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.

Murphy

I didn't care for the play Happy Days but I decided not to give up on Samuel Beckett. I decided to look into his prose. I enjoyed this early cynical work of his. At the time it barely made any sales. It's about a man who spends his days naked in his rocking chair who works at a mental hospital. There is a patient he plays chess with at the hospital. Murphy also has a love interest with a prostitute. Samuel Beckett wasn't one to write conventional fare, always experimenting. The good thing is that this is a short work so if you don't like it then not much is lost. It's worth at least trying.

Writers

This was an ok book on short biographies of writers. There's the usual like F. Scott Fitzgerald and Virginia Woolf. There were some I didn't know though like Hwang Sok-yong. I was annoyed that Jean Paul-Sartre was mentioned not to say he's not a good writer but DK already mentioned him in their philosopher book, give another person their due. It seemed like the end of the book was mostly dedicated to Nobel Prize winning authors. I wish they got more clever. It was weird seeing major writers like Sylvia Plath and J.D. Salinger just being given a paragraph. Still I liked it. It was a quick read. Don't buy the Kindle version. There's problems with it. It's a ripoff.

Come back Little Sheba

This was William Inge's first play. It was much better than his later play A Loss of Roses. It's about a chiropractor who used to be an alcoholic. He wishes that he had made more of his life. They have a female college boarder. She represents the child his wife and him couldn't have. He has unrealistic expectations of this girl which is one of the reasons he goes off the wagon. He is one mean drunk and kind of psychotic. Little Sheba refers to their dog that ran away. I need to watch the movie again. I imagine that Burt Lancaster did a good job but Shirley Booth was the one who won all of the awards, the Tony and the Oscar. 3/4

The Language Archive

 

I liked this play. It wasn't pretentious and it gets its message through clearly. A man who works in languages knows little about human relationships. His own marriage is falling apart from a wife who suddenly has a need for independence. His lab assistant has a crush on him but is afraid to tell him about it. What I liked most about this play was the plot containing unrequited love because I've had a few. The play takes a different direction on that. I was glad about it because Hollywood's treatment of it is always boring and trite.  

The House on Parchment Street

 

I love giving chances on out-of-print children's books. This one is by Patricia McKillip who later became a fantasy writer. Apparently from the reviews I've read she got a billion times better later on, so I'll have to give her fantasy work a chance. This didn't change my life, but it was ok. It concerns a girl who moves to England to live with family. She and two boys there meet a ghost in the cellar and solve the mystery of the house. I put this on interlibrary loan which is usually the way to go with out-of-print children's books. Sure, you may get denied from time to time but it's better than taking a chance on a book that is worth more than $50. 

No Exit

 

This play was better when I read it when I was 11. This is where the quotation "Hell is other people" comes from. I felt that way when I was being bullied in elementary school, so it was more prominent then. It's still a good play though, three people are trapped in hell together and being with each other is their punishment. One is a tough guy who is really a coward, and one of the women killed a child. This one act play is riveting and depressing as they come. I've started reading another play of his The Flies this week.