#j.b.priestley

“The good companions” van J.B.Priestley werd gepubliceerd in juli 1929. Het boek werd meteen een groot succes en maakte Priestley in één klap beroemd. Continue reading “The good companions” van J.B.Priestley

Dreams, detective stories, long trousers and the Marx Brothers! #jbpriestley #delight

Delight by J.B. Priestley

As I mentioned in my last post, I’ve been indulging in some polyreading – and this is the reason why! “Delight” is a book I picked up on a whim a little while back; I’d read Simon’s review of it, and thought it sounded perfect. I love Priestley’s rather grumpy writing persona (which I explored in a wonderful collection of his essaysfrom Notting Hill Editions), although…

An Inspector Calls - J. B. Priestley

Rating: 7/10

This play is a very easy and also incredibly interesting and entertaining, certainly a play that will make you think, the genre of murder mystery is always one to keep you on your toes!

The narrative is focused around the Birling family and the morality behind decisions that they have made in their past, all revolving around one girl - Eva Smith. As the play continues you learn about the relationships between characters as well as the different personalities of the characters too. The play is set at the home of the Birlings where the family are celebrating the engagement of Sheila and Gerald when a Detective Inspector arrives at the door after dinner regarding a woman called Eva Smith who’s bodie has been found dead after committing suicide by drinking strong disinfectant. The Inspector begins to poke and prod at the pasts of the characters - specifically decisions that they have made - making links and connections between characters and revealing some rather shocking and unexpected events…

The play often makes references to war and prosperity as it is seen to foreshadow the First World War as it is set in 1914 England, however the play was first performed in 1945. At the time of writing Priestley injected elements of foreshadowing and pathetic fallacy into the play as well as creating an atmosphere of dramatic irony due to the naive attitude that the characters have when speaking of peace, prosperity and a gleaming future, whereas the audience know the bitter truth to the actual future - i.e we know of impending war and the characters do not.

I was very fortunate in studying this play for GCSE English Literature and thoroughly enjoyed researching themes and delving deeper into this play in order to discover more and uncover hidden meanings.

深い前知識なしで読んだので、開いてみてまず感じたのが、

「あ、こういう感じね・・・」という。

この本は、小説ではなく台本である。

登場人物は比較的少なく、舞台もほぼ１つなので、外国のやたら(なじみのない名前の)登場人物が多い小説のように途中で混乱することはない。

幸せな夜に突然現れた来訪者によって、悲惨な物語がとつとつと進展していく…

すらすらと読めてしまうのだが、その先に待っているのは、

大・どんでん返し！　返し！

ラノベ風に言うなら、

えーーっ！！あ、えぇー！？

で見開き割くレベル。

物語もさることながら、この本で衝撃を受けたのは、あとがきだった。

訳者である、安藤貞雄氏が書いているあとがきを読むと、この作品が書かれた時代背景や著者の人物像が知れ、作品の向こう側にあるテーマや、込められた著者の思いなどを初めて理解することができる。

基本的に、本は最初から読んでいく人間なのだが、あとがきを読んだ後に、そのベースをもってもう一度読み直したくなった。

訳者がこんなこと書けるのか、と、もはや感心する質の高さ。

何で訳者がここまで汲めるのか、訳者ってそこまで深く作品に関与して翻訳してるの？と思って、この人をググってみたが、やはり普通の翻訳家ではなく英文学の教授だった。

これを知ってみると、確かに日本語に色気がなかったような気もするが、作品を楽しむという意味では、この翻訳とあとがきはとても味わい深いものがある。