The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-In-The-Moon Marigolds

Rating:
Summary: This one's a keeper
Review: I can't say enough about this gem of a play by the extremely talented Paul Zindel. It is one of my favorite books of all time. If you grew up reading his novels, as I did, then you know how impossible it is to put down any of his books once you've started. I never did see a stage or tv production of this play - although I have read it so often that I have satisfactorily imagined every detail. In other words, you don't have to see it performed to fall in love with this story and these characters. Tillie, the little girl who studies the effect of gamma rays on man-in-the-moon marigolds is struggling to grow in spite of being suppressed by a neurotic mother (who has led a "half life half lived") and an unstable sister. I felt that I already knew the Tillie character very well, but Beatrice is the real heartbreaker. When you read this story, you'll see what I mean - if you do, you may start to appreciate the Tillie's of the world and perhaps understand where the Beatrice's of the world come from. This play plus THE LITTLE PRINCE and THE SEARCH FOR SIGNS OF INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE (all three) make a great gift for anyone!

Rating:
Summary: This one's a keeper
Review: I can't say enough about this gem of a play by the extremely talented Paul Zindel. It is one of my favorite books of all time. If you grew up reading his novels, as I did, then you know how impossible it is to put down any of his books once you've started. I never did see a stage or tv production of this play - although I have read it so often that I have satisfactorily imagined every detail. In other words, you don't have to see it performed to fall in love with this story and these characters. Tillie, the little girl who studies the effect of gamma rays on man-in-the-moon marigolds is struggling to grow in spite of being suppressed by a neurotic mother (who has led a "half life half lived") and an unstable sister. I felt that I already knew the Tillie character very well, but Beatrice is the real heartbreaker. When you read this story, you'll see what I mean - if you do, you may start to appreciate the Tillie's of the world and perhaps understand where the Beatrice's of the world come from. This play plus THE LITTLE PRINCE and THE SEARCH FOR SIGNS OF INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE (all three) make a great gift for anyone!

Rating:
Summary: Terribly sad and thought-provoking
Review: I really don't see what all the fuss is about this book. Although it's a fairly good story, the character of Mrs. Hunsdorfer doesn't stand up without more background information, and Roth's psychosis is completely implausible on the information given. However, it is thought-provoking, mainly in that you try to figure out why on Earth Beatrice is as she is. It's a fairly good quick read.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant!
Review: I saw this play perfomed by a local theater group about a year ago and I was blown away. I have since searched endlessly for the video will no results (if you have a copy available please email me). The characters are beautifully developed and the interaction between them is electifying. Although the grim subject matter may be disappointing to readers looking for a fairy-tale plot but those who allow themselves to be taken in by the story will be tremendously satisfied. Simply amazing!

Rating:
Summary: Sublime Experiments in Mutation
Review: I see this as a play about the power of hatred and pain versus the power of awe and wonder. In each individual there is a struggle between the two, particularly Beatrice, the mother of Tillie (aka Matilda) and Ruth. The love and trauma of family is especially harsh because the effects are the deepest. In this play, about a mother and her two daughters, the spectre of family life is exposed as dangerous and hurtful, despite a natural inclination against such negativity. In that confusing place resides the plays sublime nature, where youthful spiritual proclivity battles angst filled self hating adulthood. Simply written, possible to be read in an hour, "The Effects" are moving.

