Welcome, O life! I go to encounter for the millionth time the reality of experience and to forge in the smithy of my soul the uncreated conscience of my race.
Autobiographical in tone, Joyce's tale of Stephen Dedalus' journey into adulthood explores the intellectual and moral development of an artist as he struggles to overcome the ingrained Catholic consciousness of his childhood -- a family life governed by Irish history, religion and politics. Realistic and innovative in its approach, the style of writing proved controversial upon publication in 1916 and the character of Stephen on a quest for his identity did not appeal to readers.However, Joyce expertly encapsulates the development of individual consciousness and the role of the artist in society in what is considered one of his greatest works.

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‘There was no doubt about it: if you wanted to succeed you had to go away. You could do nothing in Dublin.’

From a child coming to terms with the death of a priest to a young woman torn between leading an uneventful life in Dublin and fleeing Ireland with her lover, these fifteen stories bring to life the day-to-day existence of ordinary Dubliners in the early years of the twentieth century. With brutal realism, Joyce lays bare the struggles and desires of the Irish middle classes in a compelling and unique exploration of human experience.

Completed in 1905, Dubliners was published nine years later, thanks to the author’s persistence. It was the first of Joyce’s novels to portray his home city, and is a seminal work by one of the most influential authors of the modern era.

Against the backdrop of nineteenth century Dublin, a boy becomes a man: his mind testing its powers, obsessions taking hold and loosening again, the bonds of family, tradition, nation and religion transforming from supports into shackles; until the young man devotes himself to the celebration of beauty, and reaches for independence and the life of an artist.