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Adult Review: Arcadia by Tom Stoppard

9/27/2012

15 Comments

 
Arcadia Tom Stoppard cover
Arcadia
Author: Tom Stoppard
Publication Date: 1993
Publisher: Faber & Faber
[Goodreads|Amazon]

Blurb(GR):
 Arcadia takes us back and forth between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, ranging over the nature of truth and time, the difference between the Classical and the Romantic temperament, and the disruptive influence of sex on our orbits in life. Focusing on the mysteries—romantic, scientific, literary—that engage the minds and hearts of characters whose passions and lives intersect across scientific planes and centuries, it is “Stoppard’s richest, most ravishing comedy to date, a play of wit, intellect, language, brio and . . . emotion. It’s like a dream of levitation: you’re instantaneously aloft, soaring, banking, doing loop-the-loops and then, when you think you’re about to plummet to earth, swooping to a gentle touchdown of not easily described sweetness and sorrow . . . Exhilarating” (Vincent Canby, The New York Times).

Review:

This weekend I was looking at my almost seven year old daughter and marveling at how quickly she’s grown up.  I thought: she’s still so young and she’s still so new.  But then I thought: no, she’s not.  Not really.  The atoms and molecules that make up her body are actually billions of years old.  Inside, she carries pieces of what are now distant stars.  She carries pieces of the original humans.  She carries pieces of me.  She carries pieces of her children.  And yet, there has never been and there will never be her exact configuration of all of these pieces.  She will only exist for a fraction of the blink of an eye in the history of the universe.  She’s eternal, and she’s so terribly finite.

And I guess that is the main thing that blazed out at me from the pages of this play.  I may have missed the point.  I may have missed several points.  But overall, Stoppard made me think a lot about how we are both eternal and momentary.  Nothing is guaranteed.  Maybe there is a formula which could take into account the exact position and direction of every atom at a single moment and predict the future.  But there will always be an element of the unpredictable.  There will always be a theorem too long to transcribe or a letter gone astray or a candle left burning.  You might die on the eve of your seventeenth birthday.  You might live out decades of solitude and regret.  You only get this brief lifetime to make new discoveries and fail spectacularly and learn to waltz.  Our lives are one long chain of entropy trade-offs until we finally have nothing left to trade and become dust and ash.  But then again, we live on: in memories, however false; in our children; in the very soil.  Even things that we think are lost irrevocably have a tendency to turn up again (and again and again – if only we had the perspective to see it happening).

“We shed as we pick up, like travelers who must carry everything in their arms, and what we let fall will be picked up by those behind. The procession is very long and life is very short. We die on the march. But there is nothing outside the march so nothing can be lost to it. The missing plays of Sophocles will turn up piece by piece, or be written again in another language. Ancient cures for diseases will reveal themselves once more. Mathematical discoveries glimpsed and lost to view will have their time again.”

These are just a small fraction of the thoughts which were awakened to vivid clarity in me by this deceptively short, two act play.  Stoppard weaves together two generations with history, coincidence, and conjecture.   In the past, young student Thomasina and her tutor Septimus discuss geometry, thermodynamics, and carnal embraces during an eventful period at Sidley Park Manor.  In the future, “gutsy” academic Bernard tries (and mostly fails) to decipher the past and stir up some scandal about Lord Byron, while the more level-headed Hannah plays the voice of reason.  The two generations bleed into and out of each other.  Into this circular timeline Stoppard flawlessly integrates Fermat’s last theorem, fractal geometry, Newtonian physics, chaos theory, botany, adultery, and fatal monkey bites. 

I know that all sounds monumentally intellectual but please don’t be scared away.  This play is above all, witty, entertaining, and profoundly meaningful.

Perfect Musical Pairing
Chopin - Waltz Op. 64 No. 2 
Bonus (Flannery's pick!): Brad Mehldau - Exit Music (For a Film)

After reading this play I now have two more things to add to my bucket list:
1) Learn to Waltz
2) See Arcadia performed on stage.

5/5 Stars
Readventurer C Signature
15 Comments
Flannery (The Readventurer) link
9/27/2012 10:12:05 am

Thanks for suggesting this play to me. I'm definitely going to read more of his. It's also the first play I think I've read since high school and it just blew me away how much *more* is available in this format. You can stage direct people's facial expressions, thoughts and intentions, have multiple people speaking at the same time and weave conversations and misunderstandings together in a way that seems impossible in narrative writing. I don't think any book could ever have the quick wit and humor of plays.

