Splendor in the Grass

by F. Andrew Leslie, William Inge (Adapted from the screenplay by)

F. Andrew Leslie, adapted from the screenplay by William Inge, Inge, William, Leslie, F. Andrew

Genres: Plays, Fiction, Classics, Drama, Romance, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction

72 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1966

Reviews

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The place is a lonely clearing by a river in eastern Kansas, the time the late 1920's. They, a boy and a girl, embrace wordlessly, but ardently, holding close in the heavy, dark silence."

That's how the play sets the stage with the powerful love connection between a sweet, innocent and poor little Wilma Dean and the handsome star athlete Bud, son of the richest man in town....the catch of a lifetime....who has a menacing sister dipict as a trollop.

The story is one of a frustrating, painful love that turns the beautiful Wilma Dean into an emotional mess, and is kind of corny actually until you factor in the time and the place where we experience prohibition, see the deadly after effects of the stock market crash, and hear about the workings of Freud.

Readers: Do refrain from reading the back of the book as it gives near everything away.

UPDATE: August 11, 2019 - In the 1961 movie, Natalie Wood (she sure was pretty) portrays the hurt and bewildered Wilma Dean to Warren Beatty's sexually frustrated male lead that ultimately leads us to their brief and strangely quiet final encounter.

Movie ends with words from Wordsworth's "Imitation of Immortality"...."Though nothing can bring back the hour / Of splendor in the grass, glory in the flower / We will grieve not; rather find / Strength in what remains behind."

3.5 Stars overall for me. Movie is better!

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 or 4 stars, I can't decide. I think I liked the movie better, but I'm glad I read this adaptation. A presentation of a vanished approach to sex and morality, but it certainly was real at the time. The repression of that era scares me, how people can utterly deny their natures in pursuit of acceptance. The internal price you must pay for such acceptance cannot be worth it.

[Roxanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most influential movie at a tender age. Great grit of the times coupled with forbidden love.

[Mary]

I love the movie but have never been able to see the entire thing so I looked to see if there was a book and found this one at the library. I didn't realize that this was a play adaption from the movie until I got it but I still loved the play The play filled in a few holes that I had missed in the movie. I think I may to try and purchase my own copy of the movie.

[Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this work is an excellent examination of what happens when adults live through their children, restrict their growth into their own being and make them feel wrong/dirty for having natural human desires.

[Kirsten Lawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just getting into older/classics. I really enjoyed this book. It has lots of underlying themes. There were moments when I was able to identify with the parents and their motives, and other instances when I was identifying with the kids.

[SmarterLilac · Rating 4 out of 5]

Terrific book, possibly the modern classic on teen angst and sexual trauma.

[Susan]

Recommend the movie as well.

[Kayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this because I'm playing Angelina in our upcoming play in town :) Its a good but super sad story. It's not necessarily my cup of tea, but all in all not a bad story!

[Yeya Vitalis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is actually how I first read about sex and heart break, still a stunning read,

[Joy H.]

Added 4/28/17 (first published October 1st 1961)
Adapted to film:
"Splendor in the Grass" (1961)
Stars: Natalie Wood, Warren Beatty
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055471/?...
"A fragile Kansas girl's love for a handsome young man from the town's most powerful family drives her to heartbreak and madness."

"Splendor in the Grass" was Warren Beatty's film debut.

Awards for the film: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055471/a...

[tenderfoot]

(As far as I understand it, this particular stage version was written by Andrew Leslie from Inge's screenplay.)

[Anina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is so early 60's and pretty funny and you just picture warren beatty saying all these corny things though i haven't seen the movie version!

[Raymond Bial · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very poignant play and character study about a high school couple whose young love is destroyed by the the boy's father and the girl's mother.

[Jodell · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was the play not the book so of course movie was better than reading a play

[Madame Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

A play about the intensity of young love in 1920s Kansas.

[Marsha Carol Watson Gandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story opens just prior to the start of THE GREAT DEPRESSION. It is the story of teenage love---and all of us have been young....No matter what our ages are now---WE WILL NEVER FORGET THOSE YEARS---whether they were wonderful and ended in somewhat of a "fairy tale"---or we got our hearts broken---and carried that brokenness throughout the rest of our lives.

Many of us had high school romances....some actually lasted and ended in marriages that worked! But far too many did not make it---and left permanent scars that we will carry with us as along as we live in this life.

