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bibliobrandie's review against another edition
4.0
Read this for a topical book club we are having at the library called Exploring Human Boundaries.
mxunsmiley's review against another edition
5.0
The first time in a while that a drama has impacted me so deeply and emotionally. I had seen the play before but I don't really remember it; it was also a high school production, so take that as you will. As an older person, though, with a lot of qualms with the medical field after so many years of dealing with doctors, I can definitely sympathize with and feel Vivian's indignation as well as her pain.
Though I don't have the dire and terminal diagnosis of Vivian, I have had experiences with doctors that make me think of the profession as anything but noble. I know that the doctors treating her here are in a research hospital but it appalled me how they routinely dehumanized her as well as the nurse treating her. When Vivian asked Jason why he studied cancer, his response was so twisted. I think the playwright excelled in bringing these characters to leave such an impression on you like that so subtly.
How Vivian continued to grapple with her lot in life as she ruminated was so striking. I thought the way the playwright chose John Donne's work as her area of study and made philosophical/existential parallels with Vivian's situation was brilliant. I've yet to read John Donne but this play makes me want to dive into his work.
I definitely want to reread so that I can process it better, and my inner English major desperately wants to make a thorough literary analysis of it, but I thought it was definitely worthy of the Pulitzer Prize, more than I can say of other winners I've read.
Though I don't have the dire and terminal diagnosis of Vivian, I have had experiences with doctors that make me think of the profession as anything but noble. I know that the doctors treating her here are in a research hospital but it appalled me how they routinely dehumanized her as well as the nurse treating her. When Vivian asked Jason why he studied cancer, his response was so twisted. I think the playwright excelled in bringing these characters to leave such an impression on you like that so subtly.
How Vivian continued to grapple with her lot in life as she ruminated was so striking. I thought the way the playwright chose John Donne's work as her area of study and made philosophical/existential parallels with Vivian's situation was brilliant. I've yet to read John Donne but this play makes me want to dive into his work.
I definitely want to reread so that I can process it better, and my inner English major desperately wants to make a thorough literary analysis of it, but I thought it was definitely worthy of the Pulitzer Prize, more than I can say of other winners I've read.
mitdream28's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
sage_loves_books's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
lelainav's review against another edition
4.0
Bent on staging the unstageable (though not to a Kane level), Edson has us watch a brilliant professor's health deteriorate from her initial cancer diagnosis throughout the entirety of her treatment. A compilation of direct address (Vivian, the principal character, spends most of the play denying any fourth wall), tight scenes, and simple, painful characters.
Edson lets her principal character fail, and miserably too. It's a bold move, one that sometimes got clunky (as in when Vivian tries to discuss with Jason his interests in medicine), and a definite acting challenge. It requires an impeccable performer no doubt. Not a play for college troupes.
In fact, I'd go so far as to say that Edson has written a near impossible character - by which I mean hyper-realistic - in a nearly impossible style touching on nearly impossible topics.
A moving play. I hope to see it in production one day.
Edson lets her principal character fail, and miserably too. It's a bold move, one that sometimes got clunky (as in when Vivian tries to discuss with Jason his interests in medicine), and a definite acting challenge. It requires an impeccable performer no doubt. Not a play for college troupes.
In fact, I'd go so far as to say that Edson has written a near impossible character - by which I mean hyper-realistic - in a nearly impossible style touching on nearly impossible topics.
A moving play. I hope to see it in production one day.
slichto3's review against another edition
4.0
This play is really quite wonderful, but it is also jarringly sad in a realistic, hits-close-to-home way. Wit is about Vivian, a woman diagnosed with stage four ovarian cancer. Vivian is also an exacting scholar of the poet John Donne, a loner, and devastatingly human. In the play, Vivian walks us through her life before she dies of the disease. How she's treated by the doctors and nurses, her reflections on her life before her illness and during her treatment, and the relevancy of her studies on Donne. It's really all very fascinating, while also being painfully tragic. I just couldn't help feeling that we are all going the way of Vivian (and that's if we're lucky). The thought of the loneliness and pain and fear of death enveloped me when I was reading this book. Overall, it was a painful experience, but very worth confronting.
sapphirerose's review against another edition
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
sc_willmott's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0