An Inspector Calls and Other Plays (Penguin Modern Classics)

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The phrasing may sound old-fashioned, but the point is not; given that, in the modern period, we’re prone to expecting an apocalypse any day now, Priestley’s play, and his suggestion that if it comes the guilty party will not be them but us, is quite timely. The Linden Tree" also challenges preconceived ideas of history when Professor Linden comes into conflict with his family about how life should be lived after the war.

It has a powerful political message which we will all learn in “fire, blood and anguish” if we don’t listen. Apparently, he seems to know that the industrialist Ormund and his wife Janet are due to arrive there - and also about the drama to be played out between them and Oliver Farrant, a schoolmaster teaching at one of the Ormund schools.You can see where a lot of the plot points are going to go in the third act but it doesn’t make it any less enjoyable to see play out.

This is the most straightforward play among the lot, describing a situation similar to the one in Time and the Conways, but with a much nicer family, and relatively a more pleasant resolution. It should not be overlooked that Priestley was an outstanding essayist, and many of his short pieces best capture his passions and his great talent and his mastery of the English language.I needed this book also asap as it is a text I am teaching a home tutored pupil and schools don't have the resources usually to supply a home tutor a text. Like Time and the Conways, this one begins on a birthday; Professor Linden, nominally the head of this two-generation family, teaches history; he’s turning 65 and is being pressed to retire; time (the birthday) has brought the family together from other cities in two countries, but time (its passage over years) has spread them apart; how the characters see things depends in part on their age; Elgar’s cello concerto is discussed twice, for its evocation of times past; etc.

Time and the Conways and I Have Been Here Before belong to Priestley's 'time'plays, in which he explores the idea of precognition and pits fate against free will. It becomes clear only gradually that the stakes are high, with marriage and happiness and careers and a business empire and one person’s life on the table. John Boynton Priestley, the son of a schoolmaster, was born in Bradford in September 1894, and after schooling he worked for a time in the local wool trade. And with that comes hope for all the characters, and all the characters they influence and will influence. Well, not exactly, but the nature of time has been an indispensable part of creative literature ever since stories began to be told.It is the record of man as a spiritual creature, with a whole world of unknown continents and strange seas, gardens of Paradise and cities lit with hell-fire, within the depths of his own soul. I believe that the best part and the aspect that makes me love this play so much is that despite having a moral at the end, it really is like a book with stage directions.

I absolutely loved the building up of the suspense, the characters and how each of them had a story, the interconnection of the lives of all the characters, and the message behind it. Certainly the characters in the play are very engaging and the ending is excellent, namely the hint of the resurgence of the spirit of a great professor who has almost, but not quite, been crushed by circumstances outside his control. You want proof that guessing what the author meant when they made something or someone up doesn't work? It's once again Kay's birthday party, this time the fortieth, but the occasion is far from pleasant: the Conways have lost their wealth, relationships have formed and broken down, and most of the family (except Alan) have become disillusioned and embittered. I Have Been Here Before', another 'time' play, is based on a theory of Time and Human Life as a recurring cycle.All in all though this all took a week and meant I was reading and preparing for 4 hours well into the night to prepare for my pupil who had by this time missed a couple of lessons! I Have Been Here Before' seamlessly incorporates a playfully serious hypothesis about the nature of Time into the action.