Lotta on Troublemaker Street

 

When I was in second grade I was made fun of for liking Pippi Lockstocking. I still don't care. That girl was cool. I decided to revisit Astrid Lindgren and read another one of her books. It's about a little girl named Lotta who runs away from home and lives with a neighbor.  The family is not afraid about it though and is genuinely laid back about it. But will Lotta make it through the night though? This book was short and pretty cute.

Sisters by a River

 

I wanted to read a book by an obscure female writer from the 1940s and I like Virago's selections. This book was just ok. It's about a family and it's told from the perspective of a child and the misspelling throughout the book adds to that age. It could have been better. I didn't feel like I got to know the sisters really individually. It wasn't like Little Women where I felt like I got to know the people. The personalities were kept kind of vague.  Still, this isn't the last book I'm reading that Virago published. The thought of discovering forgotten female writers from the past is too appealing to me. 

An Acceptable Time

 

I was unimpressed by the title. It's not really a title to get you excited to open up a book.  However, this was an ok inclusion in the Time Quintet that included A Wrinkle in Time. This deals with Meg and Calvin's daughter Polly.  I wasn't really interested until there was talk of sacrificing Polly to stop a drought. Even her male lover Zachary tries to push Polly into it for his own personal needs. L'Engle was a really good children's writer in that she didn't try to dumb down her books for young readers. Some of the concepts of her books were pretty scientific. Reading this made me regret that I quit reading children's books when I was 11. I like going back now because of the innocence and imagination that are evident in children's literature. It's refreshing to read a book that isn't all about shock value. 

Talley's Folly

This is a simple play. It's basically about a Jewish man courting a woman at a boathouse. Not much happens other than that they talked but the characters are pretty likable. They meet at a boathouse and eventually discuss the possibility of a life together and some of their secrets are revealed. For instance, Sally's high school love who rejected her once she became infertile. There is a gap in their ages but Matt is pretty determined to win her over even though she doesn't give much encouragement. I read The Fifth of July and even though I liked that Wilson play this is the superior one. This is charming and the characters win you over. You hope that the two will get together. This won the Pulitzer Prize. 

Fifth of July

 

This was my introduction to Lanford Wilson. The best thing about this play is that there is a gay couple and their sexuality is never discussed. This is pretty advanced for a play that was staged in the 1970s. The main character is Ken, a disabled Vietnam veteran. Should he teach high school again? Also, he's thinking of selling the house. Family and friends of the couple gather together for two days.  It was ok but I have a feeling Lanford probably wrote better plays so I'll read more from my library. 

King Lear

 

This was a pretty good Shakespeare play. This is one of his better-known plays. I need to read the popular ones and investigate his lesser-known plays as well. I did that this year with Measure for Measure. King Lear goes through betrayal and madness all because he misjudged his daughters. If he had trusted his favorite daughter Cordelia then he wouldn't have gone through this mess. At the beginning of the play, all three daughters declare their love for him and Cordelia's sounds the most indifferent. He gives his money to his daughters Regan and Goneril. This play has a lot to say about family and appearances. When it comes down to it Regan and Coneril are just deceitful actors to their father. There is also a subplot with Gloucester and his sons Edgar and Edmund. The scene where Gloucester eyes were gouged out was pretty brutal. This would be cool to see on stage. 

'Tis Pity she's a whore

 

This was a play written in the 1600s about incest between a brother and a sister. Yes, it was written to shock even so there is no nudity. There was a movie in the 1970s which I decided not to watch after seeing it was rated X. Obviously it's not too faithful to the play. It's too bad. I like Charlotte Rampling. My sister put an interlibrary loan on it and the librarian responded with what exactly am I handing you. The play was pretty good though and it held my interest. I should read more of John Ford's plays.