|
|
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A truly magnificent read for people of all ages., 27 Sep 2000
I thought the book exceptionally well written, especially as it is based as a childrens play. The author writes with such a success that children and adults alike can enjoy. The play opens with the family sat around the dinner table and immediately you are pictured with a family who it is quite obvious that how they 'look' means everything to them. Immediately you learn who each member of the family is and get to know a little about their character, warming to them all. Mr Birling is a man who most definitely likes the sound of his own voice and he is full of his own self importance and rates sucess solely on finances.However with most characters who are a trite self indulging, one normally becomes bored quite quickly, this is not the case with Mr Birling, his tales are amusing and actually very entertaining. Sat around the table we are allowed to see a little of each person, being able to share in the celebration of the engagement between Gerald and Sheila. The story rapidly moves up a gear when Inspector Gool arrives, holding me entrapped in his amazing authorative line of questioning. It is wonderful to read; you can almost picture the looks on the faces of everyone concerned, which is them all. It draws you in, as if one is watching the play for real, not reading a book. The whole book has you gripped, not wanting to put it down, needing to know who the 'girl' really was. Having it suddenly dawn that not one member is guilty, but they all are. Without even realising it the tale unfolds from their very lips, the inspector is merely a spectator. It is interesting to see the way the play develops, the way each person deals with their own guilt and feelings. The play has a remarkeable twist which may be picked up by the reader just before it is realised by the characters. The ending of this play, leaves you sat there repeating those final words over and over again; makes you go back within the book to re-read certain parts. The book is very clever in the sense that it has one thinking about the way the story dealt with feelings, how when the characters were beginning to act selfishly once more, it really all did come pouring down on them and that this time there really would be no escape. Has one wondering that maybe, just maybe, if acceptance for actions were more forthcoming would the ending be different and isn't it a lesson to us all. It deals with a lot of social, moral and personal issues that I believe every reader will in some respect be able to identify with. A book written perhaps with the thought in mind of provoking 'people' to challenge their own positions and feelings. This is a book that will never die and will always have a place on my bookshelf.
|
by J B Priestley
by John Scicluna
by John Steinbeck
by Richard Parsons
by Educational expert
