Loading...
16th out of 106 books
—
18 voters
My rating:
add to my books
The God of Carnage
What happens when two sets of parents meet up to deal with the unruly behavior of their children? A calm and rational debate between grown-ups about the need to teach kids how to behave properly? Or a hysterical night of name-calling, tantrums, and tears before bedtime?
Christopher Hampton’s translation of Yasmina Reza’s sharp-edged new play The God of Carnage premiere
Paperback, 96 pages
Published
April 28th 2009
by Faber and Faber
(first published January 1st 2007)
There is a good chance some of your friends read this book. Sign in to see!
sign in »
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
423)
Leggere saggi mattoni sulla civiltà e il suo declino è noioso, anche se il lettore penserà dipenda da mattone a mattone. Lo psicodramma della Reza al contrario non ha niente di noioso, forse qualcosa di caustico, sarcastico, imprevedibile e amaro, ma di noioso nulla. Come bere una soda. O forse una coca cola, la stessa che Véronique Houllié offre ad Annette Reille per aiutarla con i suoi problemi di bile. Immaginate un salotto, nessun realismo, nessun elemento inutile. Due mazzi di tulipani e un...more
Reading a script's always a potential disappointment, like consuming a recipe instead of the cake. Certain forms--an exhilirating theatrical performance, a delirious action film--flatten out on the page. I'm not sure I want, for instance, to read what Chow-Yun Fat and John Woo were building from to end up here; I just want to go there. And reading reviews of this play's Broadway staging, with Jeff Daniels, Hope Davis, Marcia Gay Harden, and James Gandolfini.... maybe I just really wanted to g...more
view 1 comment
Yasmina Reza’s short play “The God of Carnage” is a fascinating, character-driven piece sprinkled with elements of absurdity. In many ways it is akin to Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf,” only the fighting between the characters in “Carnage” isn’t as pointed as it is in “Woolf,” but rather like that of a child who flails trying desperately to land a hit. The tension between the four characters is palpable on the page and I would be so interested to see what a corps of strong actors would ...more
I was really disappointed by this play. It doesn't move, there is no resolution and doesn't seem to have a point. I felt like I wasted my time reading it. I have no idea how in the name of all that is theatrical that this piece has been nominated as Best New Play of the year by the Tony committee. I don't care how well it's directed or performed the piece itself is atrocious. Save your money-don't read it and don't see it!
I'm going to sound like such a snob but this play left me so unsatisfied. It felt like Albee-lite, with no real purpose or resolution to the unfolding chaos. The characters never evolved beyond their established archetypes and the stereotypical markers of power and gender (men are brutes and like war! Women are bitches!) didn't evolve to give us any deeper insight other than "Adults can be so childish." I imagine it would be very entertaining to see performed, and I must keep in mind h...more
Oh LOVE this play. When my Study Abroad group assigned 'God of Carnage' on the contemporary list of plays that we would be seeing I was excited for two reasons
1. I was ecstatic about seeing Ralph Fiennes as I knew I would be. (Lord Voldermort!)
2. I had recently seen & loved 'Art' by Yasmina Reza @ USF and was intrigued if I would enjoy more of her work.
I enjoyed the process of learning more of this 'perfectionist playwright' and discussing the 'God of Carnage' that each...more
1. I was ecstatic about seeing Ralph Fiennes as I knew I would be. (Lord Voldermort!)
2. I had recently seen & loved 'Art' by Yasmina Reza @ USF and was intrigued if I would enjoy more of her work.
I enjoyed the process of learning more of this 'perfectionist playwright' and discussing the 'God of Carnage' that each...more
Uno scomodo inquilino
In tutti noi risiede il dio del massacro, resta assopito a lungo nelle cosiddette persone “civili”, per essere svegliato ed innervosito dagli eventi che viviamo o che sono vissuti dai nostri cari. Ci rende suscettibili e basta anche una sola parola, magari detta non intenzionalmente in una “pacifica” conversazione per uscire fuori, e rivelare nello sfogo ciò che realmente proviamo, celato per non rovinare quel già fragile equilibrio che a stento siamo ri...more
In tutti noi risiede il dio del massacro, resta assopito a lungo nelle cosiddette persone “civili”, per essere svegliato ed innervosito dagli eventi che viviamo o che sono vissuti dai nostri cari. Ci rende suscettibili e basta anche una sola parola, magari detta non intenzionalmente in una “pacifica” conversazione per uscire fuori, e rivelare nello sfogo ciò che realmente proviamo, celato per non rovinare quel già fragile equilibrio che a stento siamo ri...more
I'd heard the buzz about this play, and knew I'd never make it to New York to see the big stars on stage – luckily Faber's made it available in a dainty paperback. I took it with me to Peet's a few Saturdays ago and read it as I sipped my coffee – it's only 67 pages. Short but satisfying! Reza tells the tale of two marriages, four intelligent cultured people who more or less ravage everything between them in the space of a conversation. I suppose it's considered "serious" drama, but I ...more
A terrific play! It is a quick, spirited argument between two couples that is richly layered and enormously entertaining. The only complaint I have is that it doesn't seem to have much of a premise; or, if it does, the premise is deeply obscured by the dialectical fireworks. It's fun to read and I can only assume that it is fun to watch (I've never seen a production). It recently received a Broadway treatment, but I suspect that a second act would have probably netted it a bevy of additional...more
Seeing this play in action is much better than reading it, especially since the latest American version is much saucier with its language (in other words, the F-word is used more often). Most impressive of all is how British director Matthew Warchus uses movement, space, and long pauses to pace the dialogue written by Yasmine Reza (and more importantly, humorously interpreted by Christopher Hampton). Read the play if you must, but get to NYC and SEE IT before it gets sent to the community theate...more
The straight French to English translation does come off as pretty pompous. Who knew that a plumbing hardware middleman could even be in that category, but there it is. Quite interested to see how the screenplay for Polanski's New York setting has been tweaked, and if it was derived from the Broadway version or the original.
