| General Fiction posted July 23, 2017 |
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Book Review
A Raisin In The Sun
by Heather Knight
I usually read fiction, and my favorite kind of fiction is the novel, but from time to time, I read plays as well.
Today, I finished reading A Raisin In The Sun, written by Lorraine Hansberry.
A Raisin In The Sun opened in 1959 and was praised both by white and black audience members. It is arguably the first play to present black characters in a realistic manner.
The play received the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Play of the Year. Hansberry was the youngest playwright, the fifth woman, and the only black writer at that point to win the award.
The title comes from Langston Hughes's famous poem, Harlem:
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
Like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
Like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
Like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
The story is nothing out of the ordinary. A poor family, The Youngers, dream of a better future. At the beginning of the play, they are expecting an insurance check and each member of the family is trying to decide what they would like to do with the money. Walter, the main character, wants to invest on a liquor store venture, while his sister wants the money to become a doctor.
Finally, the mother buys a new house and there they encounter discrimination as the white people in the neighborhood don't want them to move in.
Unfortunately, this is based on Hansberry's real experiences as a child. It seems her family received threats in a similar situation.
I have enjoyed getting to know the characters in this play. They are normal people, they make mistakes, they get angry, but eventually they pick themselves up and get on with their lives. And, besides, they are a plucky lot, full of energy and lust for life.
Do read the play if you have the chance or watch the 1961 film adaptation starring one of my favorite actors, Sidney Poitier.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.
Quotes:
"Seem like God didn't see fit to give the black man nothing but dreams -but He did give us children to make them dreams seem worth while."
"Child, when do you think is the time to love somebody the most? When he's done good and made things easy for everybody? That ain't the time at all. It's when he's at his lowest......and he can't believe in himself because the world's whipped him so!"
I usually read fiction, and my favorite kind of fiction is the novel, but from time to time, I read plays as well.
Today, I finished reading A Raisin In The Sun, written by Lorraine Hansberry.
A Raisin In The Sun opened in 1959 and was praised both by white and black audience members. It is arguably the first play to present black characters in a realistic manner.
The play received the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Play of the Year. Hansberry was the youngest playwright, the fifth woman, and the only black writer at that point to win the award.
The title comes from Langston Hughes's famous poem, Harlem:
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
Like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
Like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
Like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
The story is nothing out of the ordinary. A poor family, The Youngers, dream of a better future. At the beginning of the play, they are expecting an insurance check and each member of the family is trying to decide what they would like to do with the money. Walter, the main character, wants to invest on a liquor store venture, while his sister wants the money to become a doctor.
Finally, the mother buys a new house and there they encounter discrimination as the white people in the neighborhood don't want them to move in.
Unfortunately, this is based on Hansberry's real experiences as a child. It seems her family received threats in a similar situation.
I have enjoyed getting to know the characters in this play. They are normal people, they make mistakes, they get angry, but eventually they pick themselves up and get on with their lives. And, besides, they are a plucky lot, full of energy and lust for life.
Do read the play if you have the chance or watch the 1961 film adaptation starring one of my favorite actors, Sidney Poitier.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.
Quotes:
"Seem like God didn't see fit to give the black man nothing but dreams -but He did give us children to make them dreams seem worth while."
"Child, when do you think is the time to love somebody the most? When he's done good and made things easy for everybody? That ain't the time at all. It's when he's at his lowest......and he can't believe in himself because the world's whipped him so!"
Today, I finished reading A Raisin In The Sun, written by Lorraine Hansberry.
A Raisin In The Sun opened in 1959 and was praised both by white and black audience members. It is arguably the first play to present black characters in a realistic manner.
The play received the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Play of the Year. Hansberry was the youngest playwright, the fifth woman, and the only black writer at that point to win the award.
The title comes from Langston Hughes's famous poem, Harlem:
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
Like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
Like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
Like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
The story is nothing out of the ordinary. A poor family, The Youngers, dream of a better future. At the beginning of the play, they are expecting an insurance check and each member of the family is trying to decide what they would like to do with the money. Walter, the main character, wants to invest on a liquor store venture, while his sister wants the money to become a doctor.
Finally, the mother buys a new house and there they encounter discrimination as the white people in the neighborhood don't want them to move in.
Unfortunately, this is based on Hansberry's real experiences as a child. It seems her family received threats in a similar situation.
I have enjoyed getting to know the characters in this play. They are normal people, they make mistakes, they get angry, but eventually they pick themselves up and get on with their lives. And, besides, they are a plucky lot, full of energy and lust for life.
Do read the play if you have the chance or watch the 1961 film adaptation starring one of my favorite actors, Sidney Poitier.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.
Quotes:
"Seem like God didn't see fit to give the black man nothing but dreams -but He did give us children to make them dreams seem worth while."
"Child, when do you think is the time to love somebody the most? When he's done good and made things easy for everybody? That ain't the time at all. It's when he's at his lowest......and he can't believe in himself because the world's whipped him so!"
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