James Joyce

Born in Dublin in 1882, James Joyce set all his work there, although he chose to spend nearly his whole adult life abroad. He lived happily and quietly in France, Italy and Switzerland with his wife Nora and their son, Giorgio, while working as an English teacher to support himself. Joyce died of an ulcer in 1941 in Zurich, where the family had gone to escape growing Fascism. Joyce’s novel, ‘Ulysses’, is often chosen as the greatest in modern literature. It is experimental and ignores conventional plot and syntax. For the non-native reader of English, his short story collection, ‘Dubliners’, is probably his most comfortable work.

Articles by James Joyce

Counterparts

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‘Counterparts’ is about an alcoholic who cares more for a drink than he does for his job or family. We can almost taste the whiskey and smell the pubs, as Joyce tells us of his night out in Ireland’s capital. At the same time, he explores the drinker's misery, shame and violence. (3,820 words)

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Eveline

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Taken from James Joyce’s collection of short stories, ‘Dubliners’, ‘Eveline’ is about a girl who is torn between the duty she feels to her difficult but helpless father and the love she feels for a man who can give her a new life in a new country. (1,715 words)

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Two Brave Young Men

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This story, from Joyce’s collection of short stories called ‘Dubliners’, introduces the reader to two young men who are not as respectable as they should be. Exploiting girls by trading on their feelings, they enjoy themselves at their expense and seem to have no conscience about doing so. (2,800 words)

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