Reviews

I believe that ‘Life of Galileo’ is extremely successful as a political play, because, at it’s core, it is inherently political. Brecht establishes a genre of theatre - epic theatre - that undermines the tradition of naturalism which allows for political themes to permeate the text seamlessly. One of the ways in which Brecht does this is through his belief that the audience should be distanced from the characters (i.e. if they are too emotionally invested in them they will be misled into believing that the characters can not change and are victims of their circumstance); in ‘Life of Galileo’, this is done, for example, by having subtitles at the beginning of each scene that spoil the plot so as to eliminate dramatic tension. By distancing the audience from the characters and narrative it allows them to watch the play from an objective perspective and thus respond to the political themes (of the purpose of science and the moral questions surround scientific discoveries as to whether or not one should share ideas if they will could be misused).

helenajcassels's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

valtimke's review against another edition

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5.0

The Little Monk: But don't you think that the truth will get through without us, so long as it's true?
Galileo: No, no, no. The only truth that gets through will be what we force through: the victory of reason will be the victory of people who are prepared to reason, nothing else.
...
Galileo: I sometimes think I'll have myself shut up in a dungeon ten fathoms below ground in complete darkness if only it will help me to find out what light is. And the worst thing is that what I know I have to tell people, like a lover, like a drunkard, like a traitor...

Brecht plays knowingly with the reader's expectation of what a hero is, and where those expectations might stem from. If you know about the life of Galileo, it is no secret that he recants his argument against the Ptolemy solar system. But, as someone who still pushed for truth, does this recantation mean he was untrue to himself?

This play deals with themes such as the compatability of science and religion, the duty of a scientist, mortality, and how humans come to make sense of the world. I loved this play incredibly, and I want very much to read more by Brecht now.

stierwood's review against another edition

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challenging informative medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.5

I studied Brecht’s theories of theatre and social change in a Spanish culture class about theatre, so I was excited to actually get to read his work when I found this little book used. It did what it needed to do. The messages were clear and accessible (of big importance to Brecht) and I liked the parallels of learning new things about the physical structure of the universe causing danger in threatening “truths” about social structure. The question of center, margin, and movement is shown in this book to be a dangerous one to existing social structures, not even in the 1600s when Galileo lived, but in the 1930s when Brecht lived and 2023 when we are living now. Was also cool to read a burned book. The Nazis hated this guy. Jewish, Marxist… it felt powerful to hold a piece of resistance in my hands.

PS; i could not stop staring at the cover i think he is so hot oops

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