Alan Bennett: Plays 2 : Kafka's Dick, the Insurance Man, the Old Country, an Englishman Abroad, a Question of Attribution (Faber Contemporary Classics) (v. 2) [Paperback]

Alan Bennett (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1998 | Series: Faber Contemporary Classics

A second collection of Alan Bennett plays, including "Kafka's Dick", "The Insurance Man", "The Old Country", "An Englishman Abroad", and "A Question of Attribution".

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Faber & Faber (June 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0571194427
• ISBN-13: 978-0571194421
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #901,368 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Alan Bennett is a renowned playwright and essayist, a succession of whose plays have been staged at the Royal National Theatre and whose screenplay for The Madness of King George was nominated for an Academy Award. He made his first stage appearance with Beyond the Fringe and his latest play was The Lady in the Van with Maggie Smith. Episodes from his award-winning Talking Heads series have been shown on PBS. His first novel, The Clothes They Stood Up In, was published in 2000. He lives in London.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Funny and Thoughtful Plays, May 12, 2000

By 

KS (US) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Alan Bennett: Plays 2 : Kafka's Dick, the Insurance Man, the Old Country, an Englishman Abroad, a Question of Attribution (Faber Contemporary Classics) (v. 2) (Paperback)

I disagree with the other reviewer: while "Kafka's Dick" is a very fine play, I found "An Englishman Abroad" and "A Question of Attribution" both more substantial and more entertaining. I've since had the chance to the TV film versions of both (produced, I think, for the BBC). If you ever get a chance to see either of these, don't pass it up. Until then, the scripts will do.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Insurance Man's excellent, September 30, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Alan Bennett: Plays 2 : Kafka's Dick, the Insurance Man, the Old Country, an Englishman Abroad, a Question of Attribution (Faber Contemporary Classics) (v. 2) (Paperback)

I can only comment on the Insurance Man, which was made into one of the best films (for BBC TV I think) I've ever seen - portraying a late 19th/early 20th century manual worker's attempt to get compensation for an industrial disease from a nightmare Kafkaesque bureaucracy. Kafka himself emerges as the Insurance Man of the title at the end (this was in fact Kafka's day job, and his writings reflect the sinister world he lived in).

Whether this would work as a play I don't know, and it might be hard to read on paper, but it made a great film. I only wish I could get it on video (which was how I ended up here writing this review - I was searching the web for a video of the film).

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars brilliance and wit, November 7, 2001

By 

Nicoletta Stanculescu "nico" (Chicago) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Alan Bennett: Plays 2 : Kafka's Dick, the Insurance Man, the Old Country, an Englishman Abroad, a Question of Attribution (Faber Contemporary Classics) (v. 2) (Paperback)

"the question of attribution" is a most brilliant juxtaposition of aesthetics and ethics, a subtle amalgam of truth and honesty explored through the power of art. "kafka's dick," on the other hand, sews the world of fiction with the crudeness of reality by bringing together a most fantastic and imaginative play. bennett remains british wit at its sublime.