Dublin, Spring 2022 ~ Read

I mean, could this blog even be considered legitimate if I traveled to Dublin and did not read James Joyce for my prep? While I didn’t have spare time to conquer Ulysses (but probably will try now that I have visited Dublin), the fifteen short stories in this book present a fascinating cast of characters from a hundred years ago who the reader-traveler would get to consider against the backdrop of this moody city. Many of the stories provide wonderful environmental settings throughout Dublin, street names and buildings are named explicitly, and as one visits some of the historical landmarks like the port, cathedrals, River Liffey embankments, the characters’ faces and circumstances add depth and color to the experience throughout. The characters could be considered either as realistic depictions of actual people, or as symbolic representations of what Joyce was processing in his search for a national identify and purpose during the rise of Irish nationalism in the early 1900s. Either way, it is a colorful assembly of human stories placed throughout Dublin, and it’s an easy and fast read.