The Voice of the Turtle.
by John van Druten, John van Druten
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Book Summary Information
Author: John van DrutenEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1998-01
ISBN: 0822212137
Number of pages: 72
Publisher: Dramatists Play Service, Inc.
Book Reviews of The Voice of the Turtle.
Book Review: The Story Behind My Amazon Pen Name/ 5 3/4 stars....
Summary: 5 Stars
(the "3/4" to be explained, I promise!)
I had my first real relationship with a guy when I was in my late teens and already in college. He turned out to be dishonest and insincere, and he really hurt my very tender young feelings. I was so upset I couldn't even find solace in reading a good novel; I just couldn't concentrate.
Some time after that break-up, I was listlessly wandering around the library (a place that usually energizes me no end), wanting a good book but just finding nothing appealing for my state of mind. I happened to run across this book here, this play, "The Voice of the Turtle," and the title caught my eye. I love turtles, a turtle was my very first pet, and to me, there's something almost heartbreaking about a turtle -- it's slow, slow progress just makes it seem so heartachingly vulnerable, kind of like a very old, tired, feeble person. I felt something clutch at my heart just from the title of this play I had never heard of, and I took the book off the shelf and decided to take it home without even looking inside.
I then remembered reading somewhere that Dorothy Parker had had much heartbreak/disappointment in her romantic life, and she wrote about it in her poetry and short stories. I looked for something by her in the library, found it, and checked it out, along with "Turtle."
I had never, not once, up to that time, read a play or a short story for pleasure. Only for school. I was a voracious reader, but, up to that time, I had only read novels for pleasure.
I started with Parker's short stories, and they were, indeed, excellent for what ailed me. But after five or six, I wanted a change, and I turned to "Turtle." Well, that play was more than perfect for what ailed me; in fact, the main female character, SALLY PAGE, was going through something similar (just similar; not exactly the same, of course) to what I was going through, and, to top it off, Sally was reading Dorothy Parker's poems for comfort!! Whatever you want to call it, serendipity, synchronicity, I don't even know the right word, whatever it was, the bottom line was that this play was mending my broken heart.
I read the play through and then immediately went back to the beginning and read it again. And again. And again. I was reading it for a fifth time, and was 3/4 of the way through, on the day that I met the man who was to become my husband. I never completed that other 1/4 -- meeting that wonderful man made everything all better, right away.
I told my husband that story, and I always used to joke that I'd still be reading that play if he hadn't come along!
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