Raisin / Abingdon / Dao
Nov. 18th, 2004 11:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jazzfishLorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun
A play about race relations, yes, but it's as much about the characters themselver as what they represent. Quite good on both counts. Sadly, still relevant. [The introduction says that white middle-class folks once thought this play had a happy ending. I imagine these are the same people who thought Easy Rider had a happy ending.]
Maria Irene Fornes, Abingdon Square
They tell me Fornes is a brilliant writer. I'm not buying it. Yes her short scenes are powerful images, but the dialogue stumbles off the tongue and the characters do unexpected things. Abdingdon Square is nominally about a young bride's sexual awakening in the 1910s, but her dual role as mother/bride and sister/daughter to two of the characters complicates matters all out of proportion. Verdict: unimpressive.
Lao Tzu and Ursula K. Le Guin, Tao te Ching: A Book About the Way and the Power of the Way
Fantastic translation / interpretation of the Tao te Ching. Saying "This book changed my life" is an exaggeration, but not much of one. Plain language, notes on why certain words and phrasings were chosen, and some typically excellent commentary from Le Guin. "The way you can go isn't the real Way. The name you can say isn't the real Name."
[Posted with hblogger 2.0 http://www.normsoft.com/hblogger/]
A play about race relations, yes, but it's as much about the characters themselver as what they represent. Quite good on both counts. Sadly, still relevant. [The introduction says that white middle-class folks once thought this play had a happy ending. I imagine these are the same people who thought Easy Rider had a happy ending.]
Maria Irene Fornes, Abingdon Square
They tell me Fornes is a brilliant writer. I'm not buying it. Yes her short scenes are powerful images, but the dialogue stumbles off the tongue and the characters do unexpected things. Abdingdon Square is nominally about a young bride's sexual awakening in the 1910s, but her dual role as mother/bride and sister/daughter to two of the characters complicates matters all out of proportion. Verdict: unimpressive.
Lao Tzu and Ursula K. Le Guin, Tao te Ching: A Book About the Way and the Power of the Way
Fantastic translation / interpretation of the Tao te Ching. Saying "This book changed my life" is an exaggeration, but not much of one. Plain language, notes on why certain words and phrasings were chosen, and some typically excellent commentary from Le Guin. "The way you can go isn't the real Way. The name you can say isn't the real Name."
[Posted with hblogger 2.0 http://www.normsoft.com/hblogger/]