Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, “Inherit the Wind”

Four books left to make my resolution to read 50 this year; nine days left in which to do it. Will I make it?

I’ve got a half-dozen books in line to read over my Christmas break, which extends from now until the end of the year. If I buckle down (and don’t try to read anything, say, over 400 pages) I think I’m gonna be able to do it.

THE LOWDOWN
Published: 1960, 118 pp.
Obtained via: Kevin
Date started: 12.15.07
Date finished: 12.22.07
What I liked: This is a fun adaptation of the Scopes Monkey Trial. I’m embarrased to say that I don’t know enough about the historical even to know when and how much creative license the authors took.
What I didn’t like: No complaints, though I have to say the second half of the book went much faster than the first.
What I learned: Logic always wins.

Tom Stoppard, “Arcadia”

I feel like I’d really need to read this play again to fully digest it. Basically, it switches back and forth between a group of modern-day researchers poking around a 19th-century literary mystery and the actual event they’re investigating. It’s so masterful I can barely comprehend it.

THE LOWDOWN
Published: 1993, 100 pp.
Obtained via: Marty
Date started: 11.11.07
Date finished: 11.18.07
What I liked: I love the parallels between the two story lines and how later on the scenes start melding together.
What I didn’t like: I just realized while reading this play how much more attention you have to pay to a story when there’s no narration. Not that I didn’t like it, I just had to use my imagination a lot more.
Unresolved questions: I’m still partially unsure which questions and hypotheses the researchers had were debunked and which were answered. Again, I’d have to read the play again or go back to my TA, Marty.

David Mamet, “Oleanna”

After rewatching “Wag the Dog,” recently, my friend Marty insisted that I read some of David Mamet’s other works, because I hadn’t.

THE LOWDOWN
Published: 1993, 80 pp.
Obtained via: Marty
Date started: 5.19.07
Date finished: 5.24.07
What I liked: The rapid-fire dialogue.
What I didn’t like: The rapid-fire dialogue, sometimes. It’s possible to rush through this play (like I did), but to fully digest it, I’d have to read it again more slowly.
What I learned: I need to read more slowly.
Unresolved question: I didn’t pick up on the sexual assault mentioned in the second half of the book… did I miss something?