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jayalex_8's reviews
97 reviews
The Rose Tattoo: Camino Real ; Orpheus Descending by Tennessee Williams
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
The Rose Tattoo is clearly the standout of this collection of three of Williams’ works, and earns its place as the titular play of the three. Although I didn’t particularly enjoy Serafina, reading her as a manipulative, chaotic and somewhat narcissistic woman, I enjoyed Williams’ motifs and found them to be sufficiently consistent enough to bring to life the home of a once-devout Catholic Sicilian immigrant to the US. I particularly enjoyed the daughter’s ‘Juliet’ debacle!
The Camino Real is really not suited to paper consumption in my opinion, though I imagine the brisk pace and cacophonous atmosphere indicated through Williams’ stage directions play out well in a theatre. I am slightly concerned for the safety of the actor bestowed the role of Kilroy though, who is instructed to leap from a theatre Box and onto the stage!
Orpheus Descending - with its minimal success at the time - does not hold up. In my limited experience of Williams’ works, it reads as a pale first draft, and I found myself unable to stop comparing Lady back to Blanche Dubois, a much more detailed female lead in my memory. I found it hard to believe that Lady could not have discovered the truth of her father’s burning for two decades while living in a gossip-ridden small Southern US town… considering Williams’ own essay, which is included in this edition, in which he states that he had chipped away at some form of Orpheus for near 17 years, I felt severely underwhelmed!
The Camino Real is really not suited to paper consumption in my opinion, though I imagine the brisk pace and cacophonous atmosphere indicated through Williams’ stage directions play out well in a theatre. I am slightly concerned for the safety of the actor bestowed the role of Kilroy though, who is instructed to leap from a theatre Box and onto the stage!
Orpheus Descending - with its minimal success at the time - does not hold up. In my limited experience of Williams’ works, it reads as a pale first draft, and I found myself unable to stop comparing Lady back to Blanche Dubois, a much more detailed female lead in my memory. I found it hard to believe that Lady could not have discovered the truth of her father’s burning for two decades while living in a gossip-ridden small Southern US town… considering Williams’ own essay, which is included in this edition, in which he states that he had chipped away at some form of Orpheus for near 17 years, I felt severely underwhelmed!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racial slurs
A Grain of Wheat by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Colonisation
Darwin: A Very Short Introduction by Jonathan Howard
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
2.75
An interesting and useful overview and delve into some of the interesting aspects of Darwin’s theories of evolution. However, I would note that this VSI was written in the early 2000s, and some of the language used … reflects that era, to say the least. Still, an interesting beginning for anyone looking to learn more about Evolution, Darwin and how we might receive Darwinism today.
Call for the Dead by John le Carré
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Dark Tales by Shirley Jackson
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
I loved Shirley Jackson’s “We have always lived in the Castle”, so, I thought I would give Dark Tales a try. It is a collection of (very) short tales, and organised in the same way as a Bradbury anthology. Whilst Tales had a similar dark, mysterious air to that of Castle, the stories were too short for it to gain a higher star rating for me. I enjoyed some of the tales immensely - yet when i kept turning the pages, they ended all too abruptly. If I was the Editor, I would have loved to have added just one or two extra pages of depth to each Tale. Otherwise, it’s a great short collection of stories and makes a good ‘in between’ read between other larger or more dense books!