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Title: An Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen ISBN: 0486406571 Publisher: Dover Pubns Pub. Date: April, 1999 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $1.50 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.45
Rating: 4
Summary: Science versus politics
Comment: "An Enemy of the People," by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, has been published as part of the Dover Thrift Edition series (that's the version I read for purposes of this review). The Dover edition is a republication of an anonymous translation. The back cover data notes that the play was first staged in 1883.
"Enemy" tells the story of Dr. Thomas Stockmann, a medical officer for his town's public baths. When he discovers that the baths are contaminated and pose a health hazard, he is led into conflict with his brother Peter, who is the town's mayor. The tension increases as the drama moves towards its conclusion.
"Enemy" is an intriguing piece of literature. While reading it I was struck by how similar the story is to that of the classic film "Jaws": in both stories, a political leader is at odds with an idealistic public servant who is concerned about a danger involving public waters!
The play contains much thought-provoking dialogue. Ibsen looks at the interrelationships among politicians, the press, science, and the general public. His characters question issues of truth, authority, and majority rule. Dr. Stockmann begins as a noble character, but I thought he becomes too over-the-top and in some scenes is reduced to a shrill, dogmatic cartoon (especially when he delivers a bizarre rant about poodles and hens). I honestly wasn't sure what Ibsen was trying to accomplish in some of the doctor's more outrageous dialogue.
Still, "Enemy" remains a compelling piece of art. For an intriguing companion text, try "Inherit the Wind," by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, which has some similar themes and motifs.
Rating: 4
Summary: A book for thought
Comment: This book is definitely not the most exciting book in the world. Enemy of the People has a specific point, a message it is trying to reveal. Dr. Stockmann loses the support of his entire town after finding out that the local baths are contaminated. Just to make things worse, his brother, Peter, is mayor and actually manipulates the situation to turn the press against him. This play shows how the majority is often wrong and, more importantly, that the strongest man is the one who can stand alone. What made this book lose a star is that, in fact, the first act takes a lot to finish because it appears to be so boring. I may have put this book away if I didn't have to read it. However the book quickly improves and, although it is never exciting, it is interesting.
Rating: 4
Summary: I Cannot Lie - I Didn't Understand It...
Comment: Have you ever watched a movie or play, and at the end of it you say, "I don't get it"? ---> But everyone around you says it was the greatest thing they have ever seen... well, I will not pretend to be a pseudo-intellectual. Ibsen was way over my head with this book.
Superficially the book was extremely interesting from the standpoint of: will one man be willing to stand up to a city when he knows what is right? In our story, the protagonist has discovered that the Norwegian baths are filled with a poisonous organism. However, when he voices this, the entire town goes against him because it will cost them economically, and they put the pressure on him to refute that which he knows is correct. From that standpoint - the book is excellent... and we are held to find the outcome.
Where it lost me personally was when Ibsen went on his political diatribe. He further alienated me via his pages of discussion on liberalism in a manner that seemed conservative to me. Nevertheless, I enjoyed these speeches as well, and they admittedly felt more contemporary Republican than Liberal Democrat.
In the end, I would have to recommend this book, but say "Feel free to not understand." It is okay to embrace that not everything is clear, and at times his points are lost on minds as dull as mine. Embrace your ignorance, and enjoy it for what it is
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Title: The Slave by Isaac Bashevis Singer, Cecil Hemly, Cecil Hemley ISBN: 0374506809 Publisher: Noonday Press Pub. Date: October, 1988 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Handbook of the World (Oxford Paperback Reference) by Peter Stalker ISBN: 0192800930 Publisher: Oxford Press Pub. Date: January, 2001 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Perrine's Sound and Sense: An Introduction to Poetry by Laurence Perrine, Thomas R. Arp, Greg Johnson ISBN: 0155073966 Publisher: Heinle Pub. Date: 08 June, 2000 List Price(USD): $54.95 |
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Title: Passing by Nella Larsen, Thadious M. Davis ISBN: 0142437271 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: 04 February, 2003 List Price(USD): $10.00 |
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Title: Dr. Faustus by Christopher Marlowe ISBN: 0486282082 Publisher: Dover Pubns Pub. Date: October, 1994 List Price(USD): $1.50 |
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