Long Day's Journey into Night, Second edition

Rating:
Summary: Masterpiece
Review: There are many themes in this story - drug addiction, alcoholism, depression, egoism, and blame. What makes the play so powerful is its ability to show us a family with horrible problems and horrible habits, but still make that family likeable. We still hope for them. A heroin-addicted mother torments herself with the past. Her egomaniac husband, a washed-up actor, postures and struts to cover his feelings of responsibility. Their sons battle depression and alcoholism, and neither ever feel good about themselves. A cycle of blame makes its way continually through the house, a run-down affair often shrouded in fog. This fantastic (if depressing) play is a meaty, moody work that is almost as good to read as it is to watch.

Rating:
Summary: The best play ever written
Review: This is by far my favorite play, by my favorite playwright, Eugene O'Neill. It touches my deeper emotions and inspires me every time I read it. A definite buy.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful But Joyless to Me
Review: This is Eugene O'Neill's fictionalized autobiography. It is technically flawless and incredibly engaging, with tremendous depth to the characters. It is also bleak, depressing, and very dark. It has many parallels to the film "Ordinary People" which is another wonderful done masterpiece of a story, with a tremendous dose of despair thrown in. Except, in "Ordinary People" there are faint glimmers of hope. Some can find glimpses of joy in "Long Day's Journey into Night" but I could not.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful But Joyless to Me
Review: This is Eugene O'Neill's fictionalized autobiography. It is technically flawless and incredibly engaging, with tremendous depth to the characters. It is also bleak, depressing, and very dark. It has many parallels to the film "Ordinary People" which is another wonderful done masterpiece of a story, with a tremendous dose of despair thrown in. Except, in "Ordinary People" there are faint glimmers of hope. Some can find glimpses of joy in "Long Day's Journey into Night" but I could not.

Rating:
Summary: 1957 Pulitzer Prize Winning Play
Review: This is O'Neill's third Pulitzer Prizes for Drama. The fascinating dramatic play focuses on the life of an addicted, dysfunctional family that suffers greatly with their demons of the past. Eugene O'Neill's 1940 autobiographical story takes place in one long day and proceeds into the brooding night. It is a courageous account of the tortured soul and his haunted family.

In a dedication to his wife, O'Neil writes, "I give you the original script of this play of old sorrow, written in tears and blood."

The setting is August 1912, at the summer home where the fog lays heavily, foghorns blow loud contrasting with the chime of bells. The mood is somber just like the symbolic recurring fog that impairs vision and obscures reality. The bells are symbolic of the convent where the main character Mary Tyrone was happiest.

The focus of the family is Mary, 54, wife, mother of two sons, wife of Tyrone. At the beginning, we are left to imagine and second guess what is bothering Mary and later it is clearly defined that she is addicted to morphine. Mary lives in the past, where she was in a convent and had a dream to be a concert pianist.

James Tyrone, 65, an alcoholic known by his family as a miser, and whose real concern was to invest money into property rather then family because of a nagging fear from his childhood days -the threat of the poorhouse. He was considered a handsome stage actor and regrets what he could have been,- a great Shakespearean actor.

Jamie Tyrone - the elder 34 year old son, another alcoholic always labeled a loser by his parents. He has a love-hate relationship with his younger brother Edmund as Jamie's confesses that because of his own hatred of himself, his role was to make his younger brother a failure too.

Edmund Tyrone - 24-year old son is a reader of great literature and an aspiring poet. He has tuberculosis and with concern wonders whether his miser father will send him to a shabby institution. Eugene O'Neill is the real-life character of Edmund.

O'Neill provides readers with more than adequate stage direction; we get a real sense of the way we are to interpret the readings including the shifting moods. This is a book that keeps on going. It is superb. And if you ever want to see this play come alive, see the movie with Katherine Hepburn. Her remarkable portrayal of Mary was memorable! ....MzRizz


Rating:
Summary: Breathtaking
Review: This play was incredible. The lanuage is beautiful and the message is poiniant. There is a part that describes walking through fog and when you read it you can not help but feel like there is no other way anyone could possibly describe fog except just like that. I was blown away by this play. For those readers who don't like reading plays, be reasured, this one is like a novel. I've never seen a play with more detailed stage directions than this one. As an actor it seemed a little overly specific, but as a reader it made it even more clear and descriptive. There is no praise high enough, I loved it.

Rating:
Summary: This is the best play by America's greatest playwright
Review: This tale of a tragically dysfunctional family is a must-read for every individual. It is the most accurate portrayal of the real American family available in literature. Long Day's Journey into Night does not skip around the issues, it hits them head on. Eugene O'Neill refuses to flatter us with blankets of false happiness. He does not provide a neat and convenient catharsis. Instead, this play challenges the reader to analyze their own family and the interactions within it. Read this play

Rating:
Summary: In defense of O'Neil
Review: What is with this other review? "Long Day's Journey into Night" is not a page-turner and it can seem extremely turgid at times but to call these faults would be missing the point. It is about the relationships between people whose lives are excrutiatingly unhappy. There is nothing they can do about it if they're not peppy enough for some people. At least they're honest and free with their feelings about their lives and this gives a remarkable glimpse into the darker and lonlier side of the human condition.O'neil was the master of misery and only he could have possible written this play. The characterizations are refreshingly thurough and the language is memorable. If you want excitement, I hear John Grisham delivers.

Rating:
Summary: Always to keep in your heart
Review: When I first read "Long Day's Journey Into Night" I almost cried. It may seem odd to some, but this book revealed itself with opposite feelings of sadness, despair and tremendous joy that return constantly. I know my words can't describe the beauty of the play, but I'd like to say that I'll keep this beautiful play forever in my heart. Why are the most beautiful things so sad?...

Rating:
Summary: Great quick way to read this book!
Review: When I was assigned to read this book I needed a quick to read this book. I searched amazon and this automatically came up! I ordered and the next day I got it and started reading it. It clearly explained the book in a way anyone can understand. But it may seem a little exspensive yet it's worth the price thats why I gave it 4 stars!