Sherry (sethurner)'s comments (member since Oct 30, 2008)

Sherry (sethurner)'s comments from the Book Nook Cafe group.

I don't think the play ever says how Vivian's parents died.

It's frustrating sometimes, in a narrative as condensed and focused as a play, when questions arise that cannot be answered. How did Ms. Bearing's parents die? Why did she never marry? What is E.M. really like and why did she decide to visit at this critical time in Vivian's life (and death)?

E.M. is interesting. Initially she is presented as being all intellect, all challenge, all business. But then there is that wonderful tender moment when she reads to her former student, and we learn that she has a five-year-old grandson. Clearly she has fashioned a life that includes other people.

Well OK, I plowed through the script and a couple of things came to mind. The first was how ironic that though Vivian spent her career dissecting John Donne, two of the most important books in her life are children's books about bunnies. Her life is encircled by bunny stories. I'm not sure how this is significant...other than each scene is one of tenderness. LOL, one of the play's many ironies I guess.

I also was struck by how different the ending of the play is from the ending of the movie. Of course in the play at the end Vivian stands naked in a light shining from above her, a resurrection, the Donne poem made real. I remember this from seeing the stage play, and it leaves the audience with a sense of hope rather than the overwhelming sadness of the end of the film. It seems to me that Edson sees Vivian as redeemed, resurrected, so I wonder by director Mike Nichols made the choice to be more "realistic" and end simply with her death.

Perhaps Entertainment Weekly defines "classic" as a book that sells well. LOL, lists are always good for some conversation, at least that much is true.

I just got the script and am sitting down to read it. As for the way Jason disregards the DNR order, perhaps ten years ago those sorts of wishes were not routinely observed. I don't really know. Certainly Edson is making a point with this brutal scene about the need for human contact, kindness and dignity.

Alias, if you recently read Death Be Not Proud you must have been struck, as I was, by how much cancer treatment has changed.

Wow, I'm feeling pretty good about how many I've read! But better still, I added a handful of titles to Mt. TBR.
I'm not even going to try to critique the list except to note that it includes young adult fiction and graphic novels. Interesting.

I'm going to be out most of the day, but this morning I found this page, a guide to Wit. Apparently it was created when the Madison Rep (now defunct) staged the play. You may find something to spark comment here:

http://faculty.smu.edu/tmayo/witguide.ht...

LOL, I'm less and less inclined to read my lovely hefty feebie edition!

Interesting thoughts here are the parallels between TTW and Wit with regards to impending death. I hadn't thought about that when I suggested titles.

Deborah, Emma Thompson played herself as both a long-haired student and as a tough-as-nails professor with salt-and-pepper hair (until she loses it).

Having seen both and play and the film, it occurs to me that although the film is obviously based on a play, the film elicited a more visceral reaction from me. I think it's almost like the stage version, which can't help feeling rather artificial, made me react intellectually, but the film touched me heart more. It's probably the close ups that film allows, and the way Emma Thompson portrays both detached intellect and incredible suffering. The script still hasn't arrived via inter-library loan. It'll probably show up tomorrow.

Another weird coincidence. I was at a folk music concert this afternoon, and the woman who sat beside me was a teacher who suffers from some esoteric and currently incurable disease, and is in a clinical trial at Mayo Clinic. She said that she was afraid to be a guinea pig, but that so far the doctors have treated her very well. Lord, I hope so. After seeing Wit, I'm not sure I would choose that option.

Your comments about mirror neurons reminds me of research I read about building rapport, People who wish to build rapport with another (police interviewers, counselors, car sales people) consciously mirror posture, speech patterns, volume and pace, and so on. We're hard wired to respond to others, and the more we "mirror" them the more we are perceived as being someone others can like and trust.

My understanding of geography is OK, but my DH is a real whiz. What drives me nuts is how countries and cities change names. I have an iPod application called World Fact Book that has all sorts of info about the countries of the world, maps, flags, governments, etc. I'm constantly surprised by how often I find the thing updating changes.

I have a secret longing for a GPS unit. As I get older and my night eyes get dimmer, I have real trouble seeing little street signs. And it's scary to navigate cities when I drive alone. I'm considering asking Santa for some help of the electronic sort.

For what it's worth, I've Facebook to be very easy, and I was delighted to re-establish contact with my two nieces (one of whom I have not seen an several years) there. Through Facebook I have been able to see them, send notes, and see photos of their growing families. Face to face might be better, but for now Facebook keeps me somewhat in the loop as far as their lives are concerned.

My DH and I watched Emma Thompson in Wit yesterday, and I am still waiting for the script to arrive via interlibrary loan. We saw the play in Madison about eight years ago, and were impressed by the ideas in the play. Seems to me that the stage version ends slightly differently than the film did, but I have to read to be sure. I'll need to do my discussing tomorrow and next week, because then we'll be out of town for a week.

It occurred to me how interesting coincidences are in life: we went to the library Thursday evening to hear local doctor/professor/NPR host Zorba Paster speak about his ideas about living the "sweet" life. In short, his prescription is to take a vitamin every day, eat like a Mediterranean and include a glass of wine or beer (unless you have problems with that), exercise, and try to balance work, social ties, and spiritual concerns.

http://www.pri.org/zorba-paster-bio.html...

I'm afraid most of the characters in Wit lived unbalanced lives, short on relationships and long on intellectual concerns.

I have stuck admirably to my resolution to read only books of 500 or fewer pages this year, but next year I'm going to need to lay hands on that new Stephen King book. Can I count it as two books?

Kate, I am pleased to hear you have places to go and get the rest you need. :)

Welcome SocialGIrl. This is a good place to meet people and get ideas for reading.

I do not have an external drive, but out house has two full-sized Macs and I have a laptop.

Ouch, Alias. I'm feeling your pain - and still trying to rebuild what I lost with a hard drive crash last summer. I hope things work out for you.

I'm out of town, writing from my laptop, but when I get home next week I plan to watch Wit. I remember seeing the play and being very involved with the main character.

Connie, that's one depressing little poem!