Loading...
49th out of 330 books
—
325 voters
My rating:
add to my books
Six Characters in Search of an Author
This 1921 intellectual comedy contrasts illusion with reality by introducing 6 individuals to a bare stage occupied by actors in rehearsal. Proclaiming themselves the incomplete creations of an author's imagination, the 6 demand dialog for the story of their lives. A classic dramatic exploration of the many faces of reality. Publisher's Note.
Paperback, 64 pages
Published
July 11th 1997
by Dover Publications
(first published 1921)
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
1,753)
(it has come to my attention that the quotes that I used in my earlier review made it harder to understand, so here is review 2.0)
The play starts out with the actors in a company rehearsing a play who are interrupted by six people who claim that they are characters. These characters are looking for an author to finish their drama, which they say is unfinished. Through the telling of their story they convince the director to be their author. What follows is a conflict between the ...more
The play starts out with the actors in a company rehearsing a play who are interrupted by six people who claim that they are characters. These characters are looking for an author to finish their drama, which they say is unfinished. Through the telling of their story they convince the director to be their author. What follows is a conflict between the ...more
Wegen der historischen Bedeutung für das Theater ist das Buch sicherlich wert gelesen zu werden. Und ich würde es - in einer guten Inszenierung - definitiv auf der Bühne sehen wollen, alleine um zu sehen, was ein Regisseur aus diesem Stoff macht. Als Buch aber? Eine wunderbare Idee, aber ich habe mir viel, viel mehr versprochen. Vielleicht liegt es daran, dass das Buch in einem seltsamen Nimbus ist: zu alt, um zeitgenössisch zu sein, so dass Gedanken, die einmal vielleicht neuartig und revolutio...more
Six Characters in Search of an Author is an interesting exploration into the idea that characters in a work of fiction have some kind of Platonic form that is only imitated or hinted at when actors perform a theatrical work. In some ways it's a deconstruction of a play in that it's more about the writing and performing of a play than it is a play in itself. In the play, six characters from a play that never got written come to visit a theatrical troupe and try to convince the troupe to perform t...more
A play that asks the question where does the author end and the character start, and where does the character end and the actor start. This opens up so many philosophical questions about literature and entertainment and life. A masterpiece of theatre and literature. Any writer should have a well worn copy of this on their shelf, refering to it simply as "the bible."
I think that this play has the best example of how creativity works. There are ideas (or characters) that seems to come from nowhere and demand to be recognized. I loved this play.
Amber Tucker
rated it
Recommends it for:
Drama students/enthusiasts
Recommended to Amber by:
Dr. Nichols' course list
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
view all 4 comments
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Abbiamo tutti dentro un mondo di cose: ciascuno un suo mondo di cose! E come possiamo intenderci, signore, se nelle parole ch'io dico metto il senso e il valore delle cose come sono dentro di me; mentre chi le ascolta, inevitabilmente le assume col senso e col valore che hanno per sé, del mondo com'egli l'ha dentro? Crediamo di intenderci; non ci intendiamo mai!
Seis Personagens à Procura de um Autor é o drama da incomunicabilidade, da dúvida sobre o que é real ou não. Foi recebido, na estr...more
Seis Personagens à Procura de um Autor é o drama da incomunicabilidade, da dúvida sobre o que é real ou não. Foi recebido, na estr...more
This play is incredicbly stange and creates a whole new perspective of characters and words themselves. It is ceative, insightful and... sadly lacking in the end. The play is created through hints - but you were never told what they are hinting about - and the end was rather sudden, before the play ssemed to have done.
It is a good to see a playwrite abuse his own plays though. Overall - good, but slightly worrying and unended.
It is a good to see a playwrite abuse his own plays though. Overall - good, but slightly worrying and unended.
Really a very clever play. Pirandello devotes an incredibe amount of theatrical time and energy to the consideration of character and drama, and how these things relate to (or create) reality. The play might even prompt us to think about what is reality, and what if anything could we say about it outside the narratives we construct.
The problem with many plays/novels/etc of IDEAS is often the audience/reader ends up being more a fan of the idea rather than its application, and I've definitely seen that being true for this play, and other confusing, self-referential, etc. works of its kind (thinking of another Italian creation, If On A Winter's Night a Traveler, which I haven't managed to get through yet.) This rang somewhat true for me here, though often I did find the dialogue engaging and thoroughly enjoyed the character ...more
It's a very interesting concept to put a play inside of a play, and lent alot of interesting character building opportunities to the author. I do not suggest however to watch the film version with Andy Griffith. I'm pretty sure it scarred me for life.
The concept of the play (that six characters who haven't had a play written for them try to convince someone to write them into a DIFFERENT play) is wholly original and very meta-theatrical (if that's a word). Its interesting, but it can get a bit dull at times.
Incredibly well done. Might be the exception to that whole show don't tell thing, as the telling (and the meditation on the act of telling) is pretty darn captivating here. It's also just fun, which I wasn't expecting.
Like Noises Off but less farcical and more, like, deep.
I have just realized what I hated about this play, it's the stench of liberal humanism.
I though this was a very interesting play that at the time it was first read/preformed was outrageous and tested the boundaries of conventional storytelling. It is a dark view of what a family could be, it is a good read all the same.
Read it in college. If you get a chance, read it out loud. It brings it alive.
Apart from the illusive context switches... the six characters' interpersonal dynamics were particularly entertaining. Each life begins with a single emotional position, and proceeds to a complex familial chamber of negative support - which occasionally points to a dim possibility of resolution. But a solution to their predicament is probably not the point - the joy of the play being in the circular performance, and it being about the slew of identity.
Re-read. Quite the thought provoking play.
I really enjoyed this satirical, twisting look at theatre and the nature of reality. The characters each have competing views of the reality of their drama, just as people in real life have differing views of the same event. The play-within-a-play staging sets up a self-referentiality that I found at once thought-provoking and hilarious. A wonderful play that I highly recommend.
The kind of play that could give you a headache if the concept doesn't work out for you, Six Characters literally show up at some theater's rehearsal and go looking for an author. A good look into the metaphysics of reality and fiction, perhaps better only if seen performed rather than read.
This book was actually pretty good. I didn't expect it would be so interesting. Why I rated it only 3 is because there were some parts of the book I didn't really understand. The end wasn't so good, and I think it shoud have ended diferentley.
Brilliant production at London's New Vic 2001
Six Characters in Search of an Author was moderately interesting, but horribly didactic. For its time and context is is incredible, but I don't think it holds up as well today.
"Zersaugt [...:], völlig zersaugt!"
Die Geschichte ist zwar an sich ganz gut, aber umgehauen hat mich das Buch einfach nicht... Hoffe es wird auf der Bühne lustiger.
Die Geschichte ist zwar an sich ganz gut, aber umgehauen hat mich das Buch einfach nicht... Hoffe es wird auf der Bühne lustiger.
Just learned that Pirandello's wife was crazy. She had suspicions about Pirandello and their daughter having an affair. Interesting.
Sorry to be giving out so many 5 star reviews but I'm not guilty of grade inflation: I've just been reading the classics. Read this.
Lizanne Whittaker
added it
Delightful and interesting. Great concept, and fun read. A little cerebral...stretches your brain just enough to be enjoyable.
Great story, but I think I would like it more if I had seen the actual play.
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Readers Also Enjoyed
Awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1934 "for his bold and ingenious revival of dramatic and scenic art."
More about Luigi Pirandello...
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
“Life is full of strange absurdities, which, strangely enough, do not even need to appear plausible, since they are true.”
—
1 person liked it
More quotes…
