2.5 disco balls
First published: February 10, 1949 by Viking Press
Category: Classics, Play, Theatre
Pulitzer Prize for Drama (1949), New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best American Play (1949)
Death of a Salesman was Book 5 on my September Reading Challenge High School Reading Redo list; I can say I’ve done my homework but that’s about all. Reading it certainly felt like homework.
It was not enjoyable and I was often frustrated. One: the format. Its a play and setting the scene often confused me. It would flip flop between past and present without a prompt, as if I was supposed to know what was going on without pausing and rereading the lines over again. Second: Willy was annoying, Biff was annoying, Hap was annoying, Linda was annoying. Everyone was annoying.
Goodreads Synopsis: 3.5 average rating
Willy Loman, the protagonist of “Death of a Salesman,” has spent his life following the American way, living out his belief in salesmanship as a way to reinvent himself. But somehow the riches and respect he covets have eluded him. At age 63, he searches for the moment his life took a wrong turn, the moment of betrayal that undermined his relationship with his wife and destroyed his relationship with Biff, the son in whom he invested his faith. Willy lives in a fragile world of elaborate excuses and daydreams, conflating past and present in a desperate attempt to make sense of himself and of a world that once promised so much.
It is a very quick read and only took a few hours. I felt accomplished checking off another book from my reading list (at least it gave me that). Not sure why it was required reading in school. I guess to spark discussion on the American Dream and such, and I get that but the adult me just felt like they whined too much. The dialogue also went off on too many tangents: no one listened to each other, they just liked to hear themselves talk. And, I didn’t like to listen to them either.
They adapted the play into a movie with Dustin Hoffman and John Malkovich in 1985. If I’d had known I would have watched it in high school and not been the least bit sorry about skipping my homework this time around. (Don’t tell my teacher!)
What I imagine Marilyn telling Arthur:
It’s okay, Arthur. You can’t win them all.
His response: Do you have a Pulitzer, Nikki?
Touché Arthur.
Any who – Have you read this one? Seen the play? Seen the movie? Tell me your thoughts!
Purchase Links
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Amazon UK
Barnes & Noble
Stream the Amazon US movie
Stream the Amazon UK movie
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I love your imagination. That made me laugh. Sorry the book was so bad. Thankfully it was short. Onward and upwards!
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Thank you! I just told my husband “see, I’m funny!” 😉😂
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Oh, I remember quite well reading this and The Crucible in high school back to back as a means to enlighten us to great talent. I was not thrilled. Neither one was good then…and neither one is good now. Sorry for the disappointment. You’ll have a better read next.
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Amen! 😉
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Plays are difficult – after all, they’re supposed to be performed, not read. I have seen the film of this (I think – it would’ve been years ago) but not inspired to read it.
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At least your review of it was very entertaining! 😀
This reminds me of a book I had to read in school but actually dnf’ed because it was so full of whining and the scenes all didn’t make sense to me. I can’t remember ever having struggled like that with a book.
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Thank you!
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Surprisingly I never read this book in high school. Don’t think I want to either. Play format always confuses me.
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You were lucky, hehe.
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I have never liked plays and never read this one. I don’t think I’d read it after your review.
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Thank you for stopping by and reading my review 🙂
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Plays are hard to read. I hated teaching plays in the classroom. This is one of the plays you read when your feeling very introspective.
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I read plays in high school and are different to read.
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Great review! I’ve not read this one. Unless it’s Shakespeare, plays are generally boring for me to read.
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I hate classics. Don’t know why, but I can’t stand them 😅😅
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I can take some, I can leave some. 😉
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I still don’t remember a reading list in HS! But love that you are reading them again. Many times our perception changes as we mature.
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I agree! Reading Catcher in the Rye as an adult was completely different than when I was 15.
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Wonderful post!
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I remember reading this in high school and scratching my head 😉
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Thankfully I didn’t have to read this one but I did have to watch the movie and it wasn’t much better.
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haha that title – but too bad it wasn’t that great.
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Great honest review! Too bad you didn’t love it!
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It’s definitely a story that’s meant to be pondered more than enjoyed. Sorry you don’t like it, but at least it was short.
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I have not read a play in a long time. That is mainly beacuse I don’t particularly enjoy them.
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