Tom Stoppard: A Faber Critical Guide: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Jumpers, Travesties, Arcadia

by Jim Hunter

For well over thirty years, Tom Stoppard has consistently held his position as one of England's most admired dramatists. And for this edition of Faber Critical Guides , Jim Hunter examines four of Stoppard's finest works in the context of his entire oeuvre. Hunter writes, "Stoppard's plays present a unique interplay between fun today and the most basic and serious challenges to human understanding. He writes jokes and comic routines; but at the same time he is also writing about moral responsibility, about goodness, and about our scientific, mathematical, or philosophical understanding of reality.

Genres: Theatre, Reference, Nonfiction, Plays

256 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 28, 2000

Reviews

[Alec · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I was living in Alberta, this book magically appeared on the shelves of __?__ bookstore and I had exactly enough money to buy it. But then I wanted to go to the Black Dog to read it that morning, and I was broke. So I went out on the street and begged strangers for the money to buy a beer to drink with my book, and one guy goes "Well, how could I turn that down?" and he gave me enough for two beers. Hat tip, buddy; may you have escaped Edmonton!

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are no astonishing insights in here; it's an introduction to Stoppard criticism at best. Even the line annotations are uninspired. Worth reading, but I'm probably going to follow it up with some articles from more sophisticated critics that go more in-depth.

[Lee Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book helped understand what is going in the play "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead." I didn't read the rest of the book.