One doesn't feel so bad reading the play - you can do it in an hour, so it's not like your day has been totally set back by having to imagine four adults flinging ...more
One doesn't feel so bad reading the play - you can do it in an hour, so it's not like your day has been totally set back by having to imagine four adults flinging ...more
I saw this three years ago in the West End. What I remembered most clearly was the impressive vomiting scene! But this is an interesting play about two very dysfunctional couples. However, none of the characters are actually likeable or interesting in themselves and the play doesn't really have a whole lot to say, other than politeness is really a veneer, and I'm sure that's been said before and better. I remembered it as being a bit more substantial in the theatre, but here it really is a one...more
I'm adding a star to this review as I just saw the play and think it does better on stage than it does on the page. This may, of course, be universally true of all good plays (there are some bad ones that make excellent reading), but this play in particular requires a fair amount of physical byplay and nonverbal interaction. It's a good read, either way, and that's what this site is all about. Note: the less expensive acting edition follows the American practice of changing the French names ...more
I like how this play balances comedy and tragedy in a way that is very true to life. They exist side by side and even the greatest tragedies contain comedic elements and vice versa. As Dolly Parton says in Steel Magnolias: "Laughter through tears is my favourite emotion." I wanted to read this play before seeing a production of it tonight in Toronto. I really enjoyed how the play, a farce, cleverly reveals the thin line between civility and barbarity in the bourgeoisie. Clafouti, anyon...more
Scripts are often challenging to read because they don't fully come to life until they are produced. I remember thinking "Who wants to see this piece of garbled trash on stage?" after reading "Top Girls", but was blown away by the production that I did see (of course, the quality of the production depends on the company assembled to put it on).
There are some scripts, however, that stand on their own as a good read to those of us that don't have a good imagination...more
There are some scripts, however, that stand on their own as a good read to those of us that don't have a good imagination...more
Clever plot and funny dialogue for this play that deals with the compelling issue of violence. Two contrasting educated families who harbor in a 'safe' neighborhood deal with violence enacted by their sons. Each character has developed different devices to deal with the truth. i love the comic relief throughout to contrast the drama. Nice balancing act and a breeze to read. It should be a great discussion at my book club meeting.
It's never like this in the sitcoms! Two sets of parents meet to discuss what is to be done about the beating that one of their sons gave the other. In the process, many bad behaviors are revealed, but not of the kids, of the parents themselves. Sides shift, veiled threats are issued, drinking (and a little vomiting ensues. It's a powerful little piece of drama and dark comedy.
A play about what happens after two children have a physical altercation at a local playground and their parents meet up one evening to discuss the implications.
While reading this you hope reasonable people won't act and say the things like those in this theater drama piece but the further the story goes the characters become more believable - the writing is terrific and convincing and these characters slowly make you cringe with what the say and do to each other.
While reading this you hope reasonable people won't act and say the things like those in this theater drama piece but the further the story goes the characters become more believable - the writing is terrific and convincing and these characters slowly make you cringe with what the say and do to each other.
Her plays routinely win the big awards. Although I appreciate her skill, I never understand why she is awarded such accolades. The plays are domestic dramas, lacking the visionary voices of playwrights of old: Fornes, Pinter etc. Or maybe it's just my bias against realism.
What makes this play interesting is that what the couples explode over are the tiniest of their issues (there are minute hints) and even in their worst they still pretend at the niceties of daily discourse. And all this is funny as hell in the right hands.
Already a big fan of Reza's after seeing Art, I was not disappointed. She skillfully pokes fun at social expectations and taboos, leaving the commentary on society to the audience, but building the framework for it with very authentic characters.
This play is such a quick read, I read it twice, and I definitely enjoyed watching Reza unfold the shifting allegiances and levels of truth-telling among the four characters. It's a funny play and an emotionally honest one. I'd love to see it.
I think this would be amazing to see on stage, but reading it feels a little... underwhelming. Nothing specific I can find fault with. I suspect it's just one of those that doesn't work as well on the written page.
Spare and funny with lots of uncomfortable questions about how you learn rights and responsibilites in a society. I think I would like it/appreciate it more if I saw the actual play, rather than just reading it.
This play has the feel of Eugene O'Neill or Edward Albee, only more compact. It unfolds over a single act in the living room as two couples address the fact that one of their son's hit the others' son in the fact with a stick, breaking his two front teeth. It starts out with relatively civilized mutual understanding and apologies but slowly and inevitably degenerates into immature multidimensional fighting, pitting not just the couples against each other but also the husbands against the wives. ...more
a stilted translation where a slavish devotion to accuracy pulls the reader away from the story with obscure and tone-deaf terms.
Smart, engaging play with four funny, intense and diverse characters. A true lesson in how to write a perfect play.
I think I'd like it more if I read it in French, would certainly like it more if I'd seen it rather than read it.
Wonderful script! So much depth written into the lines and characters. Humorous read, even better performed.
Brisk and taut comedy speeds by, darkly and absurdly hilarious. A recommended read.
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Readers Also Enjoyed
Yasmina Reza began work as an actress, appearing in several new plays as well as in plays by Molière and Marivaux. In 1987 she wrote Conversations after a Burial, which won the Molière Award for Best Author. Following this, she translated Kafka's Metamorphosis for Roman Polanski and was nominated for a Molière Award for Best Translation. Her second play, Winter Crossing, won the 1990 Molière for B...more
More about Yasmina Reza...
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
