Autorentext

James Joyce (1882 - 1941) was born in Dublin, Ireland, to a well-meaning but financially inept father and a solemn, pious mother. One of the most revered writers of the 20th century, he was noted for his experimental use of language in his works. His first publication, an essay on Ibsen's play, appeared in the Fortnightly Review in 1900. In 1904, he made his first attempt at a novel, Stephen Hero and also attempted to publish A Portrait of the Artist, an essay-story dealing with aesthetics, only to have it rejected. At the outset of the First World War, Joyce moved to Zurich, where he wrote Exiles, reworked on the early chapters of Ulysses and published A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man in a serial form. It appeared in twenty-five instalments in The Egoist. Almost a complete rewrite of the abandoned Stephen Hero, it is heavily autobiographical incorporating the techniques of stream of consciousness and interior monologue.

Klappentext

It's Christmastime in Dublin. The snow is falling. And an annual Christmas party is underway. Gabriel Conroy frets over his impending speech while Gretta, his wife, wanders the affair lost in thought. The festivities are lively, the long-awaited speech is well-received; but as the Conroys are set to depart, the sound of a soft song is heard and a long lost memory is brought to light.

Zusammenfassung

**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 nightall 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 musichaunted 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.