Category Archives: plays

BOOK: “The Lifetime Reading Plan” by Clifton Fadiman

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The Lifetime Reading PlanThe Lifetime Reading Plan by Clifton Fadiman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Google Books Page

By the standard of most people (even most readers,) my reading life is insane, both in terms of the volume that I read and the variety of kinds of writing I consume. But – still – whenever someone comes out with one of these “100 must-read books” lists, there’re always many titles that I haven’t read. This has led me to reflect on what constitutes “essential reading,” (if such a thing exists) and what more systematic readers would consider the crucial texts to read to be a well-read person. And that lead me to this book, which is one man’s attempt to assemble such a syllabus of readings.

Fadiman arranges his 103 recommendations into seven sections: 1.) The Beginning (writings from the ancient world;) 2.) The Middle Ages; 3.) Plays; 4.) Narratives; 5.) Philosophy, Psychology, Politics, and Essays; 6.) Poetry; and 7.) History, Biography, and Autobiography. He also provides an annex of six recommendations to give a rudimentary overview of subjects not addressed in the listed works (e.g. art, mathematics, science, World History, American History, and how to read a book.) Note: When I refer to Fadiman’s ‘103 recommendations,” I’m not talking about 103 books. In many cases, Fadiman recommends one read all (or at least multiple instances of) a given author’s writings. I wouldn’t want to give the impression that one could knock out the whole syllabus in 111 books (inclusive of the annex recommendations;) it is a “lifetime” reading plan – after all.

The first edition of this book came out in 1960 and the third (and – as far as I know – final) edition came out in 1988. Fadiman’s selection is far less diverse than one might expect of such a book today. The author freely admits the book is Western-centric, but that’s not the whole story. While Fadiman’s selection is completely Western, it’s also highly Anglo-American (Anglo / American, if you prefer) with a few French, German, Russian, and Latin American authors scattered into the mix. Furthermore, the feminine voice is all but absent with only four females among the recommendations (including George Eliot who famously took a man’s name to be able to publish the work she probably couldn’t have as Mary Ann Evans [her birth name.])

One the one hand, this book did offer insights into many authors and books, including giving a few recommendations I’d never even heard of before. On the other hand, I wouldn’t call it a recipe for being a well-rounded intellect. It’s far too siloed for that purpose. That said, if you’re looking some readings to round out the Western portion of your reading list, I’d recommend you give this book a look. However, as a “lifetime reading plan,” I think it would leave the reader with some pretty broad blind spots.

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PROMPT: Read More

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Daily writing prompt
Which book have you read more than any other?
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孙子兵法 (i.e. Sun Tzu’s “Art of War“) or Hamlet, perhaps. It would have to be something short, important, and that bore new fruit upon revisit.

But, in truth, it’s not a score I’ve kept. I just know there are few books I’ve re-read, and exceedingly few that I’ve read more than twice. There are too many good books to get stuck on any of them without great cause.

PLAY: “A Streetcar Named Desire” by Tennessee Williams

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A Streetcar Named DesireA Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Available online – Internet Archive

I’ve never seen the play, nor the movie. Of course, this is one of those works that has so scrawled itself across pop-culture that it’s impossible to go in without some reference from it kicking around in one’s brain, be it the pained shout of “STELLA!” or character names like “Blanche DuBois” or “Stanley Kowalski.” Even the name of the plantation on which the fallen socialite sisters grew up, Belle Reve, has been lent to a prison for supernatural villains in the world of DC Comics.

At the play’s heart are two sisters raised in a wealthy Southern family. One, Stella, has adapted well to the family’s fall from grace. Stella has married a fellow who is rough around the edges (to say the least,) Stanley, but Stella is satisfied that Stanley is a dependable provider — even if he does rough her up a bit now and again. The other sister, Blanche, hasn’t coped nearly so well. Blanche lies perpetually to try to shield herself from reality — and to present a more appealing reality to others. It is when Blanche, having nowhere else to go, moves into the small New Orleans apartment of Stanley and Stella that the tension is set to form the play’s story.

I enjoyed reading this play. It’s well-paced and effectively mixes comedy and drama. It’s in character building where the play shines. The main characters are well-defined and behave quite believably within the context of each one’s neuroses and vices. The constant conflict between Blanche and Stanley drives the story.

I’d highly recommend this for readers of plays and / or of American Literature.

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BOOKS: “George Bernard Shaw: A Very Short Introduction” by Christopher Wixson

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George Bernard Shaw: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)George Bernard Shaw: A Very Short Introduction by Christopher Wixson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Publisher Site – OUP

This concise guide to George Bernard Shaw is an exploration of the works of the prolific playwright and how his philosophy and life experiences influenced the stories he created. The book is arranged by periods of Shaw’s own determining, including: Unpleasant, Pleasant, Puritan, Political, Extravagant, and Farfetched. The book does mention Shaw’s novels, literary criticism, and some of his major non-literary activities, but largely in the context of the comedies, tragedies, and histories he wrote for the stage.

If you are interested the works of George Bernard Shaw and how they came to be, I’d recommend this book. It’s a quick read and offers some fascinating insights.

