too stupid for Stoppard

Okay, I'll just get this out of the way right now. I'm kind of an idiot. This is a hard fact of life to deal with sometimes, especially when trying to read someone as literarily daunting as...

Tom Stoppard.

And so begins my   . . .  review..? . . . of ...

"The Invention of Love"

by Tom Stoppard

This, uh, play... is ... about... Well, let's start from the, start, shall we? A. E. Housman is the main character of this play, and he just died (in the play, not in time, this was the early 1900's). His journey down the River Styx to Hades brings him along the shores of his memories, and especially the love he had for his friend, Moses Jackson. Housman was a real dude, writing poetry about the same time Oscar Wilde was making waves. You may have heard of a little book called "The Shropshire Lad"?   ......Ok, well I haven't, but apparently it's really famous.

Anyway, the play   .... uh, it's, like, well... So his memories are floating by, sorta, right? But then, there are also people talking about his work, or talking about... other...things... Things that, uh... I don't really know what they were talking about, or why, but, there were people, LOTS of people, talking, and....

Ok I'm sorry I can't really do this. It was supposed to be a comedy and I did laugh a few times. But I really wasn't sure what the hell was going on most of the time, or what they were talking about, or why, but I did get bits and pieces. Oscar Wilde is a character in the play, too, which is kinda cool.

I know it talks a lot about literature, the classics, poetry, ancient history (Greeks, Romans), art, science; and, obviously, love. So if that sounds like your cup of tea, you can go for it. Hope you have better luck than I did. I didn't hate it, but then, how can you hate (or like) something you didn't really understand? Oh well.

Fun fact: This play lost to David Auburn's "Proof"  for the Tony Award for best play in 2001.

Until next time,
Corbin