Rating:
Summary: As reviewed by a 17 year old
Review: Now generally I don't take to books that were written around the time my parents were born. In reality, I really don't take to books much at all. But The Effects of Gamma Rays On Man-In-The-Moon Marigolds seemed to make the boredom that I usually associate with reading cease, as I downed the entire two-act play during a class period.
This book was your not-so-simple story of a little girl's triumph in overcoming the realms of an emotionally abusive household. This little girl was named Tillie, and she was brought up in an old, converted vegetable store with her airhead sister Ruth and sadly entertaining mother Beatrice. They reside there with an elderly mute woman known as Nanny and try to survive in some sort of harmony.
Beatrice is insane. It is clearly stated in the book without the reader knowing how or why she became this way. Her daughter Ruth is desperately in need of attention and almost always selfish. This is a complete opposite of Tillie, the independent main character who finds an outlet from her family in science projects. This is an outlet that in turn becomes her greatest talent and creates the main moral in the story.
The Effects of Gamma Rays on Man-In-The-Moon Marigolds is not what I would consider a classic because I don't think it ever really got the acclaim or recognition it deserved. But it is still a story that will always provide entertainment whether you read it or see it. Because of this I would have to suggest that this book be read by intelligent young adults or adults themselves. This way the reader (or audience member) can understand the all of the humor expressed through Beatrice and the symbolism between the marigold and Tillie. I would have to give this book a total of four and a quarter stars. It is a great quick-read and I'm almost certain any theatre group would do it justice on stage. The author, Paul Zindel, is loved throughout the world and was the 2002 recipient of the Margaret A. Edwards award for his book "The Pigman."

Rating:
Summary: Book in genral
Review: The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds is a cute, catchy title. But the drama is anything but cute. It is a sensitively written play in a natural uncluttered style; the theme, plot and dialogue are not imbued with self-righteous, long-winded, cliched morality excesses.

The play revolves around three characters: 1) Beatrice Hunsdorfer, a bitter and acerbic woman 2) Ruth, her daughter, selfish and at times fractious and 3) Tille, another daughter, bright, responsible, a young girl with a flair for science.

The scene: a converted vegeatble store with an upper and lower landing. The room has the usual daily living necessities: couch, table, lamps, chairs, etc.

The two daughters have a home environment that would be considered less than homey and family oriented. Being a part of this family would be a real drab, for their is no warmth, compassion, positive human expressiveness, nothing. What replaces these vital family qualities are characteristics on the exact opposite side of the spectrum: bitterness, sarcasm, virulence and regret for past mistakes that have impeded the present condition of living.

The two daughters in this play have that glimmer of hope that only youthfulness can bestow. One daughter in particular, Tille, has found her glimmer of hope in science, specifically in her science project of atomic grown flowers: Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds. Atomic energy, an element commonly recognized for its destructiveness, is used in her project to aid in the growth of the flowers. When handled carefully, atomic energy can be used to create beautiful things, thus, bettering lives.

The parallel is this: as atomic energy can be harmful, so too can their mother with her permeating aura of negativity, regret and bitterness, how those dark, unwavering emotions can annihilate the bursting positive vitality and idealism that normally encompasses the spirits found in youths.

With all the atrocious words and spiteful actions committed by the three characters -- Ruth and Beatrice mostly -- the stark truth from a simple child's science project remains the same: "The Future: After radiation is better understood, a day will come when the power from exploding atoms will change the whole world we know. Some of the mutations will be good ones - wonderful things beyond our dreams...." Thus, with her mother and Ruth's malevolence and cruelities, with better understanding, will rise joy, strength, stability and the fruition of that which earlier was not deemed possible.

This is a play for people of all ages, a play with simple truths, a play about seeing, a guaranteed winner.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful story
Review: The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-moon Marigolds, is just as interesting as its title is if not more. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for drama, this book illustrates the story of Tillie, a young girl who escapes through science the bitterness of her surroundings - her featherheaded, thanatophobic sister Ruth, the unstable mother Beatrice who doesn't seem to find any meaning in life. The author, Paul Zindel, takes you through a short play of laughs and tears as you realize that beautiful marigolds can bloom from compost heaps such as Tillie's home... and the story behind the compost heap.

"Atom... ATOM... what a beautiful word." - Tillie, "The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds" by Paul Zindel.

Rating:
Summary: So so
Review: This play contains some amazing monologue material---a pleasant alternative to the more traditional high school drama material.

Paul Zindel is probably most famous for his mastery of adolescent angst. While this play owes a great deal to the same subject matter--it also stands up under adult reading as well.