Arthur Miller: Collected Plays—the second volume in the definitive Library of America edition of the works of the essential American dramatist—presents fourteen memorable plays, from Broadway hits to previously unpublished rarities, offering an unprecedented look at Miller's extraordinary middle phase.
The volume opens with After the Fall (1964), Miller's much-anticipated return to the theater after an eight-year hiatus. An imaginative tour de force that unfolds within the mind of its main character, Quentin, the play struck some viewers as scandalous for its apparent revelations about Miller's marriage to the late Marilyn Monroe. Incident at Vichy (1964) dramatizes the roundup of Jews in Vichy France during World War II in a vivid and harrowing single act. The Price (1968)—Miller's biggest Broadway success since Death of a Salesman—portrays the relationship between two brothers, a successful surgeon and a struggling policeman, as they negotiate the sale of their dead father's belongings. Like The Creation of the World and Other Business (1972), a "catastrophic comedy" about Adam, Eve, and original sin updated for modern times, the witty Up from Paradise (1974) treats characteristically grand themes in what was for Miller an uncharacteristically comedic and musical vein.
Taken together, the plays in this collection trace the remarkable, evolving range of Miller's genius as he experimented with new forms and themes. The American Clock (1974), based on Studs Terkel's Hard Times, offers a broad, stirring panorama of American life during the Depression years. By contrast, The Archbishop's Ceiling (1977)—set in an ornate apartment in eastern Europe that may or may not be bugged—is as intricately plotted and psychologically complex as a spy thriller. Playing for Time (1980), a groundbreaking teleplay based on a firsthand account by a Holocaust survivor, tells the story of the Women's Orchestra of Auschwitz. Also included are several shorter one-act plays and dramatic sketches—The Reason Why (1970, published here for the first time), Fame (1970), The Poosidin's Resignation (1976), I Think About You a Great Deal (1982), Elegy for a Lady (1982), and Some Kind of Love Story (1982).
A fifty-page selection of Miller's notes and essays on the plays—including a thoroughgoing critique of Method acting, never before published—rounds out the volume.
