Customer Reviews

Long Day's Journey into Night: Second Edition

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I am not one for reading very often except when my professors and teachers would assign the class books to read. I decided I would give this book a chance because it seemed small and was a play. I read this book from start to finish in a one day, and it was a wonderful piece of writing. The way the author depicted the family, was incredible. Each character had their own themes that affect the rest of the family. Mary is addicted to drugs and is still caught up with the death of her infant son Eugene which she blames on herself and James. The father Tyrone is very cheap and that played throughout the play whether it was not wanting to pay for his son's treatment or the measuring of the whiskey bottle before and after each drink.The oldest James deals with alcoholism and I believe a desire to have affection displayed toward him even though it is paid for. The youngest Edmund is sick with consumption and also battles with alcohol. Yet even though these themes cause the family to argue and fight often you still feel a sense of loyalty to each other. As the reader you want this family to pull though this dark time. We want Edmund to be able to get cured of his sickness and be healthy again, which will in turn help Mary over come her problem once again. But for that to happen we need Tyrone to pay some extra money for some quality help for his son and we would like James to succeed in acting and stop spending all his money. With this book being written sometime ago, it flows very well and is not hard to read at all. The language spoken between the family is easy to pick up on and before you know it, you're caught up in the book, as if you were a part of the family as well.

Convinced by my computer teacher to read this play, I checked it out in the library and read it in within days. The result: A very dissatisfied reader.

Something like this won the Pulitzer Prize? If any of his plays should have won it (which a couple of them did), it should have been All God's Chillun Got Wings, not this pointless play.

The family in this play was MUCH too dysfunctional. All they did all day (which the whole play was in one day) was argue and argue and argue. And when at times it seemed as if the arguing would end, one of the four characters said something that would spark up a new argument.

Woe be to my computer teacher for suggesting me this book, for it bore me into tears.

Why, pray tell, is this play so revered? It is
the most boring, over-hyped, and predictable play
I have ever encountered. If you don't know everything that will happen by page five,
there is something seriously wrong with you. If
it were written particularly well, I could give it
some slack--but, REALLY! Save your money and read
some Tennessee Williams, who really IS America's
greatest playwrite.

Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night, is a deeply profound analysis of human nature. It is honest, true, and heart wrenching. This is an amazing piece of literature; however, one cannot call this play enjoyable. Its painful emotions and honest brutality suppress any signs of joy. The honesty of the play is realistic, as it is an autobiographical account of O'Neill and his family. He presented the play to his third wife, Carlotta, and asked the play not to be released until 25 years after his death. Despite this wish, three years after his death, his wife released this play to be published.

This four act play takes place over a single day. Figuratively and literally the play begins emerging from the fog, and then descends into the fog at the end. The setting takes place in the summer 'home', where the Tyrone family as retired for a few months. James Tyrone, the father continuously acts as if the family is one step away from the poor house, even though they are far from - he is unable to escape his past that is shrouded by poverty. His wife, Mary returned home from the Sanatorium two months previous, and their two sons Jamie and Edmund are present.

This family is utterly dysfunctional despite all their best efforts. James, an alcoholic, with two sons following his example and a 'dope fiend' mother who is addicted to morphine coexist in a world where things are never perfect. The story revolves around Edmund's illness. He is clearly in the early stages of tuberculosis, but he is awaiting the diagnosis from the family's third rate doctor. His mother continues totry and live in the delusion that Edmund is suffering from a 'summer cold'. As the youngest son, Edmund's health issues become more apparent so do the family issues. Mary starts using again, and all three men end up attempting to drink away their problems.

This play is magnificently written. O'Neill has managed to deeply develop not one, but four characters. Each character has believable dialogue and important roles in the family dynamics. Revelations are made along with accusations and forgiveness. O'Neill won a Pulitzer for this piece of literature, and I believe it was totally deserved.

