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ejreadswords's reviews
76 reviews
The Idiots Karamazov by Albert Innaurato, Christopher Durang
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
“This morning I watched one of my patients die before my eyes.”
“But you’re not a doctor, Ivan.”
“Then I am all the guiltier. Oh, Alyosha, how can you look at this barren untranslatable Russian idiom around us, and still believe in God?”
With my fairly pedestrian and elementary knowledge of Russian Drama and literature (and let’s face it, it’s really just purely Russian Drama at this point), I can say I thoroughly enjoyed this irreverent, nonsensical play spoofing so much from Russian art as well as just contemporary Western art as well.
Laughed a lot while reading. Would imagine a lot of great bits are visual — Constance during her long, strange translations of scenes from Russian to English, and the ‘yes, and’ that seems to play out with the characters she’s telling stories of but changing circumstances (from “whorehouse” to “warehouse”).
Mary Tyrone Karamazov killed me. Mary’s already ‘not there’ at times in Long Day’s Journey Into Night, but how she’s used in this play, just deliriously referring to her sons as characters from a completely different play… a wonderful bit. Got me every time.
“Mama, I’m going to be a pop star!”
“Edmund, stop saying that! It’s just a summer cold!”
My first Durang. He won the Tony for Best Play with Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, and I feel like I’ll visit the play quite soon. Beyond Therapy I’d love to read next and will do it soon. He’s from New Jersey! I can hear it with the dialogue. Feels so New Jerseyan.
“But you’re not a doctor, Ivan.”
“Then I am all the guiltier. Oh, Alyosha, how can you look at this barren untranslatable Russian idiom around us, and still believe in God?”
With my fairly pedestrian and elementary knowledge of Russian Drama and literature (and let’s face it, it’s really just purely Russian Drama at this point), I can say I thoroughly enjoyed this irreverent, nonsensical play spoofing so much from Russian art as well as just contemporary Western art as well.
Laughed a lot while reading. Would imagine a lot of great bits are visual — Constance during her long, strange translations of scenes from Russian to English, and the ‘yes, and’ that seems to play out with the characters she’s telling stories of but changing circumstances (from “whorehouse” to “warehouse”).
Mary Tyrone Karamazov killed me. Mary’s already ‘not there’ at times in Long Day’s Journey Into Night, but how she’s used in this play, just deliriously referring to her sons as characters from a completely different play… a wonderful bit. Got me every time.
“Mama, I’m going to be a pop star!”
“Edmund, stop saying that! It’s just a summer cold!”
My first Durang. He won the Tony for Best Play with Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, and I feel like I’ll visit the play quite soon. Beyond Therapy I’d love to read next and will do it soon. He’s from New Jersey! I can hear it with the dialogue. Feels so New Jerseyan.
Mike Nichols: A Life by Mark Harris
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
I read this book over the course of a few months (just made a goodreads today, this is my first 'review'). A part of me didn't want it to end; it really felt like a film school in a book, and I related immensely to this feeling of impostor syndrome that follows you all throughout your life.
The difference is that Mike Nichols is an EGOT, and had a long, varied, wondrous career; and me, well, I'm, uh... just getting started?
Mark Harris' writing was effortless to read. I'd imagine as empathetically written as Mike Nichols was with his actors on-set.
I got my copy of my book signed by Mark Harris at a screening of Carnal Knowledge at the Film Forum in NYC. He introduced the film with some context of where Nichols was at his career when this film was released; how Carnal Knowledge was misunderstood, and was more often than not playing at the porn theaters, given how honest and unforgiving it was with its treatment of sexuality and masculinity.
I got to tell Mark Harris himself how his book helped usher in my mini-Nichols obsession, as well as an intro to Elaine May (her film The Heartbreak Kid is one of my all-time favorites, which I was inspired to watch after reading this book). I also got to say how much this book fueled and continues to fuel me creatively; there's so much to pick up from the book, but also to read about the vulnerabilities and flaws behind the 'human' behind the masterpieces (The Graduate, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?).
