You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.45 AVERAGE
3.45 AVERAGE
4/5 stars
Trigger Warning: Attempted r*pe
That was the most absurd thing I have ever read...
Trigger Warning: Attempted r*pe
That was the most absurd thing I have ever read...
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I read this for class and I quite enjoyed it. Not my favorite play, but a good and quick one too. A solid 3 star rating.
I guess you call this an absurdist play, because this play was really absurd to me. Just like with the previous play I read, Rhinoceros, the first act I did not get into it that much but as it went on, it started to get better (and wackier).
Honestly, it’s better if you go into it not knowing anything and just enjoy the crazy ride you will be getting into.
I guess you call this an absurdist play, because this play was really absurd to me. Just like with the previous play I read, Rhinoceros, the first act I did not get into it that much but as it went on, it started to get better (and wackier).
Honestly, it’s better if you go into it not knowing anything and just enjoy the crazy ride you will be getting into.
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I don't normally read plays, but did so because of a reading challenge. I found this play to be odd, choppy, and ambiguous. I did not enjoy this at all. However, I hear that Pinter is an excellent playwright. I am just not into plays :(
This made me laugh. I tend to enjoy books that make me laugh. I laugh quite a bit when reading, but laughter confirms the success of a joke. It is not in itself an accurate sign for the success of literature. I continue to laugh at inappropriate jokes—'inappropriate' I'd here define as those with narrative I neither condone or would enjoy thinking about or reflecting upon—the stupid, terrible, ridiculous, pointless, vulgar, barbaric... Harold Pinter's Birthday Party is not really too much any of these derogatory things, but it is not really anything at all. It is humorously confusing. As I see it, this is empty nonsense. Waiting for Godot minus the waiting, No Exit minus the want to exit. It succeeded in making me laugh only because it was going but going nowhere. Never has something so boring become so absurd, on paper this play resembles a very energetic scribble. I can understand why some audiences would boo Pinter's productions despite the fact that from the preface of my edition and the character dialogue he does seem to have distinct and interesting views on writing drama. The set and stage directions are also very simple and do not add any interesting visual aesthetic elements to what might have been going on.
whaaaaa...?
This play is brilliant. I feel a little confused but in a mind-blown way. I feel a lot of pathos for Stanley, who has his comfortably peaceful although mundane life disturbed by two strangers (who really put the 'strange' in 'strangers'!) staying at the boarding-house in just one day. But Stanley himself is such an enigma to me too, it's hard to feel very personally for him. And the two strangers - what on earth is this 'job' and mission they're there to do???! I like how Harold Pinter approaches the complex concept of the human condition/psyche by seriously perplexing his audience/readers along the way! Harold Pinter is a magician with dialogue and the whole dramatic pacing, it doesn't get boring at all! Gosh those snappy "interrogations" by Goldberg and McCann kept me sitting straight up!
I can't wait to start discussing this one in classes, first to answer some basic 'what is going on?' questions and then to discuss the very interesting layers of meaning.
This play is brilliant. I feel a little confused but in a mind-blown way. I feel a lot of pathos for Stanley, who has his comfortably peaceful although mundane life disturbed by two strangers (who really put the 'strange' in 'strangers'!) staying at the boarding-house in just one day. But Stanley himself is such an enigma to me too, it's hard to feel very personally for him. And the two strangers - what on earth is this 'job' and mission they're there to do???! I like how Harold Pinter approaches the complex concept of the human condition/psyche by seriously perplexing his audience/readers along the way! Harold Pinter is a magician with dialogue and the whole dramatic pacing, it doesn't get boring at all! Gosh those snappy "interrogations" by Goldberg and McCann kept me sitting straight up!
I can't wait to start discussing this one in classes, first to answer some basic 'what is going on?' questions and then to discuss the very interesting layers of meaning.
Pinter knows how build tension and this sense of imminent threat, a shadow lurking behind or above you.
Very, very interesting.
Very, very interesting.