# of Words: 276

The wide range of topics in Tom Stoppard's Arcadia has made it a popular for faculty freshman-year read-alongs, as a book which, ideally, may appeal to anyone from emo poets to science nerds. Early reviewers of Arcadia's initial run remarked that Tom Stoppard, like the Tin Man at The Wizard of Oz, had at long last discovered his heart.

After almost three decades of plays that a saw more as intellectual exercises compared to heartfelt drama (Stoppard's first success was with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, a play that retells Hamlet from the point of view of its two most insignificant characters), lots of commentators felt that Stoppard was eventually getting his emotional groove on. While his subsequent plays have been successful both in London and on Broadway, Arcadia and great old Rosencrantz and Guildenstern remain the plays for which Stoppard is best known.

While Arcadia can seem as a model of English-ness (which can make it a little confusing for an American audience), Tom Stoppard was actually born in Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic), under the name Tomas Straussler. He lived in India before moving to England. While England has become his adopted home, Stoppard has also never forgotten his origins: his play Indian Ink is set, not surprisingly, in India, and his latest work, Rock 'n' Roll, moves between Cambridge and Prague. Along with the Czechs haven't forgotten him either: there's a Tom Stoppard Prize, given to writers of Czech origin. Besides his plays, Stoppard has also worked for decades on human rights problems in Eastern Europe and elsewhere...so maybe those critics shouldn't have needed Arcadia to know that he had a heart.

Related Papers

East Of Eden John Steinbeck

He has written about mice and men, and a few wrathful grapes, however at his novel East of Eden, John Steinbeck sets his sights a bit high and takes on the Book of Genesis. That is right--our guy Steinbeck might have been writing in 1952 and based his story during that awkward time when the 19th century became the 20th, but his subject matter comes from manner further back. But even though Steinbeck stepped into religious territory, Easy of Eden is still chock full of all the classic Steinbeck......Read More

Dracula Bram Stoker

Back in 1897, Bram Stoker took fundamental European folk stories and turned them into one of the most well-known horror books of all time. However, the CW is not going to be speccing a script about this man anytime soon--at least, not Dracula as Stoker composed him. Stoker's Dracula is not young and sparkly-hot; he is creepy, old, also has a penchant for turning into bats and clouds of mist. Creepy, older, and occasionally downright dull (only stop with the rail schedules, Mina)--yes. But just......Read More

Dune Frank Herbert

Envision a dune. If you're like most people, you likely see a large heap of sand. However, this one man, Frank Herbert, watched something else completely. The article was never finish, however, the research took hold of Herbert's head, and also an idea for a story began massaging at the back of his mind. Well, not exactly history. Herbert would shell out another six decades researching and writing the story sparked by an easy visit to the Oregon Coast. Then the story will originally be printed......Read More

Related Topics