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Friends Hello again! I did think of this group in Bangalore and was sure that you would have all sung the last praises of Dubliners, and that I would have missed quite a chunk of whichever Joyce's book would follow. Well, I am not sure whether to be happy or sad at the "disappointment" that awaited me here in Baden. :-( or ) ? I had read "The Dead" before I had left for my vacation, and have started reading it once more. But before finishing the story, I felt that I would like to share with you my first, unalloyed (from reading other critics) impression of the story. What impresses me most here are two things - (1) Joyce's supreme command over the language which makes it so very simple, so thoroughly devoid of any of the ornamentation of today's writers, yet so very strong in conveying whatever he wanted to. (2) the painting like quality of his story telling. I feel as if I am in front of a miniature painting, where many things are happening within the same frame, where many kinds of people are adding the colours which go to make the painting so unforgettable. It is an incredibly beautiful story. The title is The Dead but the characters are so ALIVE. For once, I am going to close the story to night, without bothering about the hidden symbols, and concentrate my thoughts on the pure story telling part of it. Will let the critics talk about it another time. This is one story which we should have read together, loudly, in a circle - over cups of tea and samosas (or whatever else), like the Kannada story I read with the Deshpande couple in Bangalore. What about you people? What are your thoughts about the story? Is there anybody out there who would like a summary of the story? Hoping that the emails about The Dead will start pouring in - at least from now on, Chandra
Did I say just now that today I won't bother about symbols in The Dead! But how could I not look at the site which JAY had suggested. I did, and well, I am flabbergasted ;-) Look at the explanations given for Joyce choice of the name Lily for the maid: Lily: In choosing this name Joyce wants the reader to make the associations that the flower has with: 1) death (it is frequently used at funerals); 2) the Archangel Gabriel (it is symbolic of this guardian of the gates of death); and 3) Easter, and thus with rebirth. The reader will want to decide whether or not there is a rebirth at the end of this story. Is Joyce's writing really so full of symbolism or is this all wishful thinking? Who can really say? JAY, you did say that one need not agree with everything one reads there. What did you think of the above? Chandra |
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