I change my mind every hour or so about what song would be a good pick. How many did you listen to before picking that one? I like that is has its ups and downs like the play.

It's too bad you cannot just superimpose a picture of a tortoise behind this entire review.

Reply
Catie (The Readventurer) link
9/28/2012 01:11:49 am

Yes! I was really struck by that too - all the things that are possible in this format that could never be achieved in a novel format. That entire ending scene is a great example. This is the first play I've read in a really long time too.

I think I listened to about 6-7 various waltzes before I picked that one. I wanted one that was performed by a pianist and also that felt a bit lighter and more jazzy. The Viennese waltzes are much too rigid, haha.

OMG, that would be perfect. THE TORTOISE SEES ALL. He is ever present!

Reply
VeganYANerds link
9/27/2012 12:26:33 pm

Your review alone has got me thinking so I can't imagine the thoughts I'd be having if I read the play. It's so contradictory, we are mortal but we are made up of everything and will continue to be part of the world.

Like Flann, I haven't read a play since high school, so thanks for reviewing this, it's not something that I would ever have taken notice of before now :)

Reply
Catie (The Readventurer) link
9/28/2012 01:13:37 am

Thanks Mandee! Wouldn't it be amazing if it were somehow playing next year when you come to visit? I'd totally drag you to it. And make Flannery fly out.

Reply
Maja
9/27/2012 11:54:44 pm

I still think that you should write a bad review once. A useless, uninformative, rambly review, just to prove that you can.
I can't remember the last time I read a play. In fact, I can, it was in Uni and it was something I'd never choose for myself, some horrible, unimaginative Croatian play that left me pretty traumatized. Perhaps it's time to replace that memory with a better one.

Reply
Catie (The Readventurer) link
9/28/2012 01:17:32 am

Oh, whatever woman - you know I have tons of those. But thank you. :) You should check out some plays! I think you'd really love Oscar Wilde Maja. He seems like a Maja author - bitingly funny/witty commentary plus a dash of silliness. I think you'd like him.

Reply
Christina (A Reader of Fictions) link
9/28/2012 02:18:28 am

Ooooh, a play. I love plays. I, of course, have to read them out loud with voices for each character, which is super fun. I really don't know why I haven't investigated Tom Stoppard, since Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead. I will definitely keep an eye out for this!

Reply
Catie (The Readventurer) link
9/28/2012 10:53:46 am

Oooh, I need to read Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead! That will be my next one of his. I love to read things out loud too...and not just plays. And I always do the voices. :-\

Reply
Heidi link
9/28/2012 07:53:20 am

I think this review just made my head explode.

That's the thing I've always loved about Tom Stoppard though--his plays are incredibly entertaining but in a way that you don't necessarily notice how intellectual they are while consuming them. I haven't read or seen this one though!

Reply
Catie (The Readventurer) link
9/28/2012 10:55:34 am

Which ones have you seen, Heidi? I'm so jealous! You're right - this play is so hilarious and witty on the surface. I didn't necessarily realize how deep it would be until it was all already upon me.

Reply
Keertana @ Ivy Book Bindings link
9/28/2012 08:51:53 am

Catie, this review is simply BEAUTIFUL. I love the way you formatted it and your flow of ideas was not only exceptionally written, but it was SO convincing. Truth be told, I'm not a huge fan of plays. I like the stories behind Shakespeare's plays and I loooved Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, but I didn't enjoy the play format, BUT, you've convinced me to pick this up. I haven't heard a lot about Stoppard, but he seems to be an author worth reading. Your reviews are always so eye-opening, thought-provoking, and compel me to pick up books I would have never considered otherwise, so thank you dear Catie! :)

Reply
Catie (The Readventurer) link
9/28/2012 10:57:26 am

Ahh, that's so nice of you to say Keertana. I guess I did read quite a few plays in high school but I haven't read very many ever since. This one is spectacular though - I hope you like it!

Reply
Melody
12/14/2012 10:57:24 pm

I was just fumbling across this blog when what should I do but stumble across a review of my favorite play! I "discovered" Arcadia when I saw the limited engagement revival on Broadway a couple of years back. Since then, I've seen it in Chicago once as well. It's not nearly enough. If you can find an opportunity to see it staged, take it! I keep finding new bits every time I read/see it.

Reply
Catie (The Readventurer) link
12/18/2012 07:09:49 am

Ah, I really hope that I get to see it someday. Glad you stopped by Melody!

Reply
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1/31/2023 12:34:09 am

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