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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Hugely, magnificently funny. I saw a live production of this play on an education channel some years ago. It is totally anarchic and joyful.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Alfred Jarry is mostly remembered for his creating the infamous Pere Ubu (translated in this edition as "Papa Turd" for scatological effect)and for his science of imaginary solutions, 'Pataphysics. As 'Pataphysics seeks to disrupt the mechanisms of desire inherent in scientific knowledge, 'Ubu Roi' seeks to disrupt the illusionistic and narrative devices of the theatre (particularly the 'Realist' theatre prevailent at that time in Paris). As Jarry himself writes in his preface, "I have made all the cuts the actors wanted, even cutting several passages indispensible to the meaning and equilibrium of the play".
Based upon the stories that Jarry created with accomplices at school to debunk his blundering science teacher M Herbert, this is Jarry's easliest production; a nascent example of the absurdist humour and irreverant illogic that would shape most of his later writing.
Based upon the stories that Jarry created with accomplices at school to debunk his blundering science teacher M Herbert, this is Jarry's easliest production; a nascent example of the absurdist humour and irreverant illogic that would shape most of his later writing.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
8 reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Roll over Dover
5 July 2005
Format:Paperback
Silvermom's review of Ubu Roi on this site is misleading. It refers to the New Directions edition of the play, now unfortunately out of print. The Dover edition does not have the delightful line drawings, nor the added essays on theatre by Jarry. Also, I don't much care for Dover's gratuitous (and inaccurate) translation of "Ubu Roi" as "King Turd." On the other hand, as far as English translations go, Dover's is pretty much the only game in town. And Jarry's game is wonderfully worth playing, full of rambunctious anarchic high spirits. Just so you have a better idea of what you'll actually be getting.
9 of 12 people found the following review helpful
supremely funny and farcical
22 Aug 1999
Format:Paperback
Hugely, magnificently funny. I saw a live production of this play on an education channel some years ago. It is totally anarchic and joyful.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Not a worthwhile edition
16 Nov 2009
Format:Paperback
"Ubu Roi" is surely Jarry's most widely known work, and it is an excellent and fun read indeed. However, this edition on New Directions is, unfortunately, badly done.
The translation here is by Barbara Wright, who's translations (of Jarry, Queneau, and others) I generally enjoy. I'm sure this one is equally good, but it is difficult to tell. The entire text of "Ubu Roi" is presented here in hand-written form (scribbled is more like it), with a pen the size of a sharpie. Add to that inane drawings (not Jarry's) around and behind the text on every page. Not only is this very distracting, but some words are not really legible. If you try hard enough you can read it, but it is a very tedious process and completely takes away the fun of reading "Ubu Roi".
With that said, there are a few additional texts in this volume that are printed normally, and which are worthwhile. First is Barbara Wright's useful introduction, and at the end are two essays on the theatre by Jarry, as well as his "Song of Disembraining". The two essays can be found in the Methuen edition, but the "Song..." I have not seen in any other easily available Jarry volume.
I'd highly recommend that any interested reader avoid this edition and pay a few more dollars for the Methuen edition. The translation there (by Connolly and Taylor) is excellent, includes the two subsequent Ubu plays, and features a lengthy introduction and larger selection of Jarry's essays on the theatre.
The translation here is by Barbara Wright, who's translations (of Jarry, Queneau, and others) I generally enjoy. I'm sure this one is equally good, but it is difficult to tell. The entire text of "Ubu Roi" is presented here in hand-written form (scribbled is more like it), with a pen the size of a sharpie. Add to that inane drawings (not Jarry's) around and behind the text on every page. Not only is this very distracting, but some words are not really legible. If you try hard enough you can read it, but it is a very tedious process and completely takes away the fun of reading "Ubu Roi".
With that said, there are a few additional texts in this volume that are printed normally, and which are worthwhile. First is Barbara Wright's useful introduction, and at the end are two essays on the theatre by Jarry, as well as his "Song of Disembraining". The two essays can be found in the Methuen edition, but the "Song..." I have not seen in any other easily available Jarry volume.
I'd highly recommend that any interested reader avoid this edition and pay a few more dollars for the Methuen edition. The translation there (by Connolly and Taylor) is excellent, includes the two subsequent Ubu plays, and features a lengthy introduction and larger selection of Jarry's essays on the theatre.
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