Customer Reviews

Our Town Classic Ed

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

When I first learned that I would be required to read "Our Town" as a part of a required reading assignment for English class, I didn't think that I was going to like it. As Wilder begins the play, the reader immediately notices that there is almost no action, suspense, characterization, or setting. The play is all about universality -- Wilder's lack of literary elements is actually a subliminal attempt to communicate the play's theme to everyone who reads it. The first act is a narrative of everyday events in a small New Hampshire town; Wilder titles this act "daily life" because it focuses on the monotony of trivial affairs. The second act is called "love and marriage," which discusses the process in which two people fall in love. The final act is based on "death" and it sums up the first two acts by casting them against the fact that everyone will die someday.

The main theme that Wilder tries to convey is that even the most insignificant, unimportant things in life need to be appreciated. The protagonist asks in the final act, "Do human beings ever realize life while they live it? Every, every minute?" The answer, of course, is 'no.' We all tend to rush through life like it is a giant marathon, and all too often, we trample on other people along the way. Also in the final act, the protagonist wishes that she would have been nicer to people while she had the chance; she wishes that she would've let the other characters know how much she loved and appreciated them. In writing this drama, Wilder wants to tell us that we should all live our lives to the fullest; we should take time every day to give thanks for all that we have; we should always tell our friends and family just how much they mean to us -- we can only do these things while we're living, and none of us know exactly how much longer that will be. Reading this play has really given me a "wake up call" and has allowed me to cherish everyday, ordinary things like the beauty of nature. I felt that the play was, in retrospect, brilliantly written, brief, and poignant. I recommend this play to everyone because it teaches a message that we all need to remember -- take time to savor the simple things, because they often carry the greatest rewards.

Our Town showed me a warm conforting town where everyone was like family. It reminds me of the good things in life and how easy it is for that to change over time. Our Town was a magnificent book, with great descriptions. I like acting out along with it and I could always picture what the scene looked like. Thorton Wilder captured life and love in Our Town. I reccomend this book for ages 10 and up. Our Town will be a great read. I hope everyone gets a chance to read it just as I did.

Superficially a folksy, American nostalgia piece, "Our Town" spans the first thirteen years of the twentieth century in the life of Grover's Corners, a small village in rural New Hampshire. It's the archetypal town of the American Mythology. A place where the names on the oldest gravestones are the same as those of the townspeople today. Where the doctor delivers twins before breakfast, and is home in time to shoot the breeze with the paperboy. Where the kids share an ice-cream soda, their mothers sing in the church choir, and a girl grows up and really does marry the boy nextdoor. The play's fond recollection of an America that never existed was nostalgic even in 1938, yet Wilder's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama became an instant classic and remains one of America's most loved and frequently performed plays. America today is the shambles of a destroyed hope, the stillborn ruins of the way of life "Our Town" imagines but which in reality was never achieved. For those immune to the appeals of the American Dream, or more familiar with the reality of the American Global Empire, the play may seem deliciously rich in unintended irony. You could be forgiven for thinking the American preference for escapist, self-aggrandizing fantasy might account for its enduring appeal. Yet you would be wrong. Scratch the surface and "Our Town" is no quaint tale of hayseed family life. Wilder was an intellectual, an admirer of the avant-garde and the experimental works of James Joyce. Steadfastly minimalist in its presentation, engagingly postmodern in its insistence that we see the cast as actors rather than characters, and more thematically challenging than we are initially led to expect, "Our Town" is a work of social criticism which indicts us with personal responsibility for the way we see our lives. Wilder turns our nostalgia against us, demolishing our vision of the past as a Golden Age, and demanding we live here and now, simply and fully. The play shows ordinary lives in pursuit of universal meaning, and by confronting us with our own mortality it challenges us to explore our small allotment of years in the same way. This isn't so much a play of memories as a play about memory - private and public. It evokes nostalgia to warn against it, and argues instead for an acceptance of transience, a celebration of life while it is lived, and a recognition of that small, unknowable fragment of the self that is eternal. It's with this universalizing, evident in the final act, that "Our Town" transcends twentieth-century America and becomes an enduringly relevant work of art - one about memory, fantasy, and the power and price of both.

