When it comes to holiday reading your thoughts might not go immediately to a story with a title like "The Dead." But this last story in James Joyce's The Dubliners is a perfect antidote to too much artificial good cheer.
The events take place one evening during the end of year holidays at a party given by two maiden aunts. There is a certain amount of holiday greeting exchanged, quite a bit of drinking on the part of the gentlemen, political discussion that nearly veers out of control, and the realization by Gabriel Conroy that his wife Greta, although she has been a good wife to him, had a love before him.
Anyone who has found family gatherings far from simple events will sympathize with the ambiguous relations among the characters. We do not always like those closest to us, even though we may love them deeply. Learning how to live with that web of emotions and expectations is very hard. Yet we do it, as Joyce understood.
The story was made into an excellent film by John Huston about 30 years ago. Worth seeing on some holiday night when you're sick of Miracle on 34th Street and The Grinch.
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