Mark was gracious with his words back to me and said, along the lines of, "I think you got everything out of this book that I would've wanted anyone to." He considers this book in a way to be a 'how-to' book, especially in the realm of directing and creating. He said that in a way to me that maybe indicated that he had a feeling I'm cut from a similar cloth as Nichols, and that meant a lot.
More a review about the experience than the book itself, but I'm not sure how I'll proceed with this goodreads account. I really loved this book and will continue to go back to it from time to time to provide comfort, navigating this complex and strange world we live in.
The difference is that Mike Nichols is an EGOT, and had a long, varied, wondrous career; and me, well, I'm, uh... just getting started?
Mark Harris' writing was effortless to read. I'd imagine as empathetically written as Mike Nichols was with his actors on-set.
I got my copy of my book signed by Mark Harris at a screening of Carnal Knowledge at the Film Forum in NYC. He introduced the film with some context of where Nichols was at his career when this film was released; how Carnal Knowledge was misunderstood, and was more often than not playing at the porn theaters, given how honest and unforgiving it was with its treatment of sexuality and masculinity.
I got to tell Mark Harris himself how his book helped usher in my mini-Nichols obsession, as well as an intro to Elaine May (her film The Heartbreak Kid is one of my all-time favorites, which I was inspired to watch after reading this book). I also got to say how much this book fueled and continues to fuel me creatively; there's so much to pick up from the book, but also to read about the vulnerabilities and flaws behind the 'human' behind the masterpieces (The Graduate, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?).
Mark was gracious with his words back to me and said, along the lines of, "I think you got everything out of this book that I would've wanted anyone to." He considers this book in a way to be a 'how-to' book, especially in the realm of directing and creating. He said that in a way to me that maybe indicated that he had a feeling I'm cut from a similar cloth as Nichols, and that meant a lot.
More a review about the experience than the book itself, but I'm not sure how I'll proceed with this goodreads account. I really loved this book and will continue to go back to it from time to time to provide comfort, navigating this complex and strange world we live in.
Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminsky
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
5.0
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
5.0
This one… HOO BOY. Lyrical, brutal, sensual, and romantic to life itself, by way of its intensity & trueness to itself.
Paraphrasing a bit, but loved the sentiment that: People say life is circular, or history is circular. But rather, it moves in spirals. We move in a circular motion and return to old spots again, but a circle away — a distance away from where we were before when we were last at that spot.
“Because a bullet without a body is a song without ears.”
“Did you know people get rich off of sadness? I want to meet the millionaire of American sadness. I want to look him in the eye, shake his hand, and say, “it’s been an honor to serve my country.”… what if the elation I feel is not another “bipolar episode” but something I fought hard for?”
“If, relative to the history of our planet, an individual life is so short, a blink of an eye, as they say, then to be gorgeous, even from the day you’re born to the day you die, is to be gorgeous only briefly.”
Paraphrasing a bit, but loved the sentiment that: People say life is circular, or history is circular. But rather, it moves in spirals. We move in a circular motion and return to old spots again, but a circle away — a distance away from where we were before when we were last at that spot.
“Because a bullet without a body is a song without ears.”
“Did you know people get rich off of sadness? I want to meet the millionaire of American sadness. I want to look him in the eye, shake his hand, and say, “it’s been an honor to serve my country.”… what if the elation I feel is not another “bipolar episode” but something I fought hard for?”
“If, relative to the history of our planet, an individual life is so short, a blink of an eye, as they say, then to be gorgeous, even from the day you’re born to the day you die, is to be gorgeous only briefly.”
Normal People by Sally Rooney
4.5
Lovely story. But… the show is better (sorry). Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal transcend the material as Marianne and Connell.
Still, any way to stay with the characters is worthwhile. Book’s still great.
Still, any way to stay with the characters is worthwhile. Book’s still great.
Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
Where Good Ideas Come from: The Natural History of Innovation by Steven Johnson
informative
inspiring
5.0