The Glass Menagerie

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Summary: -What i thought of it-
Review: I enjoyed the book, The Glass Menagerie. It wasn't too long and it was very interesting to read. This was my favorite out of all the summer reading books i had to read. One reason is that it is written as a play. The play focuses on three main characters: Amanda, the mother, her daughter Laura, and her son Tom. I also liked it because it is one of those books you can't put down. I found myself wondering what was going to happen next. I perceived the atmosphere of this play to be a sad one. It's not like a sudden tragedy had occurred, but just their day-to-day life seemed hopeless. I felt sympathy for the characters. I wanted to give them help and support at times! Amanda and Tom always fought with one another. Tom was sick and tired of the way he had been living. He wanted real adventure instead of just watching it on the movies. Laura, on the other hand, was content to sit at home with her glass menagerie. Their mother, Amanda, had become so obsessed with finding a gentleman caller for Laura that everything else almost didn't matter anymore. Amanda always reminisced of how she had so many gentleman callers in her day. She wanted the same for Laura. But Laura was much different than her mother was. It wasn't that easy for Laura to meet gentlemen. Amanda needed to realize and accept that. I was impressed by this play. It was filled with emotion and diverse characters. They were almost oblivious to reality. They had their own worlds and expectations of what life should be. Their struggles to make their lives better were desperate and real. In the end we don't really know how everything turns out, but we were left thinking that anything could happen.

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Summary: Interesting Symbolism
Review: The three main characters, mother Amanda, daughter Laura, and son Tom interact interestingly. Amanda, a woman of the South, truly wants the best for her children. Laura, the shy and crippled child, shys away from her mother's "high" expectations and retreates to the comfort of her Glass Menagerie. Tom finds and escape from the atmosphere his mother places over the house in the movies, but would like to find real adventure some day. Will the gentlemen caller that Tom brings be Laura's (and Amanda's) answer to happiness?

Rating:
Summary: Great book, would read it again and again.
Review: I had to read this for my AP English class. You'd swear Amanda was looking for a gentleman caller for herself, not her own daughter! But, overall, I enjoyed this book.

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Summary: Heart Wrenching
Review: An excellent drama that opens one's heart and fills it with compassion and hope. The reader is pulled into a world of lost dreams and despair as the characters struggle with facing a reality they are oblivious to. *Note: the symbolism is excellent. Take note in the fragility of the glass unicorn and when it loses its horn. (also, for those lacking vocabulary knowledge, a menagerie is a collecftion)

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Summary: Bland
Review: I had the misfrotune of having to read this a second time... it can't be read well in book form. I would suggest seeing the play.

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Summary: I WOULDN'T RECOMMEND IT !!!!!!
Review: i am a frechman in highschool. i have read a varity of books such as A seperate peace, romeo and juliet, the odessey, and a bunch of other hard books. BUT THIS ONE I hated!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Summary: Not college essay material
Review: I had to write a essay on this book and the book was so lame that I didn't know a thesis that could go with it. I did not like the whole book, it had feeling but not enough to care about. The plot was vague.

Rating:
Summary: Actually I rate it NO stars.
Review: I'd rather stare at a blank page than waste my time reading this book. A blank page would in fact be much more interesting. I found this book near the cash register at my local bookstore. It had obviously been misplaced on its way to the trash can! My money would be put to better use into something else than buying this book! DULL DULL DULL!

Rating:
Summary: Well-written, not very complicated, full of symbols.
Review: This was an ok book. But I still don't understand why this is such a classic in the world of literature as well as the world of theatre. Overall, it is an easy to understand play, the facts aren't totally entangled in superflous details and dull narrations.

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Summary: Take it from someone who has played Tom Wingfield. . .
Review: I have done more than read this play, I have acted out the part of Tom Wingfield and was critically acclaimed. While reading this play is good, you have to SEE it to get the full feeling, and you also need a slightly-more-than-competent director in charge. This play can be blah if this play is not performed or read correctly. I had a chance to breathe life into what many consider a dull character. Tom doesn't have to be dull, he's only what you make of him. The same thing is true for all of the characters. I have acted in many plays of which include Fiddler on the Roof (a marvelous play by the way) and I must say that The Glass Menagerie stands out as one of the most well-written, true-to-heart, and tragic plays around. It is a good play to read, but you really must see it. If directed and acted well, you will not be sorry.