Drop Down Menu

Thursday, July 14, 2022

Arms and the Man by Bernard Shaw

Title: Arms and the Man (play)

Author: George Bernard Shaw (Irish, 1856-1950)
Originally published: 1894
Page count: 71

Dates read:
6/4/22-6/1/22
2022 book goal progress: 16 out of 21

Back to the Classics category: x
Mindful Readers' Family Bookclub 
genre/theme: July - Romance


Read my other book reviews for
my 2022 goals HERE.


Description on back of book:
One of Bernard Shaw's most glittering comedies, Arms and the Man is a burlesque of Victorian attitudes to heroism, war, and empire. In the contrast between Bluntschli, the mercenary soldier, and the brave leader, Sergius, the true nature of valor is revealed.

First line:
CATHERINE [entering hastily, full of good news] Raina! [She pronounces it Rah-eena, with the stress on the ee] Raina! [She goes to the bed, expecting to find Raina there]. Why, where - ? [Raina looks into the room]. Heavens child! are you out in the night air instead of in your bed? You'll catch your death. Louka told me you were asleep.

CAWPILE Rating: Overall - 5/10 - ⭐⭐⭐/5
Characters      - 6
Atmosphere   - 5
Writing Style - 4
Plot                - 5
Intrigue          - 6
Logic             - 4
Enjoyment     - 5
What is a CAWPILE Rating?

Review:
Overall, I found this play to be meh. I didn't find it particularly funny, but maybe it'd be different if I saw it performed. I enjoyed the Don Quixote references. I tried reading the other 3 plays in Shaw's collection of Plays Pleasant, but I just couldn't get into them.

Now I'm off to read another book... but since a review should be more about the author of the book than about the writer of the blog, I will let Shaw have the last words:

"He did it like an operatic tenor. A regular handsome fellow, with flashing eyes and lovely mustache, shouting his war-cry and charging like Don Quixote at the windmills. We did laugh."

No comments:

Post a Comment