Dubliners is a collection of fifteen short stories by James Joyce, first published in 1914. They form a naturalistic depiction of Irish middle class life in and around Dublin in the early years of the 20th century.
“He tried to weigh his soul to see if it was a poet's soul.”
James Joyce book Dubliners
"A Little Cloud"
Dubliners (1914)
Context: He tried to weigh his soul to see if it was a poet's soul. Melancholy was the dominant note of his temperament, he thought, but it was a melancholy tempered by recurrences of faith and resignation and simple joy. If he could give expression to it in a book of poems perhaps men would listen.
James Joyce book Dubliners
"A Painful Case"
Source: Dubliners (1914)
Context: One of his sentences, written two months after his last interview with Mrs. Sinico, read: Love between man and man is impossible because there must not be sexual intercourse and friendship between man and woman is impossible because there must be sexual intercourse.
“and yet her name was like a summons to all my foolish blood.”
James Joyce book Dubliners
Source: Dubliners
“But my body was like a harp and her words and gestures were like fingers running upon the wires.”
James Joyce book Dubliners
"Araby"
Dubliners (1914)
“Though their life was modest, they believed in eating well.”
James Joyce book Dubliners
Source: Dubliners
