Publication: July 15, 2008, by Bloomsbury
Genre: Adult Fiction, Play
Pages: 176
Format: Paperback
Source: Borrowed
Rating:
Set in the early Thatcher years, Top Girls is a serminal play of the modern theatre, revealing a world of women's experience at a pivotal moment in British history. Told by an eclectic group of historical and modern characters in a continuous conversation across ages and generations, Top Girls was hailed by The Guardianas "the best British play ever by a woman dramatist."
My Thoughts:
Top Girls, from all of the books I was required to read for my English literature class, was the one I was the most excited for. However, it proved to be the worst one out of the four I read, especially due to the confusion it provided me with. Perhaps if I were to see a live performance of this play in a theatre, I would have enjoyed it more. However, this can easily be crowned as the most confusing play I have read. Move over, Shakespeare, Caryl Churchill is a playwright who may be taking your place in terms of confusing literature. To make it clear, I had mixed feelings about this play. It was quite boring and absolutely confusing - the overlap of dialogue especially made me react like: O_O
Even from the cover, it is easy to identify this book as feministic. And there's nothing wrong with that; today's society is strongly associated with the feminist movement and I feel as if this play is perfect for those interested in this topic. However, I was unable to find something unique or even shocking about this play that provided me with some huge, grand message. The message or 'moral' of the play was just cheesy and expected, which made me dislike the story more.
What I did appreciate was the abundance of characters Churchill wrote about, and how they were all women. There was not one male character (even though they were mentioned and alluded to), and this gave women more of a dominant role in this play, which I am sure many would adore to hear about. Each character represented a distinct personality trait, and they all came from different points of history, and some are even fictional characters. That was super cool, but to this very day, I am unable to distinguish why the author utilized these fictional and historical characters in the first act(?) of the play. Eeeeek.
The pacing of the play was quick and left me entertained; my class was able to read this play in two days, which is quite a record as most teachers tend to spend an abundance of time analyzing every statement and searching for dramatic devices. Whilst doing so, I was able to read this fairly quickly. The relationships created by the playwright were also very touching and heartwarming. The uniqueness and weirdness of this story will surely not be forgotten. I guess that factor makes me enjoy the book even more?
Top Girls lacked a sense of clarity in the writing which makes me identify it as a book I kind of enjoyed. Kind of. While it did entertain me with its fast-moving plot and interesting characters, the story lacked a unique message that will stun its future audiences.
Even from the cover, it is easy to identify this book as feministic. And there's nothing wrong with that; today's society is strongly associated with the feminist movement and I feel as if this play is perfect for those interested in this topic. However, I was unable to find something unique or even shocking about this play that provided me with some huge, grand message. The message or 'moral' of the play was just cheesy and expected, which made me dislike the story more.
What I did appreciate was the abundance of characters Churchill wrote about, and how they were all women. There was not one male character (even though they were mentioned and alluded to), and this gave women more of a dominant role in this play, which I am sure many would adore to hear about. Each character represented a distinct personality trait, and they all came from different points of history, and some are even fictional characters. That was super cool, but to this very day, I am unable to distinguish why the author utilized these fictional and historical characters in the first act(?) of the play. Eeeeek.
The pacing of the play was quick and left me entertained; my class was able to read this play in two days, which is quite a record as most teachers tend to spend an abundance of time analyzing every statement and searching for dramatic devices. Whilst doing so, I was able to read this fairly quickly. The relationships created by the playwright were also very touching and heartwarming. The uniqueness and weirdness of this story will surely not be forgotten. I guess that factor makes me enjoy the book even more?
Top Girls lacked a sense of clarity in the writing which makes me identify it as a book I kind of enjoyed. Kind of. While it did entertain me with its fast-moving plot and interesting characters, the story lacked a unique message that will stun its future audiences.
What is your favourite British play?
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