One of the reasons I started LibriVox, I think, was so that I could make an audio recording of “The Dead,” by James Joyce, from his collection Dubliners.
It is a story of such grace and skill; the build up slow and good-humoured and banal, but when that last section finally comes, it contains so much nostalgia, so much melancholy, so much revelation. All of us have had those moments, when what we thought we knew got thrown on its head, our own tiny place in the world gently exposed, and the wide, huge and lonely universe – of which we still remain a part – becomes clear and cold and expansive for just that brief moment.
Almost four years after LibriVox was born, I finally got the courage to record the Dead. I don’t think it’s catalogued quite yet, but here are the mp3s for those who want to listen to an audio version of one of the most beautiful-sad short stories ever written.
Happy Bloomsday.
[Thanks to Kayray for the editing, and to Gesine for making sure I finished on time].