Deannie was a sweet, innocent teenager from a regular family....Bud was from a Wealthy Family. Bud's father was "filled to the brim" with Pride and Arrogance. Bud was "a Jock"---and all of the girls wanted to date Bud---but Bud really liked Deannie A LOT!---AND Deannie really like Bud A LOT!!! Bud's father thought that Deannie was not good enough for Bud....Her family was not a member of the "UPPER CRUST FAMILIES IN TOWN."

Bud and Deannie dated---and their feelings grew into a special relationship between them....When we reach our teen years---our hormones begin "to come alive." THEY ARE NOT ALWAYS EASY TO HANDLE....But Deannie was a nice girl---a good girl....not wild like some in her class.

Bud was beginning to become "sexually frustrated"---and did not know how to handles his frustrations....So he talked to his father about it....

Bud's father was a bit of a "dirty ole' man" and he decided that he would handle Bud's frustrations by setting Bud up with "a young woman who knew how to handle things......."

Bud did not want to have any part of this.....nevertheless---it eventually happened, and Bud began looking for those kinds of girls. Deannie was BROKEN!!!! Bud was not dating her anymore....he was dating "those kinds"---and Deannie decided she would have to become one of "those kinds" if she was to get Bud back......she loved Bud so................

The Big Prom Came---and Deannie---out of desperation---got into the car with a guy who drove her out to the LOVERS LANE PARKING PLACE.....Deannie could not go through with the "ACT." She jumped out of the car and ran away.

Much happened.....Deannie had a COMPLETE NERVOUS BREAKDOWN---and ended up having to go to a sanitarium for treatment.

The Great Depression hit and Bud's father lost all of his money and possessions and ended his life. Now Bud was just a poor boy.......................

While Deannie was in the sanitarium, she met a really good young man and they became very close...BUT Bud was always in Deannie's mind and heart.

When Deannie got out of the sanitarium and got back home---she found out that Bud had married and lived on the only thing that was left of his father's holdings---a small farm and very primitive living conditions.

Deannie told her closest friends to please take her to see Bud....she had to see him just one more time to get her head "screwed on right"---so she could get on with her life. (The young man that she met at the sanitarium had become successful, and he had asked Deannie to marry him.)

Deannie's friends drove her out to Bud's little farm. She got out and walked the distance until she saw Bud.....He was not "the Jock" anymore.....he was just a young man who had a wife and a young child....and he and his wife were expecting anything child very soon.

Bud took her into his little house and introduced Deannie to his wife. She was sweet and kind to Deannie and Bud seemed to be happy with her.

At this point---Deannie leaves Bud's little house---and is able to put Bud in her past FINALLY---AND NOT IN HER FUTURE. Deannie is Finally able to move on with her life and she marries the young man that she met at the sanitarium......

THINGS HAPPEN IN EACH OF OUR LIVES---NO ONE IS IMMUNE FROM THE HEARTACHES OF YOUNG LOVE---AND HOW IT AFFECTS US......WE HAVE TO DO WHAT WE HAVE TO DO TO GET OUR LIVES "SORTED OUT" SO THAT WE CAN MOVE ON.......

DEANNIE MOVED ON..............................

[Nicholas Alexander · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the stage version based on the screenplay for the 1961 film starring Natalie Wood as Deanie Loomis and Warren Beatty(in his debut) as Bud Stamper. It tells the story of a rich boy in love with a poor girl. His father wants him to go to Yale and study business but he wants to marry Deanie and study agriculture. His father persuades him to play around with 'easy' girls and put his desire to marry Deanie on hold until after college. This leads him to a life of freedom that eventually drives Deanie mad. This is a wonderful work of period drama displaying powerful themes of sexual desire and teenage; love, class and family relationships; gender and class stereotype; masculine vs feminine identity and expectations; parental expectations and roles; wealth, misery, hypocrisy and morality. The play has a surreal, dream mode to it, shown in the fusion and change of scenes within scenes and acts without established, traditional breaks. The title is an allusion to Wordsworth's poem "Intimations to Immortality" which is actually studied in Deanie's class and which she, ironically, analyzes correctly as meaning: 'when we're young we look at things very idealistically...that someday we have to forget the ideals of youth and find strength...'. She doesn't learn to live out the lesson until years later when she sees Bud again after their lives have gone in different directions.

[Dogbite Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just saw the excellent movie which I would rate an "8." I must take issue with Goodreads description of the screenplay which I have not read. The capsule description tells the entire story; it is basically all spoilers and should be amended.