Hopelessness accompanies the ever-existing thick fog in Eugene O'Neill's dark play A Long Day's Journey into Night. The difficult task of enduring the unfortunate plot of this play is painfully draining to bare in a single sitting, for it is far too depressing. Eugene O'Neill's play tells the story of a desperately dysfunctional family, where there is no hope of a happy ending. This family has four pathetic members: Mary, the dope-fiend mother, Tyrone, the cheap alcoholic father, and Edmund and Jamie, the alcoholic sons. The play takes place through the course of one day; many issues and events are revealed, portraying the severity of this family's hopeless future. On this day the mother ends up relapsing after being clean from morphine for two months, the youngest son Edmund is diagnosed with the disease of consumption, and Jamie the eldest son and Edmund's role model ends up revealing his internal hatred for his family. It is frustrating to follow this emotional rollercoaster of a play, because the family is at constant war with one another over past mistakes, criticizing and attacking each other's misfortunes. Their conversations are hot and cold, from expressing their unconditional love for one another to emotionally slaughtering one another. The saddest part of the play is the situation with the mother. Her addiction slowly takes over, and in the end she is completely gone. Up until that point she is in a pool of self pity and resentment towards life. The aura of the play is deathly devastating and dark, presenting an impossible solution for happiness, not to mention hope.

Eugene O'Neill's beautifully structured autobiographical play Long Day's Journey into Night is a repugnant yet compelling portrait of a family torn apart by addiction, blame, loss of faith, and inability to change. All the Tyrones have their own personal demons: James is inconsiderate and tightfisted, Mary is addicted to morphine, Jamie is cynically irresponsible, and Edmund lacks faith in his world. Their interactions serve to accent the worst in each other, yet bring to light some important themes. In this play, O'Neill deals with addiction to alcohol and painkillers, at a point in time before such afflictions were ever acknowledged. He also points out the human inclination to pass the blame, if only to avoid the pain that taking responsibility for one's own mistakes causes. The characters do not know whom to blame their misfortunes on, and, instead of making strong attempts to resolve the issues, settle for bitterly losing faith in their religion and themselves. Throughout the play, the family doesn't change for the better at all; they are stuck in the same old ruts that they have plainly been in for a long time.
Though reading this dark, disheartening play may seem somewhat masochistic, it is difficult to put down. O'Neill creates characters that, though inherently flawed, are also intrinsically likeable. James' hard work and ambition, Mary's charming playfulness, Jamie's obvious care for his brother, and Edmund's poetic talents are easy to enjoy and admire. Because these characters have depth, it is hard to not care about them, and it is that much more irresistible to find out what happens to them.
The story flows through four acts elegantly spaced throughout the day, offering brief vignettes of life that are so insightful into the workings of this family. This natural steady progression of events prevents the play from becoming overlong while maintaining enough detail to create well-rounded characters. It is these details that draw the reader into the story, creating a dispiriting yet fascinating play.

Rarely do I read a piece of writing that leaves me reflecting hours after I've finished its last pages. There was something about Eugene O'Neil's Long Days Journey into Night that touched me somehow. The similarity between the characters in this play and the life of the author himself brings something real and honest to this work. Written in 1940, O'Neil goes against the social ideals of the time and openly addresses serious issues that were rarely spoken about in public, let alone in the dramatic arts.
At first, I wasn't fazed at all by the relationship between the characters. At the beginning of the play, Mary, the central female character of the play is seen teasing her husband about the resemblance between a foghorn and his snoring. But, I couldn't help but be taken aback and impressed by O'Neil's lack of hesitation as he shows the crumbling state of the family beneath the exterior. Tyrone and both his sons seem to have a drinking problem, and we later find out that Mary has a severe addiction to morphine.
Furthermore, I was impressed at how O'Neil was able to show the faults of his characters without demonizing them. Tyrone is frequently accused of being stingy by his wife and sons, yet O'Neil outlines his background in order to establish some sympathy. Tyrone doesn't want to hurt anyone but fears the possibility of ending up in a poor house.
Some might criticize this piece because of the constant bickering and over dramatization of the characters. But, in analysing one's own family, you can't help but acknowledge how constant conflict is among those sharing a household. Who doesn't yell at their mother and father and then move on to discuss something menial and harmless five minutes later? All in all, a person has to admire O'Neil for his frankness and acknowledgement that every family has its faults.

