Spring Awakening

Man this play was controversial. It wasn't performed for years after it was written in the late 1800's. It concerns teenagers and involves abortion, suicide, and rape. I thought it was good but it was not an easy read. If anything this play really promotes the need for sexual education. Some of the characters are hurt by their ignorance. For example the girl doesn't understand why she became pregnant. I really read this because the writer's Lulu plays inspired Pandora's Box, one of the all time great silent movies. This was later made into a musical but to be honest I've had enough.

Mrs. Dalloway

This is my first introduction to Virginia Woolf. It was ok but it was hard to follow. It was inspired by James Joyce's Ulysses by its stream of consciousness. It took me a while to figure out just what was going on. It's about a middle aged woman thinking of her past loves and homosexuality. It also concerns a suicidal veteran suffering from trauma. I'll eventually read another book by Woolf but so far I think the legend is more interesting than the works.

Fuente Ovejuna

I've never heard of the Spanish playwright Lope de Vega. I read this play from the 1600's completely on a whim and I liked it. It's supposedly based on a true story. It's about a town Fuente Ovejuna where there's a vile commandeer. The town rebels and kills him each taking an oath with each other that the town committed the murder and not just an individual. This is even when they get tortured. They stick by it each other. It was interesting. I will read other plays by this author. There are so many classic plays from the past that I have yet to read.

The Gammage Cup

This was a good children's book that became a Newberry medal book. The plot concerns a group of people called the Minnipins. Despite being kicked out of their land everuone unites to fight off the bad guys the Mushrooms. The book deals with themes like conformity. There was a lawsuit later on against Harry Potter and another author over the name Muggles. But this book preceded them all with that name. The author of this book Carol Kendall didn't care that they stole Muggles which I think it is funny. It was probably just a coincidence anyway. Carol Kendall didn't write that many books for children which I thought was disappointing. I'll interlibrary the sequel sometime. It was a cute book and it was imaginative.