I always feel weird reviewing classics. It’s like, what am I going to say about Oscar Wilde that hasn’t already been said? Surprise, surprise, Oscar Wilde’s work is still perfect. Surprise, surprise, Oscar Wilde was super witty and reading his work is a complete joy. Surprise, surprise, Wilde’s life ended in tragedy and I still wonder what other magnificent works we could have had from him if it hadn’t been for the awful societal prejudice of his time. Obviousness aside, I do really recommend the […]
Turns out I’m not boring! I just play boringly.
“The opposite of play isn’t work. It’s depression.” Stuart Brown’s book on play promises a lot; it’s not just a description of play, but play’s role in society and necessity in social and cognitive development. He traverses the animal kingdom to make his points in the first half and in the last half he veers off track and becomes totally anecdotal. First of all the whole animal thing could be science sure, whatever, but there is no way of telling, because there are LITERALLY NO […]
Will the Real Inspector Hound please stand up?
When faintingviolet told me that the next book club topic was going to be plays, I immediately thought of The Real Inspector Hound. I had never read it, but I had seen it performed in college, and it was by far one of the better plays I had seen. I remembered that it was funny and entertaining, and on the lighter side as well. (And luckily for people who are not all that terribly fond of reading plays, on the short side!) So, if you […]
Book Club Discussion Post: The Real Inspector Hound
Are you ready for our final book club of the year? Well, ready or not here we go to cap off another year of reading and discussing together! The Real Inspector Hound is a quick, funny play where Tom Stoppard takes aim at theatre, critics, reality, and fate. While its one act zips by in 50 pages or less, it still manages to have opinions about our place in the world around us. Ground rules remain the same as before, discuss in the comments below, […]
Well, I think I’ll go and oil my gun.
Opening salvo, hot take: everything Tom Stoppard has ever written is incredible; this isn’t his best work. The Real Inspector Hound is the first live production of a Stoppard play I ever saw, followed about a year and a half later by Arcadia. So, I will always be grateful to Hound for preparing me, because otherwise Arcadia might have melted my brain, and working directly with Tom (humblebrag) on The Coast of Utopia would have been the actual death of me. Hound is a delight. […]
Fave play is fave
“None but libertines delight in him.” Claudio and Hero love each other and want to get married. Beatrice and Benedick….well that’s what the play is about. Look this play makes no fucking sense what-so-ever. I mean, why is Hero wooed by someone else, in a mask? Why the fuck does Dogberry stumble around? And Claudio is dickweasel numero uno for believing Don John whatshisface…who meddles to actually give the play a plot. But then again, this is much ado about nothing so it does make […]
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