Tony Kushner, editor, is one of America's most acclaimed playwrights. He has won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama (for Angels in America: Millennium Approaches), two Tony Awards for Best Play, two Obie Awards, and two Drama Desk Awards; his screenplay for the film Munich was nominated for an Academy Award. Kushner's writings have appeared in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, The Nation, and The Advocate.
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我必须承认,这本书的结构设计堪称教科书级别的精妙。它巧妙地运用了多重时间线的交织和非线性叙事的手法,让故事的真相如同剥洋葱一般,层层递进,引人入胜。开篇看似平淡无奇的场景,实则埋下了无数的伏笔,那些看似无关紧要的物件、一句不经意的口头禅,到故事的后半段都会爆发出惊人的能量,将所有散落的线索完美地串联起来。作者的笔力强劲,尤其擅长在关键时刻设置转折点,每一次都出乎意料却又在情理之中,让人拍案叫绝。我甚至暂停下来,回溯前文,去研究那些铺垫是如何自然而然地引导到高潮部分的。这种精密的布局,体现了作者对叙事艺术近乎苛刻的追求。它考验着读者的专注力,但回报是极其丰厚的——一种完整而严谨的故事体验。与那些情节松散的作品相比,这本书的骨架极其坚实,每一个场景、每一个角色出现的目的性都无比明确,绝无冗余。阅读过程本身,就像是在解开一个极其复杂的机械装置,每一个齿轮的咬合都精准无误,令人心生敬畏。
评分从文学手法上看,这部作品无疑是极具实验性和先锋性的。作者似乎对传统戏剧性的表达方式有所不屑,转而采用了一种更为内敛、近乎意识流的表达方式来呈现角色的内心挣扎。大量的内心独白和潜意识的碎片信息被直接呈现在读者面前,这种处理方式极大地拓宽了叙事的边界。有时,一句未说完的话,一个突然中断的动作,比长篇大论的解释更具震撼力。它要求读者必须主动参与到意义的建构中去,去填补那些看似留白的空白处。这种处理方式带来的挑战是显而易见的,它使得阅读过程不再是线性的接收信息,而更像是在解读一份加密的档案。然而,一旦你适应了这种独特的“语境”,那种发现真相的快感是无可比拟的。这种对语言和结构边界的不断试探,使得这本书在文学史上拥有了独特的地位,它证明了文学可以不必遵循既有的舒适区,依然能达到深刻的艺术高度。对我个人而言,它拓宽了我对“故事如何被讲述”的认知边界,令人印象深刻。
评分这本书真正触动我的,是它对“责任的逃避”这一主题的深刻挖掘和无情拷问。它不只是讲述了一个关于失误或错误的个体故事,而是将这种逃避责任的行为提升到了哲学和道德的层面,探讨了现代人是如何在复杂的社会系统中,巧妙地将自己的过失合理化,最终导致自我放逐的悲剧。我看到角色们如何将重担一次次推给他人,如何用谎言编织出一张保护自己的茧,却不知那茧最终会变成囚笼。作者的笔调冷静到近乎冷酷,他没有对任何角色施予廉价的同情,而是客观地呈现了他们自我欺骗的全过程。这种不加粉饰的真实,让人在阅读时感到一种强烈的代入感和不安,因为我们都能在那些角色的身上,找到自己曾经或潜在的影子。这本书迫使你直面一个令人不适的问题:我们现在所拥有的一切,是否建立在对过去某种程度的背叛之上?它不是提供答案,而是提供了一种深刻的自我审视的机会,其冲击力是持久而深远的,绝非一读而过就能消散的。
评分这本书散发出的那种独特的时代气息和地域烙印,让我仿佛被瞬间传送到了特定的历史情境之中。作者对特定年代社会氛围的还原,细腻得令人发指,从人们的穿着打扮到日常交流中使用的特定俚语,都充满了浓厚的历史感和真实感。我能清晰地“看”到那种压抑的、充满禁忌和焦虑的社会环境是如何一步步挤压着人物的生存空间的。这种强烈的代入感,不仅仅依赖于对历史事件的描摹,更在于作者如何将宏大的历史背景熔铸于最微小的家庭互动之中。比如,经济萧条对一个家庭晚餐桌上气氛的影响,对父子关系微妙变化的作用,都被刻画得入木三分。我读着,脑海中不断浮现出20世纪中叶那种特有的光影和色彩,带着一丝怀旧的忧伤。这绝非简单的年代复刻,而是作者用文字构建了一个有呼吸、有温度的“过去”,让我们得以置身其中,去体验那种“身不由己”的宿命感。对于喜爱深度历史背景题材的读者来说,这本书无疑是一次绝佳的沉浸式体验,它让你在阅读故事的同时,也上了一堂生动的社会文化课。
评分这本书的叙事节奏像夏日午后的微风,舒缓却不失力量,引领着我沉浸在一个又一个错综复杂的人物内心世界。作者对于人性幽微之处的捕捉,简直令人叹为观止。那些看似不经意的对话,实则暗藏着时代的沉重与个体的挣扎。我尤其欣赏他笔下那种对“美国梦”的解构,不是直白的批判,而是通过一个个家庭的破碎、一次次理想的幻灭,让读者自己去体会那份巨大的落差与虚无感。读到某个角色为了维护虚假的尊严而付出的惨痛代价时,我几乎能感受到那种深入骨髓的无助与绝望。文字的密度很高,初读时可能需要放慢脚步,细细品味每一个用词的精准性,但一旦跟上了作者的呼吸,那种豁然开朗的体验是其他许多作品无法给予的。它不是那种能让人哈哈大笑的轻松读物,相反,它像一面打磨得极为精良的镜子,映照出社会结构中那些难以言说的裂痕。每一次重读,都会有新的感悟浮现,仿佛那份关于责任、关于欺骗的探讨,随着时间的推移,在我们生活的现实中不断获得新的注脚。这本书的伟大之处,或许就在于它的“永恒性”,它讨论的议题,无论时代如何变迁,总能击中人心的柔软处。
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