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PROMPT: Learned

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Daily writing prompt
What is the last thing you learned?
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I was just reading George Bernard Shaw: A Very Short Introduction and learning about how his philosophy informed his plays. In particular, I learned why the play Pygmalion, which I recently read and which is the origin of the popular musical My Fair Lady, has an odd appendix which tells of the main characters’ continued life stories after the events of the play — as Shaw imagined them. Apparently, audiences pined for a love story between Henry Higgins and Eliza Doolittle, and Shaw never wanted that. Apparently, when Shaw saw what actors and directors were doing to tilt the story toward that love affair, he felt the need to add a postscript to set things straight.

BOOKS: “Pygmalion” by George Bernard Shaw

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PygmalionPygmalion by George Bernard Shaw
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Available on Project Gutenberg

Pygmalion is a play about class and human connection, and is probably the best-known work of George Bernard Shaw, having been adapted into a popular movie entitled My Fair Lady.

Henry Higgins, an expert on accents and dialects, bets his friend, Col. Pickering, that he can train a poor Cockney flower girl (Eliza Doolittle) to pass as a duchess at a soiree with genteel elites. Higgins is educated and of upper-crust upbringing but is neither refined nor does he have much in the way of people skills. Pickering is a personable and mannerly gentleman. Eliza is on a journey of transformation and her interaction with the two men offers insight into how those of different classes view dignity. (Besides examining class differences, some insight into how men and women differently view human interactions is generated.)

Beginning the last act (Act V,) it felt like the earlier acts hadn’t done the work required of them to motivate the last act behavior / discussions, but — I must admit — that feeling went away by the time the dialogue was complete. (Also, I give benefit of the doubt to the fact that good acting may have conveyed inklings to an audience that couldn’t be garnered from reading dialogue and stage directions.)

There was an Afterword that sketched out what happens in the lives of the characters after the events of the play. I didn’t care for it. There is a certain level of ambiguity in the ending, and I was good with that. I understand that many readers / viewers are not, however. (If you watched Christopher Nolan’s Inception and the spinning top ending drove you batty, you’d probably appreciate this Afterword. I believe the movie (My Fair Lady) tweaks the ending to make it more definitive.)

At any rate, this is a witty and evocative play and is well worth reading (or seeing.)

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“Be Not Afeard” [from The Tempest] by William Shakespeare [w/ Audio]

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Be not afeard: the isle is full of noises,
 Sound and sweet airs, that give delight, and hurt not. 
 Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
 Will hum about mine ears; and sometimes voices,
 That, if I then had wak'd after long sleep,
 Will make me sleep again: and then, in dreaming,
 The clouds methought would open and show riches
 Ready to drop upon me; that, when I wak'd 
 I cried to dream again.

NOTE: In The Tempest, Act III: Scene 2, Caliban speaks these words to Stephano and Trinculo.

“To be, or not to be” [Soliloquy from HAMLET] by William Shakespeare [w/ Audio]

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To be, or not to be, that is the question:
 Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
 The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
 Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
 And by opposing end them. To die -- to sleep,
 No more; and by a sleep to say we end
 The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
 That flesh is heir to: 'tis a consummation
 Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;
 To sleep, perchance to dream -- ay, there's the rub:
 For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,
 When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
 Must give us pause - there's the respect
 That makes calamity of so long life.
 For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
 Th' oppressor's wrong, the proud man contumely,
 The pangs of dispriz'd love, the law's delay,
 The insolence of office, and the spurns
 That patient merit of th' unworthy takes,
 When he himself might his quietus make
 With a bare bodkin? Who would fardels bare,
 To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
 But that the dread of something after death,
 The undiscover'd country, from whose bourn
 No traveller returns, puzzles the will,
 And makes us rather bear those ills we have
 Than fly to others that we know not of?
 Thus conscience doth make cowards of us all,
 And thus the native hue of resolution
 Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
 And enterprises of great pith and moment
 With this regard their currents turn awry
 And lose the name of action.

“All the World’s a Stage” [Soliloquy from AS YOU LIKE IT] by William Shakespeare [w/ Audio]

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All the world's a stage,
 And all the men and women merely players:
 They have their exits and their entrances;
 And one man in his time plays many parts,
 His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
 Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms;
 Then the whining school-boy, with his satchel
 And shining morning face, creeping like a snail
 Unwilling to school. And then the lover,
 Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
 Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier,
 Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard,
 Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,
 Seeking the bubble reputation
 Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice,
 In fair round belly with good capon lin'd,
 With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
 Full of wise saws and modern instances;
 And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
 Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon,
 With spectacles on nose and pouch on side.
 His youthful hose, well sav'd, a world too wide
 For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
 Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
 And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
 That ends this strange eventful history,
 Is second childishness and mere oblivion;
 Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

NOTE: Sometimes called the “Seven Ages of Man,” this soliloquy is spoken by Jacques in Act II: Sc. 7 of As You Like It.

“Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow” [Soliloquy from MACBETH] by William Shakespeare [w/ Audio]

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Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
 Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
 To the last syllable of recorded time;
 And all our yesterdays have lighted fools 
 The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
  Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
   That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
   And then is heard no more. It is a tale 
   Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
   Signifying nothing.