- Paperback: 133 pages
- Publisher: Vintage Books; 1st Vintage International Ed edition (Aug 1995)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0679762809
- ISBN-13: 978-0679762805
- Product Dimensions: 13 x 1 x 20.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 829,824 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
 Trade In this Item for up to £2.40
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in The Stonemason: A Play in Five Acts (Vintage International) for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £2.40, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
From a writer hailed as an American original -- and the author of the national bestsellers All the Pretty Horses and The Crossing -- comes a taut, expansively imagined drama about four generations of an African American family.
The setting is Louisville, Kentucky, in the 1970s. The Telfairs are stonemasons and have been for generations. Ben Telfair has given up his education to apprentice himself to his grandfather, Papaw, a man who knows that "true masonry is not held together by cement but...by the warp of the world." Out of the love that binds these two men and the gulf that separates them from the Telfairs who have forsaken -- or dishonored -- the family trade, Cormac McCarthy has crafted a drama that bears all the hallmarks of his great fiction: precise observation of the physical world; language that has the bite of common speech and the force of Biblical prose; and a breathtaking command of the art of storytelling.
The setting is Louisville, Kentucky, in the 1970s. The Telfairs are stonemasons and have been for generations. Ben Telfair has given up his education to apprentice himself to his grandfather, Papaw, a man who knows that "true masonry is not held together by cement but...by the warp of the world." Out of the love that binds these two men and the gulf that separates them from the Telfairs who have forsaken -- or dishonored -- the family trade, Cormac McCarthy has crafted a drama that bears all the hallmarks of his great fiction: precise observation of the physical world; language that has the bite of common speech and the force of Biblical prose; and a breathtaking command of the art of storytelling.
Book Description
From the acclaimed author of All the Pretty Horses and The Crossing comes a profoundly moving drama set in Louisville, Kentucky in the 1970s, among four generations of a family of stonemasons. Ben Telfair admires and respects his grandfather Papaw for following their trade with a religious simplicity. However, Ben’s father has abandoned hand-hewn stonemasonry for building contract work, and his nephew Soldier is likewise immune to the old man’s guidance and wisdom. The stonemason’s trade is dying out, and the family’s unwillingness to preserve its truths has tragic consequences. The Stonemason reveals afresh the lyrical prose and mastery of character that distinguish Cormac McCarthy’s fiction. ‘Expertly constructed and limpidly written, the play triumphs in its presentation of Papaw, whose earthy wisdom McCarthy makes altogether credible’ Chicago Tribune ‘Mr McCarthy has the best kind of Southern style, one that fuses risky eloquence, intricate rhythms and dead-to-rights accuracy’ New York Times ‘McCarthy is a born storyteller, a writer of natural, impeccable dialogue, a literary child of Faulkner’ New Republic
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I don't usually read plays, but I bought this one because, after finishing _Cities of the Plain_, I had read all of Cormac McCarthy's novels and was hungry for more. I was not disappointed. McCarthy's genius is no less evident in _The Stonemason_ than in any of his longer works; if anything, the shorter format of drama allows him to pack even more of his brilliant writing into every page. Many authors are said to have "an ear for dialogue"; McCarthy is the only one I know, of whom this is unquestionably true. Perhaps this explains the effortlessness with which he switches between his usual milieu (novels about white cowboys and outlaws) to the material in this book (a play about black craftsmen). Any more praise I can give to this work, and to McCarthy's other writings, cannot convey the tremendous power -- the sadness and joy - that one experiences in reading them. I only hope he still has some more books left in him.
0 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
i am a huge fan of cormac mccarthy. HUGE. but in all honesty this was a stunningly dull read. solid but very stodgy when read in bed. maybe it works better on the stage but for anyone coming to this from his other books and looking for similar stimulation may find it hard work. one for serious students i'd say.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
6 reviews
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Faulkner pales
10 May 1998
Format:Paperback
This is one of the finest books I've ever read. I've heard McCarthy compared with William Faulkner, and perhaps without Faulkner, we wouldn't have McCarthy. But, nowhere in Faulkner, or any other writer, have I encountered such fearless and unencumbered writing; such clarity. It is barely noticable that it's written in play form. Ancient and completely familiar; the writing is just like the simplicity, weight and gravity of the stone he describes.
29 of 33 people found the following review helpful
Thank God for Cormac McCarthy
23 Jun 1998
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I don't usually read plays, but I bought this one because, after finishing _Cities of the Plain_, I had read all of Cormac McCarthy's novels and was hungry for more. I was not disappointed. McCarthy's genius is no less evident in _The Stonemason_ than in any of his longer works; if anything, the shorter format of drama allows him to pack even more of his brilliant writing into every page. Many authors are said to have "an ear for dialogue"; McCarthy is the only one I know, of whom this is unquestionably true. Perhaps this explains the effortlessness with which he switches between his usual milieu (novels about white cowboys and outlaws) to the material in this book (a play about black craftsmen). Any more praise I can give to this work, and to McCarthy's other writings, cannot convey the tremendous power -- the sadness and joy - that one experiences in reading them. I only hope he still has some more books left in him.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
One Good Play
3 Feb 2010
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I am always looking for new and contemporary stuff. This play fits the bill nicely. Cormac McCaarthy is one of my favorite authors and does not disappoint here. Very well done.
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
