 "Raw, Realistic Drama" | 2008-09-14 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3OJFPKMCXKOM0 |
Lorraine Hansberry's famous play offers raw and realistic drama. The story examines conflicts and dreams within an African American family from Chicago's South Side in the 1950's, plus the effects of racism. The family includes Walter and Ruth Younger, his widowed mother Lena, son Travis, and sister Beneatha. Walter is a hard-working chauffeur who dreams of buying a liqour store before he loses his money to a con artist. Beneatha is an ambitious college student newly attracted to the back-to-Africa philosophy of her Nigerian friend, while Lena and Ruth dream of escaping their slum and buying a house in a better area. That latter dream becomes reality via the life insurance from Lena's late husband. Lena purchases a house in a better area, at which point the all-white neighborhood tries to pay off the Youngers to keep them from moving in. We see the family separate with the expected insurance settlement, only to reunite when faced with rejection.
This drama presents potent trends like resistance to integration, pan-Africanism, and militancy, but never becomes soapy or preachy. This play was first performed in 1959, as Chicago's South Side was fast turning from white to black - integration being defined by neighborhood activist Saul Alinsky as that brief period of time between when the first black family moves in and the last white family leaves. Sadly, several once-stable neighborhoods became crime-ridden slums, and cancer took Ms. Hansberry (1930-1965) at just 34. Still, her raw, realistic drama provides a powerful testament.
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 "Better than I was Expecting" | 2008-09-03 |
| - Reviewed By pastordmoo |
| I had to read this book for my senior AP english class and I was quite stunned when I realized that I actually liked it. I like to read, but not usually the books the teachers assign, and the other two books she had assigned turned out to not be all that good. I liked a Raisin in the Sun because it had just the right mix of drama, and humor. Lorraine Hansberry really knows when the drama has become too much and she adds in a little bit of humor like any great author would. I really liked the characters, especially Beneathea who I found to be especially poignant and humorous. This book did not have a greatly detailed plot, but it made up for it in the way it was presented. It wasn't supposed to be an adventure novel, so I wasn't looking for a whole lot of plot twists. I also liked the message it sent. |
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| "Good book - better play" | 2008-02-24 |
| - Reviewed By User: A9PEF4OW95LQS |
| It is a nice book. The characters personalities made the book good. If the characters were changed the book wouldn't be as good. The story shows the life of a black family in Chicago and their struggles through the years they lived there. |
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| "What Happens To A Dream Deferred?" | 2008-02-15 |
| - Reviewed By gft |
Produced in 1959, A RAISIN IN THE SUN was the first Broadway play written by a black woman: Lorraine Hansberry (1930-1965), a memorable author who based the central story on an incident that occurred in her own family and which eventually evolved into a landmark Supreme Court ruling in 1940 as Hansberry v. Lee.
The play presents us with three generations of the Younger family: the widowed matriarch Lena; her son Walter Lee and daughter Beaneatha; and Walter's wife Ruth and their son Travis. The family resides in a semi-slum apartment building on the south side of Chicago in the 1950s, where each tries to rise above the difficulties of their enviroment and the many social limitations imposed upon African-Americans at that time. But there is hope on the horizon: Lena is about to receive insurance money from her husband's death.
Unfortunately, instead of pulling the family together, the money actually drives them apart. Each member lays claim to it in some form or fashion. Lena dreams of owning her own home; daughter Bea is attending medical school and needs money to finish her degree; and most especially Walter Lee dreams of owning a liquior store. Bit by bit the pressure chips away at the family, already strained by years of frustration, and explodes at the play's climax--although not precisely in a way that one might foresee. When the explosion arrives it does not shatter the family; it unexpectedly reaffirms it.
When I review a play, I like point out that plays are not really intended to be read. They are intended to be seen on stage, where performing artists and designers breathe life into the lines and bring force to the story and its themes. This is true of every play. It may be especially true of A Raisin In The Sun, which on paper feels somewhat dry and slightly preachy. But I have seen the play performed--and let me assure that you that it brings the audience to hysterical laughter, painful tears, a sense of deep outrage, and an affection for its characters that few other modern plays can match. It is indeed a brilliant work and a great classic of 20th century American theatre.
