Considered one of the outstanding Spanish dramas of all time, this 17th-century allegory explores the mysteries of human destiny, the illusory nature of existence, and the struggle between predestination and free will.
Life Is a Dream (Dover Thrift Editions)
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I have read about twelve of [Calderon's] plays; some of them certainly deserve to be ranked among the grandest and most perfect productions of the human mind. He exceeds all modern dramatists with the exception of Shakespeare. (Percy Bysshe Shelley)
About the Author
Pedro Calderon de la Barca (1600–1681), Spanish dramatist, last important figure of the Spanish Golden Age. His more than 100 plays were carefully contrived, subtle, and rhetorical. His finest work is in his more than 70 autos sacramentales (one-act religious plays), among them El divino Orfeo and A Dios por razón de estado [to God for reasons of state]. Of his philosophical dramas the best known are El mágico prodigioso [the wonderful magician] and La vida es sueño [life is a dream], which deals with the themes of fate, prognostication, and free will.
Gragary J. Racz is associate professor in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literature at Long Island University, Brooklyn. His translation of the mock-Renaissance farce Rigmaroles appeared in Three Comedies, his edited volume of plays by the contemporary Spanish dramatist Jaime Salom. Racz has published works by the Cuban writer Jose Lezama Lima, the Peruvian Eduardo Chirinos, and the Argentine experimental XUL group.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By C. Butler
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
What a beautiful play. Spanish baroque at its height. All about free will versus the Calvinist dogma of predestination. Mixed with Renaissance politics. (Students of Philip Sidney should read this!) I'd love to see an expressionist production in a gorgeous old theatre!
The translation, while very easy to read, is slightly too "modern" in tone, at least that's how it seems to me (though I haven't read the Spanish original). And the notes at the back are very superficial. Some things are explained which don't need to be, for the average reader, while other things are not explained which might benefit from a little glossing. The introduction is ok, but short. However, there's an excellent list of critical texts for further reading.
The translation, while very easy to read, is slightly too "modern" in tone, at least that's how it seems to me (though I haven't read the Spanish original). And the notes at the back are very superficial. Some things are explained which don't need to be, for the average reader, while other things are not explained which might benefit from a little glossing. The introduction is ok, but short. However, there's an excellent list of critical texts for further reading.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By A Boulton
Format:Paperback
This book was well written and a wonderful insite to the mind of a playwright who's play has survived to date and being played in the London Theatre scene.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
For me, Calderon was a great discover. First book of spanish literature I read, really innocent reader, I realised how big his influence had been on world literature. His powerful way of writing and using words, although at the same time it s very synthetic, quick to read, goes straight to the heart of the subject, but leads you also in a fantastic world, the real world but dreamt...The great escape. To read.
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