Dubliners

Set in early twentieth-century Dublin, this collection of fifteen short stories delves into the lives of the middle class, reflecting their struggles with the monotony of daily existence. Structured around the stages of life—childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and death—Joyce's narratives blend humor and poignancy to reveal the profound loneliness inherent in the human experience. The final story, "The Dead," is particularly notable for its powerful epiphany that transforms the protagonist, earning acclaim as one of the greatest short stories in literature.