GFT, Amazon Reviewer |
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 "Ho Hum Book - Good Play" | 2007-12-24 |
| - Reviewed By megavoyager2 |
| I found this a pretty boring book to read. Not particularly well written, but the overall story isn't bad. I really would recommend that you don't buy this book (get it from the library if you have to), but instead watch the dvd/video of the play (Danny Glover is hilarious in the lead role). |
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 "Realism at work" | 2007-11-29 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1V9AC6ZQMCKSC |
| I found that this play was somewhat easy to read but definitely fits into the realism genre which I'm not really into so much. The story in mainly one about race relations but also has a large amount of insight on family dynamics. If someone is particularly interested in either topic they may very well enjoy this play much more than I did. The writing itself and character building was excellent, I just wasn't much for the topic. |
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| ""A Raisin in the Sun" Review" | 2007-09-18 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2LQ24SIV4F5SK |
| The play "A Raisin in the Sun" was written by Lorraine Hansberry, and is about an African American family living in the southside of Chicago. The main characters of the play are Ruth, Walter Lee, Beneatha, and Lena (Mama) Younger. The story begins in the Younger apartment, which we soon learn has been the home of the Younger family for a long time. Hansberry does an excellent job in the way she gives the reader acumen of the background in the relationships of the Younger family. In the opening scene Walter has a fight with his wife, Ruth, and his mother, Lena, about money. After this argument the reader begins to read with alacrity as the play becomes more entertaining. Walter, who works as a driver for the wealthy, wants to use money that was his father's to buy shares in a liquor store. From this want of his he becomes acerbic in all of their conversations for use of the money. The rest of the family abjures his idea, and they begin to feel that he is an anathema to the family. Towards the end of the play the family finally agrees to use the money for a home in a typically white neighborhood. After expressing their interest in the home a man from the neighborhood comes and visits them and offers to pay the family to not buy the house. Everyone in the family, besides Walter, feels antipathy towards the man. Walter Lee considers taking the opportunity, but when the man comes back he finally decides that his family needs this home, and does not accept the man's offer. |
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| "A Raisin in the Sun novel" | 2007-08-24 |
| - Reviewed By User: A7VGFD5BHISF4 |
| The book was wonderful, fantastic, lovely, very great i enjoy every second of reading this book. I received the book two days in the mail after i purchased on line. I will do business with this seller again as well as recommend the seller to everyone. Thank N.G |
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| "A Good Read" | 2007-05-29 |
| - Reviewed By dlfarris |
| I had to read this book for my college class--history of the women's movement. It is a play and very easy to read. Very interesting and I probably read it in 2 days (but it could easily be read in 1 day). It has a powerful ending. |
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| "Well, son, I'll tell you: Life for me ain't been no crystal stair. - L. Hughes" | 2007-05-07 |
| - Reviewed By enshutch |
`A Raisin in the Sun' by Lorraine Hansberry is a play that has become a true American classic. In 1959 it hit Broadway like no other. James Baldwin proclaimed, "never before in the entire history of the American theater had so much of the truth of black people's lives been seen on stage." Since its opening, this play has garnered worldwide acclaim and spawned movies, music scores and literature.
The play depicts the plight of an African-American family, the Youngers, struggling in the 1950s. The title, inspired by a Langston Hughes' poem, refers to Walter Younger's dream to make it out of the South Side of Chicago. "What happens to a dream deferred? / Does it dry up / Like a raisin in the sun?....Or does it explode?"
Hansberry's realism is evidenced by the vividness and believability of the characters. They are so rich and powerful that over the years they have been portrayed only by some of the biggest names in the African-American theatrical community: Sidney Poiter, Ruby Dee, Esther Rolle, Ossie Davis, Phylicia Rashad, Audra McDonald. In 1994, I was fortunate to see the play at Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, GA starring the late Esther Rolle as Lena Younger and Kenny Leon, now director, as Walter Younger. I was not disappointed.
It is not by luck that this play has stood the test of time and made its indelible mark on the pages of African American literature. Take a few moments to observe the cast of characters through the playwright's pen and see the reason why it is a classic.
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