These plays really aren't too tough to read, and if I wanted to I'm sure I could marathon through 5 or 6 of them in a row. It might not be too tough for me, but my concern is that the Backblog would suffer- how boring would 6 very similar reviews in a row be? Probably very much so. I somehow doubt my fellow loggers have much interest in them. And thus, I've come up with a strategy- every completion of a video game or book will be followed by the reading of a play. The second play I've crossed off the list is The Brothers (Adelphoe), a short comedy by Terence based on an even more ancient version of the play by Menander. The story concerns a set of unmarried middle-aged brothers and their sons, and their argument over the best way to raise a child- hands-off or with an iron fist? While the story seemed to be biased to one side for the most part, there was an unexpected turnaround in the last act that showed that the other side certainly has its advantages as well. The introduction by Deena Berg claims that this is Terence's best work, which is disappointing as I found Plautus' Major Blowhard a much more enjoyable read. Luckily the Five Comedies compilation contains two more Plautus plays and only one more from Terence. I've got a feeling that I'll be reading Plautus again soon, but I have no qualms putting off the other Terence play for a while.February 8, 2010
The Brothers
These plays really aren't too tough to read, and if I wanted to I'm sure I could marathon through 5 or 6 of them in a row. It might not be too tough for me, but my concern is that the Backblog would suffer- how boring would 6 very similar reviews in a row be? Probably very much so. I somehow doubt my fellow loggers have much interest in them. And thus, I've come up with a strategy- every completion of a video game or book will be followed by the reading of a play. The second play I've crossed off the list is The Brothers (Adelphoe), a short comedy by Terence based on an even more ancient version of the play by Menander. The story concerns a set of unmarried middle-aged brothers and their sons, and their argument over the best way to raise a child- hands-off or with an iron fist? While the story seemed to be biased to one side for the most part, there was an unexpected turnaround in the last act that showed that the other side certainly has its advantages as well. The introduction by Deena Berg claims that this is Terence's best work, which is disappointing as I found Plautus' Major Blowhard a much more enjoyable read. Luckily the Five Comedies compilation contains two more Plautus plays and only one more from Terence. I've got a feeling that I'll be reading Plautus again soon, but I have no qualms putting off the other Terence play for a while.
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Hey man, we fellow loggers be damned; the only rule about your plays is read 'em if you got 'em. I like your system though - "reward" yourself with a quick logging after lengthy games or books. I guess it's kind of like how I can't bring myself to do all my Newbery winners in a row. Well, that, and the fact that the Newbery winners are mostly terrible. Anyway, I hope the plays keep coming. I, for one, don't mind a little variety on the Back-Blog.
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