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evvyyreads_'s review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
mpho3's review against another edition
3.5
I'm reading Wilson's Century Cycle in reverse chronological order. This one addresses many of the concerns encountered in the previous three I've read: Radio Golf, King Hedley II, and Jitney. Clearly they will continue to be the running themes of the collection so the differentiators will be the characters, their interactions, and the setting. I might have felt more strongly towards this particular play if I hadn't recently read Jitney and King Hedley. I am eager to press on before I determine which I liked best and which best hits home for me.
ponch22's review against another edition
5.0
So glad to finally get back to reading through [a:August Wilson|13944|August Wilson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1321642333p2/13944.jpg]'s Century Cycle (after [b:Ma Rainey's Black Bottom|516792|Ma Rainey's Black Bottom|August Wilson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1439819148l/516792._SY75_.jpg|504726], [b:Jitney|764327|Jitney|August Wilson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348042927l/764327._SY75_.jpg|750403], [b:Fences|539282|Fences (The Century Cycle #6)|August Wilson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1481833774l/539282._SY75_.jpg|60745], [b:The Piano Lesson|4100547|The Piano Lesson|August Wilson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1451284437l/4100547._SY75_.jpg|171424], & [b:Joe Turner's Come and Gone|783918|Joe Turner's Come and Gone|August Wilson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1400863511l/783918._SX50_.jpg|60728].
[b:Two Trains Running|239396|Two Trains Running|August Wilson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388205425l/239396._SY75_.jpg|231896] is once again set in Pittsburgh, this time in a neighborhood slowly being gentrified at the end of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Memphis owns a small, simple restaurant with just three meals on the menu while West runs the local funeral home across the street. Several interesting characters populate Memphis's, from Wolf running numbers out of the pay phone to Sterling, a local who recently got out of prison & interested in Risa, the cook/waitress who's scarred her legs to try to keep men from looking at her.
This is definitely one of my favorite of Wilson's plays & I'd love to see it get a film adaptation like Fences & Ma Rainey's Black Bottom have gotten recently. The story, as written, is self-contained within the restaurant, but a lot more could be expanded & explored on screen. To see the insane crowds attending Prophet Samuel's funeral or meet Aunt Ester, the 349-year-old mystic who only requires her customers to throw $20 into the river as payment, instead of just hearing about them could be great.
But even if they're only mentioned here, the story Wilson has created (and all the stories his characters tell) are fascinating. I think this was the first play of the Cycle where I really felt the time it was set in—possibly because so many recent films have told Black stories in the 1960s, so I could imagine the world quite easily (less so the 1910s of Joe Turner's Come and Gone).
[b:Two Trains Running|239396|Two Trains Running|August Wilson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388205425l/239396._SY75_.jpg|231896] is once again set in Pittsburgh, this time in a neighborhood slowly being gentrified at the end of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Memphis owns a small, simple restaurant with just three meals on the menu while West runs the local funeral home across the street. Several interesting characters populate Memphis's, from Wolf running numbers out of the pay phone to Sterling, a local who recently got out of prison & interested in Risa, the cook/waitress who's scarred her legs to try to keep men from looking at her.
This is definitely one of my favorite of Wilson's plays & I'd love to see it get a film adaptation like Fences & Ma Rainey's Black Bottom have gotten recently. The story, as written, is self-contained within the restaurant, but a lot more could be expanded & explored on screen. To see the insane crowds attending Prophet Samuel's funeral or meet Aunt Ester, the 349-year-old mystic who only requires her customers to throw $20 into the river as payment, instead of just hearing about them could be great.
But even if they're only mentioned here, the story Wilson has created (and all the stories his characters tell) are fascinating. I think this was the first play of the Cycle where I really felt the time it was set in—possibly because so many recent films have told Black stories in the 1960s, so I could imagine the world quite easily (less so the 1910s of Joe Turner's Come and Gone).
tracithomas's review against another edition
3.0
This one starts out so strong and builds tension beautifully but ultimately fizzled out. Some fantastic speeches and characters but the plot is lacking.
kimberly_levaco's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
A quiet play about lives that refuse to stay quiet.
jubbygestalt's review
Once I got to the description of the only female character in the play, who even before she speaks is quite literally defined in the text in relationship purely to get genitals, I just couldn't go much further.
william_sg's review against another edition
3.0
Honestly not sure what to think about this one. Hilarious ending. Bleak throughout. Sometimes it feels like the monologues come first, story second. I liked it enough.
taraalami's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.5
eve81's review
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Self harm, Death, and Racial slurs
kungfool's review against another edition
4.0
I keep getting struck by the economic desperation of Wilson's plays. His characters either have no money and little opportunity to gain any, or they are cheated and/or exploited out of the little money and opportunity they have. This leads to many of his plays inhabited by hustlers, thieves, and gamblers, characters operating on the economic fringe. Ultimately, the "mentally simple" Hambone symbolizes their economic condition. Cheated out of the payment of a ham for the job of painting a fence, his repetitive "I want my ham, he gonna give me my ham," becomes symbolic, reminding us of a number things. His labor is stolen, not unlike his slave ancestors. He dwells in an economy rigged against him. And perhaps most significantly, much like Boy Willie from the Piano Lesson, he refuses to give up pursuing a just compensation for his labor.
Looking forward to seeing a production of this next summer!
Looking forward to seeing a production of this next summer!