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A review by ponch22
Seven Guitars: 1948 by August Wilson
4.0
Woo boy... This is embarrassing...
Last year, I started reading through [a:August Wilson|13944|August Wilson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1321642333p2/13944.jpg]'s Century Cycle. I've already read [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], but I sort of hit a wall when it came to book #7—[b:Seven Guitars|332375|Seven Guitars|August Wilson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1354209977l/332375._SY75_.jpg|322918].
A play should not take me over a month to read!
I'm pretty sure I saw a production of Seven Guitars back in the early 2000s out in Harrisburg—the title sounds familiar, as do pieces of the plot (mostly, I feel like I’ve seen a set design for this backyard) but most of the story felt new to me. As I read it over the past ~4 weeks, I had trouble remembering the characters—I'm not sure if that's because they're written a little less distinctly as previous creations of Wilson or if it was just the long, stretched-out way I was reading it.
I read [a: Tony Kushner|35822|Tony Kushner|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1209471902p2/35822.jpg]'s foreword after reading the play, and it helped me appreciate the story a little more (giving it 4* now, instead of 3*)—like I completely missed that the first scene flows directly into the last scene and the rest of the play acts as a flashback! Missing (forgetting?) how the play started really made the huge moment in the penultimate scene hit so much harder because I didn't know what was going to happen (although I did sort of expect it).
The play definitely feels like it has a lot to offer for anyone willing to sit down and analyze and study the text; but as a simple (very long) read, it didn't quite work for me.
Last year, I started reading through [a:August Wilson|13944|August Wilson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1321642333p2/13944.jpg]'s Century Cycle. I've already read [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], but I sort of hit a wall when it came to book #7—[b:Seven Guitars|332375|Seven Guitars|August Wilson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1354209977l/332375._SY75_.jpg|322918].
A play should not take me over a month to read!
I'm pretty sure I saw a production of Seven Guitars back in the early 2000s out in Harrisburg—the title sounds familiar, as do pieces of the plot (mostly, I feel like I’ve seen a set design for this backyard) but most of the story felt new to me. As I read it over the past ~4 weeks, I had trouble remembering the characters—I'm not sure if that's because they're written a little less distinctly as previous creations of Wilson or if it was just the long, stretched-out way I was reading it.
I read [a: Tony Kushner|35822|Tony Kushner|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1209471902p2/35822.jpg]'s foreword after reading the play, and it helped me appreciate the story a little more (giving it 4* now, instead of 3*)—like I completely missed that the first scene flows directly into the last scene and the rest of the play acts as a flashback! Missing (forgetting?) how the play started really made the huge moment in the penultimate scene hit so much harder because I didn't know what was going to happen (although I did sort of expect it).
The play definitely feels like it has a lot to offer for anyone willing to sit down and analyze and study the text; but as a simple (very long) read, it didn't quite work for me.