O'Neil wrote his famous play Long Day's Journey into Night for his wife on their twelfth anniversary. O'Neill's Pulitzer Prize winning play takes a glimpse into a dysfunctional family; which is reflective of O'Neil's own childhood household. O'Neil's father was a Broadway actor and his mother also disliked Broadway similar to both the mother Mary and father Tyrone. The character Edmund mirrors O'Neil himself who also experienced tuberculosis. Unfortunately, O'Neil would never encounter the success, which this play would receive as it was not revealed until his death upon O'Neil's personal request.
This modern tragedy follows the characters Tyrone, Mary, James and Edmund in their summer home in 1912. The audience is taken through a full day in the Tyrone family within the four acts (morning, afternoon, evening and night). Each character seems to hold their own set of problems; the plot primarily follows the illness of Edmund and Mary's addiction, with the addition of the alcoholism of all three men. Throughout the day each family member engages in verbal fights usually pertaining to the past, whether it be Tyrone refusing to pay for proper health care or Jaime's and Edmund's lack of success. At the end of this play the family is together, Mary in an unsound state and the men all on the verge of passing out due to the heavy alcohol consumption
I find the repetitiveness of the plot reinforces the moral that the present is bound to be a constant reenactment of the past, if the past is never resolved. I found the characters and setting to not be complex, but the simplicity was not a weakness it merely added to the moral of the play. The play does have a negative feel to it, though the reader doesn't feel bad for one particular character. This play is an easy enjoyable read that I would recommend.

Every story is autobiographical in some way. This is exceedingly true for Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night. O'Neill's heartbreaking story of a dysfunctional family in denial of their reality has many parallels to the life of O'Neill himself. In fact, O'Neill did not wish for the play to be published until 25 years after his death, as the story was so real not only to himself, but to his family as well. O'Neill's mother was a morphine addict and his father an actor in his early years. The fact that O'Neill's character Mary is a morphine addict, and the character (Mary's husband) Tyrone is a former actor, is not merely coincidence. In addition, the characters Jamie and Edmund bear similarities to Eugene and his brothers.

The play takes place in one room of one house, and in the time span of one day. Although little takes place in the case of events, it is an extremely significant day in the lives of the characters. The characters in this play are well developed, easy to relate to, and bring an amazing depth to the story. The story itself shows a darker side of life, one not often discussed or acknowledged openly in society, even today. An emotional response is almost unavoidable when reading the play as Mary transitions from recovery from her addiction to morphine to a relapse. Her family struggles at first to deny the fact of the relapse, which is not too difficult as Mary herself will not admit it, but by the end of the day, they realize that it cannot be ignored, and so endeavor to cope with their situation. Ironically enough, Mary's husband and her sons deal with her extreme intoxication by becoming intoxicated themselves. The irony of the situation is disturbing, yet true to human nature.

Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night is an honest, realistic, thought provoking, play. With its failures for characters, its hovel for a setting, and its uneventful plot, this play is absolutely enthralling. Rightfully a classic to be read for years to come, Long Day's Journey into Night, will be understood and identified with by many generations.

There is nothing darker, or more secret than the mind and heart of each individual. Close family members are like a group of linked secrets moving together, or apart. Eugene O'Neill sends us spiraling down into the depths of terror and tragedy, with the Tyrone family, in his play A Long Day's Journey Into Night. The four act play takes place in the Tyrone's summer home during the span of a day. O'Neill perfectly captures each family member's dysfunctional emotional failures and attempts at reconciliation with each other and themselves. A truly tragic situation; the mother, Mary, is addicted to dope and her husband and two sons are alcoholics. For two months Mary has remained clean, but her family's suspicion and her youngest son, Edmund's, deteriorating health push her over the brink. A main theme within A Long Day's Journey Into Night, is that of human willpower or the lack thereof. Everyone believes Mary only needs willpower to overcome her addiction; however, all she really needs is a real family. A Long Day's Journey Into Night is a dark, sinister play, but in a way, O'Neill's portrayal of this family's disintegration is a beautiful spectacle of human nature. O'Neill brings the fear, failure, guilt, hate and love of an entire family into 4 short acts. Throughout the play the characters are splintered into smaller groups and are rarely all together; nevertheless, at the end of the night the family is united in despair. A Long Day's Journey Into Night is an excellent play that is well written and emotionally moving.