Wit: A Play by Margaret Edson Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Wit: A Play
Book Review: Perfection
Summary: 5 Stars
This play is nothing short of beautiful. I read W;t this afternoon, and it was the most genuinely moving, heart-wrenching work of art that I have yet encountered. Written with the utmost eloquence and truth (and, of course, wit), Ms. Edson creates an utterly facinating and spirited character in Vivian Bearing, a brilliant, hard-nosed professor of 17th century poetry, specifically the Holy Sonnets of John Donne, who is diagnosed with fourth stage ovarian cancer. I insist that everyone either get your tickets for W;t at the Union Square Theatre or go to your local bookseller and pick up a copy of the play. It is one that you will never forget.Book Review: Phenomenal play, with great insight into the sociology of medicine
Summary: 5 Stars
This play is still appropriate, years after being written, as a keen insight into several challenging facets of the medical world, suffering, and difficult and long illnesses. It asks questions about how science and medicine interact, about how people and the science of medicine interact, and how that is portrayed and presented to the patient.
It's not just a controversial play on the philosophy of science and medicine, but it is also an examination of the relational and social aspects of one very successful academic's life and struggle with her cancer. It attempts to make very poignant remarks on who is important, why, and how, and generally succeeds in making the reader think deeply about how the end might look with friend, family, and others.
The HBO movie is a great visual representation of this play. Read the play first, then watch the movie.
Book Review: Raw food for thought
Summary: 3 Stars
I am not familiar with the works of John Donne. I think I could have enjoyed this play so much more if I were. This play is a heart-wrenching witnessing of the final months in the life of a woman suffering from ovarian cancer. A rather quick read, both by flow and sheer amount of pages, Wit nonetheless says everything it has to say in unequivocal terms, and it is in that where I found some fault. Dr. Jason is very one-dimensional: for him, patients are the mere vehicles where cancer resides, and cancer is the ultimate enemy. He sees his research as a fight, a battle of the wits, between cancerous cells and intelligent brains such as his. Villains (and heroes) are rarely so simplistic. The beauty of evil is that it is so often (and paradoxically) intermingled with confusion and self-doubt, the same way goodness is. In that sense, Vivian was better portrayed. She was no saint, yet her epiphany is almost holy (as it should very well be).
Book Review: So powerful -- it will stay with you
Summary: 5 Stars
I've seen the play onstage and on HBO, so I was anxious to experience the work in written form.
I was not disappointed. Somehow, Professor Bearing's journey through our tangled and misguided medical system take on new meaning when read in the quiet of one's room.
While the subject matter is grim, I found Professor Bearing's struggle uplifting and hopeful. There is dignity in dying and there is life after death.
Of that, I am sure.
Book Review: Something we should all read!
Summary: 5 Stars
I have worked with cancer patients and believe this story to be realistic and heart-wrenching. It made me remember the suffering of others-that we can help them and walk with them.