A View From The Bridge (A view From the Bridge - Arthur Miller)

Member Name: coco_pixie101

Product:	A view From the Bridge - Arthur Miller
Date:	05/08/09 (88 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Gripping and true to life

Disadvantages: May keep you up at night

I must admit that reading is not a frequent pass time of mine so when I do find a book that I don't want to put down I have very high regard of the book and its author. The reason I started reading the book is I basically wanted something to read before I went off to the land of nod as I find reading at night generally helps me get off to sleep. Finding this around the house was great and actually kept me up reading on many an occasion.

About the author
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Arthur Miller is an award winning social playwright; his plays are acts of protest. At the time of this book immigration was a very taboo subject and immigrants were looked down on by society, you could argue not much has changed... Arthur Miller being a social playwright makes a conscious effort to challenge these views with 'A View from the Bridge'.

Synopsis
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In the play we find the character Eddie Carbone. Playwright Arthur Miller tells the story of the New York longshoreman who allows his misguided feelings for his niece-in-law to destroy him. Eddie is an Italian-American who lives with his wife Beatrice and his orphaned niece-in-law Catherine. He is idolized and respected by his family and whole community but that all changes after his Sicilian cousins Marco and Rodolfo come to stay.

Eddie begins as an all round very likeable character and exhibits 'heroic' characteristics in his willingness to take in his immigrant cousins and because of this the audience is drawn to him. He becomes even more likeable when it is made apparent just how much he looked after Catherine. Though this likeability doesn't last for long. His eventual downfall is a direct result of his unwillingness to learn from his mistakes.

The book is a play and so when reading it you should bare in mind that it is supposed to be performed.

My thoughts
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The issues the play explores are taboo but inevitably human because after all what is love. Set in New York, Brooklyn in a community of immigrants originating from Italy and Sicily the central theme of the play could be argued to be the 'Sicilian code of honour'. Understanding this is a must for understanding the actions of everyone in the play.

Without ruining the plot for you this play will no doubted leave you thinking and maybe even change your views (yeah its one of those). I like the way Arthur Miller gets his message across, i'm so used to big blockbuster movies or books nowadays tackling an issue or aspect of life with great vigour and placing a lot of emphasis on the subject matter, supposedly to get the story/message across. Though I find the situations presented are quite abstract and characters unrealistic. Arthur Miller has the ability to convey a story about real people without exaggeration for 'added effect' whilst getting his point across with painfully accurate realism, that you find very hard to just wave-off as a 'story'.

PRICE £4.99
PUBLISHER: Heinemann
ISBN-10: 0435233122
EDITION: Hard back
PAGES: 83

Summary: A classic tale of lust, love and all that comes with it