Reviews with content warning for Racism - A Raisin in the Sun

For once, sort of, the experience of the Youngers is not relevant to today. They bought a house for $4k. Somebody had to die for them to afford it. Meanwhile in this present day when most people family die they can't even afford to bury them. Everything else is pretty much the same though. Just called by different names now.

Lorraine Hansberry was definitely ahead of her time.

This may have a higher rating if I actually saw it on stage instead of read / listened to it. I read it in pretty much one sitting to stay true to the theater experience – you can't pause a play, you have to sit through it – and it was still very moving and hooked my attention. But reading and listening to the play I'm sure doesn't compare to actually seeing and living it in the theater.

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star_charter152's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.25

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ada_elisabeth's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
and then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
-Langston Hughes

I'm still chugging my way through Jude the Obscure and some Shakespearean love sonnets, but I thought I'd take a quick break from reading to review something we read for school. The diversity of the books for my English class this year has been somewhat surprising- a novella, a novel, a novel in verse, and now a play, soon to be followed by another novel and then a book of poetry? Whoever designed the curriculum certainly wanted students to be exposed to all sorts of writing. And I applaud them, because hardly do a I read a play, and this was a lovely excuse to do it.

I hate to say that Lorraine Hansberry's talent was 'wasted' on a play, because her play writing skills are incredible. But her descriptive, beautiful flowy writing is almost even better, and it's only visible in tiny snippets of stage directions. I'm not sure if she wrote it any other forms, but I would absolutely love to read it if she had. (From a quick Wikipedia search it seems like she does have some essays and more personal works, so maybe I'll check them out at some point-- her writing is simply beautiful.)

The quality of the writing is what really takes this book to the next level; while the complexities of the American dream lead to a complicated, layered story, the superb writing makes for many emotionally-charged scenes. A Raisin in the Sun is one of the rare pieces of writing that made me genuinely angry-- I found Walter Lee to be completely unbearable and just very misogynistic in general. His comments to Ruth and Beneatha (for not supporting him enough and for aiming too high respectively) in the first scene alone angered me enough to go off on a twenty-minute-long tangent about feminism in a discussion about Walter's character. I also (much to the confusion of my peers) found Mama to be just as frustrating. I can't put my finger on exactly what I disliked about her, but there was something that I found to be incredibly off-putting. Her endless love for Walter despite his mistakes but her attitude towards Beneatha's dreams and opinions felt so sexist and controlling to me. Although Walter was undeniably the crowning jewel in this crown of self-centeredness, hypocrisy, and annoying personalities, Mama was a close second. Luckily, I found Ruth an absolute joy to read about, so it was a little balanced out.

I also do have to say that I started to feel for Walter a bit towards the end. I think the fact that we were watching the 1961 movie starring Sidney Poitier as we read helped; his performance brought a new level of depth and emotion to the character that was not nearly as palpable on the page. I also really enjoyed the last scene, even in its written form. It was dramatic, powerful, and extremely emotionally-charged, making it the perfect conclusion to this quintessential American play. I found myself becoming moved by Beneatha's speech to Asagai in the final scene, and the fractured hope of the plant symbolism on the final page. Although I'm not yet sure what this play is trying to explain about American life beyond the obvious, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and I hope this will open up the opportunity to read more classic American (and international) plays in the future. 4.25/5 stars simply because of how annoying I found Walter.

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tieflingmom's review against another edition

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emotional slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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marlasmirkingrevenge's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

Strong character development? Yes

3.75

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