Sassy, timeless social commentary, in a league with Oscar Wilde.
A witty play on the human condition.
Though Goetz (1888-1960) gained wide popularity as a playwright, screenwriter and accomplished translator in his native Germany both during his lifetime and after his death, this play won him broader international acclaim when Joseph L. Mankiewicz adapted it as the 1951 feature film, People Will Talk, starring Cary Grant and Jeanne Crain. Rixhon’s translation, the first in English, is delightfully playful, with brilliant repartee that artfully conveys Goetz’s sophisticated explorations of the human psyche. The play opens with Sherlock Holmes taunting Dr. Watson as he pores over the details of a newspaper article describing the untimely deaths of revered gynecologist Dr. Job Praetorius and his wife in a car crash. Holmes gently chides Watson, who happened upon the accident and provided the newspaper with what Holmes quickly determines were errant assumptions about the cause of death. The scene then turns to the last few months in the professional life of the doctor, whose benevolent and charismatic personality radiates from the page. Because of his winning ways with women both as a man and physician, Praetorius is subjected to the absurd scrutiny of his peers, and his summoning before a board of ethics constitutes the climax of the drama. Undoubtedly, Praetorius’s claim that “the man who learns how to die with humour will reach the peak of civilization” is one of the play’s broader themes, allowing for the light, almost irreverent, treatment of the deaths of two compelling characters. But one can’t overlook Goetz’s underlying message of compassion for all individuals, regardless of social standing, a hallmark of a playwright who fled his homeland, refusing to contribute to Hitler’s propaganda films of the early ’40s.
Sassy, timeless social commentary, in a league with Oscar Wilde.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Coelho's placebo has racked up impressive sales in Brazil and Europe. Americans should flock to it like gulls.
Coelho is a Brazilian writer with four books to his credit. Following Diary of a Magus (1992—not reviewed) came this book, published in Brazil in 1988: it's an interdenominational, transcendental, inspirational fable—in other words, a bag of wind.
The story is about a youth empowered to follow his dream. Santiago is an Andalusian shepherd boy who learns through a dream of a treasure in the Egyptian pyramids. An old man, the king of Salem, the first of various spiritual guides, tells the boy that he has discovered his destiny: "to realize one's destiny is a person's only real obligation." So Santiago sells his sheep, sails to Tangier, is tricked out of his money, regains it through hard work, crosses the desert with a caravan, stops at an oasis long enough to fall in love, escapes from warring tribesmen by performing a miracle, reaches the pyramids, and eventually gets both the gold and the girl. Along the way he meets an Englishman who describes the Soul of the World; the desert woman Fatima, who teaches him the Language of the World; and an alchemist who says, "Listen to your heart" A message clings like ivy to every encounter; everyone, but everyone, has to put in their two cents' worth, from the crystal merchant to the camel driver ("concentrate always on the present, you'll be a happy man"). The absence of characterization and overall blandness suggest authorship by a committee of self-improvement pundits—a far cry from Saint- Exupery's The Little Prince: that flagship of the genre was a genuine charmer because it clearly derived from a quirky, individual sensibility.
Coelho's placebo has racked up impressive sales in Brazil and Europe. Americans should flock to it like gulls.Pub Date: July 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-06-250217-4
Page Count: 192
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1993
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
The emotions run high, the conversations run deep, and the relationships ebb and flow with grace.
When tragedy strikes, a mother and daughter forge a new life.
Morgan felt obligated to marry her high school sweetheart, Chris, when she got pregnant with their daughter, Clara. But she secretly got along much better with Chris’ thoughtful best friend, Jonah, who was dating her sister, Jenny. Now her life as a stay-at-home parent has left her feeling empty but not ungrateful for what she has. Jonah and Jenny eventually broke up, but years later they had a one-night stand and Jenny got pregnant with their son, Elijah. Now Jonah is back in town, engaged to Jenny, and working at the local high school as Clara’s teacher. Clara dreams of being an actress and has a crush on Miller, who plans to go to film school, but her father doesn't approve. It doesn’t help that Miller already has a jealous girlfriend who stalks him via text from college. But Clara and Morgan’s home life changes radically when Chris and Jenny are killed in an accident, revealing long-buried secrets and forcing Morgan to reevaluate the life she chose when early motherhood forced her hand. Feeling betrayed by the adults in her life, Clara marches forward, acting both responsible and rebellious as she navigates her teenage years without her father and her aunt, while Jonah and Morgan's relationship evolves in the wake of the accident. Front-loaded with drama, the story leaves plenty of room for the mother and daughter to unpack their feelings and decide what’s next.
The emotions run high, the conversations run deep, and the relationships ebb and flow with grace.Pub Date: Dec. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5420-1642-1
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Review Posted Online: Oct. 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2019
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
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