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34 obres 1,046 Membres 4 Ressenyes

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Obres de Lee A. Jacobus

The Bedford Introduction to Drama (2000) 352 exemplars
Substance, Style, and Strategy (1998) 17 exemplars
Improving college reading (1972) 10 exemplars
Aesthetics and the Arts (1968) 10 exemplars
Poems in context (1974) 7 exemplars
The Sentence Book (1976) 6 exemplars
Humanities through the Arts (2018) 5 exemplars
Writing As Thinking (1989) 5 exemplars

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This book is great it covers and includes plays from the Greek era all the way to contemporary drama. a great read to see the progression of plays throughout history. the play itself is accompanied by a few pages of information about its author as well as some information about what was going on during that time period.
 
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NAUTheatreLibrary | Hi ha 2 ressenyes més | Apr 17, 2019 |
Crown Island is first and foremost a romance. It is set up as yet another Romeo and Juliet story: a blue collar worker who falls for the local, rich celebrity. And although this format has been used since people have been telling stories, it usually appeals to me greatly. Crown Island was the rare exception. I found it very difficult to relate to the characters and to the plot, and I found the love story unconvincing.

I could not finish Crown Island, and I could not even make it to my usual “abandon this book point”. As a teenager, I decided not to end reading until I had at least given a book 100 pages of my time. In Crown Island I got to 50. I committed to read this book, so I wanted to finish it. But then I had to make a decision. One that I think will be good for my blog and for my life in the future…Reading, for me, is for pleasure. This novel turned into a job-a job I don’t want. Crown Island began haunting me in my purse. It made me feel guilty when I dreaded picking it up again. My love of reading took over, and I decided to give up on Crown Island and find something that did appeal to me.

Ideally, there are many things that make a novel worthwhile: the characters, the story, the writing. Crown Island does have an interesting idea-the back of the novel intrigued me. Who doesn’t love to hear about a love that lasts for decades??? It was the delivery that ruined it for me. Crown Island fell short with its characters and its language.

The dialogue in the novel appeared artificial and shallow. For example, the two main characters instantly fall in love as they read Greek poems aloud to each other. Contrived right??? Peter Chello is devoted to Marie Wainwright, and he sleeps with her quickly despite the fact that he has a fiancee. Was I the only one who felt sorry for Alice??? Marie spends most of her time spouting “truths” to Peter, knowledge that she has gathered from her tragic life. When did using large words equal knowledge???

Crown Island reminded me of The Great Gatsby, but not in a good way. Every time I read Gatsby I wonder what Daisy holds for Jay. Finally you realize that he loves the life she represents, not her. Jacobus created a “Daisy” character in Marie Wainwright but nothing about her seemed legitimate. She lost her entire family to accidents, but she finds solace in “the gods” and in fate. Peter abandoned his college career to take over his family’s business, but of course he is a diamond in the rough-a laborer who loves the classics. No back story is given to make all this foolishness understandable. No explanation is given for their love, and I was left lost and annoyed.

This is my first DNF (Did Not Finish) review, and I had to seek a lot of outside blogger help to gather the courage to do it. (Thanks Jen and Swapna.) As a lover of books, I hope I understand a little about all the work and courage it takes to write a novel and to send it out into the world. Lee Jacobus spent the time to write the love story that he wanted to tell. Sadly, this novel did not appeal to me. Nevertheless, I hope that it finds an audience, I hope that Lee Jacobus gets some good reviews, and I hope that Peter and Marie ended up living happily ever after.
… (més)
 
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girlsgonereading | Jun 1, 2010 |
This is a great anthology. It was a college text book for me. I still use it when I am looking for examples of good plays. Some of my favorite plays ever are in this book.
 
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jmaloney17 | Hi ha 2 ressenyes més | Jan 2, 2009 |
The Bedford Introduction To Drama, in its Fourth edition, has a number of virtues. Much of the selection is good, the illustrations are good and often helpful, and the introductions to each period and to individual plays are often very good. Of course, some of them are predictable: it would be nice to see some exciting Strindberg for a change; Miss Julie is really getting weary. However, it is when when we reach the second half of the Twentieth century that the quality breaks down. We find the same tired list of plays chosen for their political correctness: something on race, something for feminists, etc, etc, with very litte convincing attention paid to what has actually happened in the theatre, viewed either from the point of view of box officee appeal (which was a good enough criterion for Shakespeare), or what is likely to be historically influential. A major exception is Mamet's OLEANNA, guaranteed to stir disagreement and excitement in the classroom as it does in the theatre. Each reader will find other exceptions, but the predictability and tedium of the modern selection is disappointing. [Dr FR Southerington]… (més)
1 vota |
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mmckay | Hi ha 2 ressenyes més | Aug 8, 2006 |

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Estadístiques

Obres
34
Membres
1,046
Popularitat
#24,628
Valoració
3.8
Ressenyes
4
ISBN
88

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