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Title: The Piano Lesson (Plume Drama) by August Wilson ISBN: 0-452-26534-7 Publisher: Plume Pub. Date: December, 1990 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $11.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.71 (21 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A perfectly crafted masterpiece
Comment: August Wilson's subtly brilliant work examines the manner in which an African-American family copes with its past. The central character of the play--the piano--is a pictoral history of the family, carved by a woodcarving ancestor from the families slavery days. The fascinating confrontation between Berniece, who cherishes the piano, and Boy Willie, who wishes to sell the piano and use the profit to buy the land their family tilled as slaves, gives the reader a thought-provoking dilemma. Should one cling to the past or use it to make one's future?
Although it seems Berniece is right, there is something in Boy Willie's exuberant pursuit of the American dream that makes the reader respect and enjoy his character, despite his imperfections. Mr. Wilson succeeds in creating characters with virtues, flaws and noble goals with which we can relate.
Rating: 3
Summary: Alice Walker's "Everyday Use?"
Comment: If you've read that famous, oft-anthologized short story, you'll get the idea of this play. The tapestry in that short story serves the same purpose as the piano in this one.
I enjoyed some passages in this play, especially the ones related to the importance of ownership of land as a step toward dignity and self-determination.
But - is it just me, or is August a little overrated?
(P.S. - I am white.)
Rating: 2
Summary: A lot of words for a ghost story
Comment: In August Wilson's play, "The Piano Lesson", there are some good points and there are some bad points, but mostly boring points. The story just did not seem to be able to keep my attention.
I will discuss the parts that i thought were good first. I thought that August Wilson described the piano and its carvings on it extremely beautifully. The way he portrays the family's heritage within the piano is fantastic. What i especially loved was the symbolism of the stealing of the piano. He had made it seem like that if Sutter still had the piano, that the Charles family would still be bound to him. But on INDEPENDENCE DAY(!) they stole the piano from him, thus symbolically liberating the family. The stealing of the piano gives an extra significance for the Charles family to July fourth.
The beginning and the end of the play were very interesting. They were easily the most exciting parts of the book. I found it interesting to find out about the history of the family and how the piano was sacred to them. The end surprised me. I never expected Willie to get into a fight with the ghost of Sutter.
Now for the boring parts. Well, saying that the beginning and the end of the play were the most exciting, actually isn't saying a whole lot. The book just could not hold my attention at all. The only interesting points were the first and last ten pages. The 80 pages in the middle all seemed to have the same theme. That theme was that Willie and Berniece would get into an argument over the piano, then a few pages down the road it would be the same argument all over again. The other events that occured within the middle of the play seemed very insignificant. Lymon seemed to me like an unimportant character that could have been eliminated. Grace had no importance at all, but to fill up pages within the book.
"The Piano Lesson" seemed to me to be a very boring book at many points, although it did have its bright spots. This would make a much better short story than a play or a long book.
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Title: Fences by August Wilson, Lloyd Richards ISBN: 0452264014 Publisher: New American Library Pub. Date: March, 1995 List Price(USD): $11.00 |
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Title: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom: A Play in Two Acts by August Wilson ISBN: 0452261139 Publisher: Plume Pub. Date: March, 1988 List Price(USD): $11.00 |
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Title: Seven Guitars by August Wilson ISBN: 0452276926 Publisher: Plume Pub. Date: August, 1997 List Price(USD): $11.00 |
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Title: A Raisin in the Sun by LORRAINE HANSBERRY ISBN: 0679755330 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 29 November, 1994 List Price(USD): $5.95 |
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Title: Glengarry Glen Ross (An Evergreen Book) by David Mamet ISBN: 0802130917 Publisher: Grove Press Pub. Date: September, 1992 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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