The Dead

By: James Joyce

Narrated by: Alec Sand

Often cited as the best work of short fiction ever written, Joyce's elegant story details a New Year's Eve gathering in Dublin that is so evocative and beautiful that it prompts the protagonist's wife to make a shocking revelation to her husband—closing the story with an emotionally powerful epiphany that is unsurpassed in modern literature.

"The Dead" is the final short story in Joyce's 1914 collection Dubliners. It is the longest story in the collection and widely considered to be one of the greatest short stories in the English language. At 15,672 words it has also been considered a novella.

Public Domain (P)2008 Trout Lake Media

Unusual

Would you try another book from James Joyce and/or Alec Sand?

Yes, I like most of James Joyce's work and I thought Alec Sand did a good job.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

I was surprised that it just ended.

What does Alec Sand bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Animation and character.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

They would have to put a lot more into it. It is a very short story.

Any additional comments?

I picked it to listen to on New Years Eve because that is when the story is to have taken place.