Like many other people who have read this (and loved it!), it was required. Actually, we were required to watch a filmed stage version of it - starring Paul Newman as the Stage Manager. I found it very difficult to watch. I was, along with many other students, very bored watching that production. So, I decided to just read the play. (Reading the play was not required.) It was nothing short of fantastic and amazing.

I'm not the kind of person who reads plays and enjoys them. But OUR TOWN read almost like a very reader-friendly novel. And its themes of birth, life, and death have a tendency to reach out and grab the reader like few books I have ever come across. I will definitely be reading this again.

This beloved classic and most frequently performed of Wilder's dramatic works still charms and captivates--despite the decades since its first production in 1938. A simple story, kaleidescopic time (both between and within Acts), basic family values and the modest joys of small town life are the literary elements offered to readers and theatre-goers. Scorning nobles and tradionally heroic figures, Wilder presents ordinary people in the early 20th century--a kinder, gentler time when horses

were being phased out in favor of automobiles. But writers will always cherish the natural progression of the seasons of human existence.

Why are audiences fascinated by the normal,
typical routine in rural New England; what explains the
timeless appeal of this simply-plotted story in three acts: Daily Life, Marriage, Death and Aftermath. Perhaps we are
haunted by the way the Dead (characters in Act 3) speak about and feel for the Living. Do the residents of the graveyard on the hill reveal painful truths about human life and asperations on earth? Why do the Dead mock those still living as blind and ignorant? What are they patiently, quietly waiting for in their
peaceful plots? Is Life just a waste of time, a farce during which we fool ourselves into believing in our own importance?
This tale of Americana belongs to all people, regardless of national origin--by virtue of its poignant insight into the human heart.

I first saw this play acted out by my high school's drama class...and I loved it. I read the play earlier this year...and loved it again. It's set in Grover's Corners, New Hampshire, and the "stage manager" (narrator) gives you the details of the character's lives. I was glued to this book the entire time...I even cried at the end. Even if you don't like to read plays this is a good one to read. Not only is it one of those books that everyone thinks you should read, it's a good story. I would reccomend this to every high school student who is looking for a break from all the other "literature" we're expected to read, and to everyone else who is just looking for a fairly short, but inspiring read.

Thorton Wilder's Our Town is an excellent play for adult and young adult reading. Wilder uses a stage manager to set each scene. He speaks directly to the audience or the reader, helping the reader relate to the story more easily. The stage manager does an excellent job of being descriptive and giving the reader a detailed image of the small town of Grover's Corner, New Hampshire. Our Town is the story of the lives of the citizens of Grover's Corner. The main focus is on the lives of the Gibbs family and the Webb family. The reader experiences the death of family, new life, marriage, and everyday love. This book is a short, simple read that I would recommend reading.

This book was not a life chaging mark. It did not have any solid foundation to grab you and make you want to read more. There is no main conflict. However, it is not the most hideous book to read so I give it two stars instead of one. The whole time I read it I wondered, "what is the main plot?" The main quote that is supposed to show the meaning of life was just depressing. The book is short so an english teacher could have found a much worse assignment.

This play is one of my all time favorites. I enjoy watching it performed, and I also love just reading it. Some of the messages in this story are subtle, a younger person not used to a simpler time could miss them. (Which is precisely why they should read this) I can't say enough good things about this book. The story is tender, sad, reflective and touching.

The play Our Town is a fantastic book full of conflict and adventure. It teaches its readers about life and what to do in certain situations. Thorton Wilder did a great job in conducting this play. I had it on one of my summer reading lists for my school and I absolutely adored it. Our Town definately deserves to be preserved over time because it teaches people much about the past.