Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Great art


There are works of art that speak to an individual so powerfully, so personally, that they are held in the heart forever. Works that have affected me this way are, first and foremost, the Weill/Brecht opera, The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny. Also F. Durrenmatt's play, The Physicists, Graham Greene's novel The Quiet American, Edward Albee's play Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf, Evan Connell's novel Mrs. Bridge, Peter Weiss' music drama Marat/Sade, James Agee's Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, Gilbert Sorrentino's short story "The Moon In Its Flight."


And the film I saw again this afternoon, The French Lt.'s Woman, both the John Fowles novel and the Harold Pinter screenplay also on this short list of favorite works art. I hadn't seen the film for about two years. I like it more with each viewing. It's also been a while since I've read the novel, and I'll put it on reserve today.

John Fowles & Harold Pinter



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