in full swing, Gabriel's long-awaited speech ends in a rousing rendition of "For They Are Jolly Gay Fellow," and as the party winds to a close, the guests spill out into the winter night...all except for Gretta.

At the top of the stairs she stands chillingly still, seemingly mesmerized by the sounds of a soft song being sung in another room. And while the Conroys eventually leave, Gretta's mind remains with the music--haunted by a long-lost memory that will shake her husband to his core.

James Joyce's The Dead is a critically acclaimed novella that explores how much of living we owe to lives of the dead and how much the ghosts of our past truly shape us.

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• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0CRKK98C9
• ISBN13: 9798888975947
• Release Date: August 2024
• Publisher: Mint Editions
• Length: 52 Pages
• Weight: 0.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.1" x 5.0" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Wrong date in description

The description says that the events of "The Dead" took place on New Year's Eve. They did not: the most likely date for the events (I'll spare you all the reasons and details) is the evening of January 6th, also know as "the Feast of the Epiphany."

Useful Case Study Collection of Literary Masterpiece

I've found this to be the most useful of all the "case study" texts I've tried from both St. Martin's/Bedford and Norton. The primary text is sufficiently contained and the representative critical methodologies presented clearly enough to introduce students to both literature and literary theory without overwhelming them. Moreover, "The Dead" is capable of repaying the close and observant reader with a Joycean "epiphany" perhaps not surpassed by any other literary text (the last several paragraphs, especially, require attention to the developing, altering meanings of each and every word). I have one caveat: the essay representing feminist criticism I frankly find baffling. The writer, apparently trying to have her cake and eat it too, manages to indict Joyce as a sexist while applauding the story as a critique of sexism and patriarchal hegemony! It does not "seem" to occur to her that Joyce may be removed from his central character, Gabriel, or that her evidence for Gabriel's male arrogance may actually be Joyce's idea from the start. A close reading of the character certainly suggests an ironic portrayal--everything that appears to be in Gabriel's favor is exposed through Joyce's subtle language as self-delusion. The feminist critic, however, impugns Joyce by suggesting that his "intentions" are less honorable than the meaning of the text itself! Perhaps the writer is overstating a point in order to provide a better example of the type of critical approach she was asked to represent for the purposes of this anthology. I know that I will suggest as much should I again have occasion to use this particular essay.

James Joyce read by Richard Setlock

I have listened to Setlock's readings, this one in particular, many times. He is very close to Joyce's voice, in interpretation and execution. The readings are masterly. This recording just grows and grows on you.