Rock 'n' Roll: A New Play (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"'The acceptable face of colossal braininess.' Daily Telegraph" --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description

Rock ’n’ Roll is an electrifying collision of the romantic and the revolutionary. It is 1968 and the world is ablaze with rebellion, accompanied by a sound track of the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan. Clutching his prized collection of rock albums, Jan, a Cambridge graduate student, returns to his homeland of Czechoslovakia just as Soviet tanks roll into Prague. When security forces tighten their grip on artistic expression, Jan is inexorably drawn toward a dangerous act of dissent. Back in England, Jan’s volcanic mentor, Max, faces a war of his own as his free-spirited daughter and his cancer-stricken wife attempt to break through his walls of academic and emotional obstinacy. Over the next twenty years of love, espionage, chance, and loss, the extraordinary lives of Jan and Max spin and intersect until an unexpected reunion forces them to see what is truly worth the fight.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Grove Press (May 10, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802143075
• ISBN-13: 978-0802143075
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #67,082 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #4 in	Books > Literature & Fiction > Authors, A-Z > ( S ) > Stoppard, Tom
  #5 in	Books > History > Europe > Czech Republic

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Less Intellect, More Drama Needed, January 30, 2008

By	John F. Rooney - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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On January 11, 2008, I saw Tom Stoppard's Rock `n' Roll on Broadway with Brian Cox and Sinead Cusack in starring roles. Stoppard was born in Czechoslovakia and left with his family at an early age to escape from the Hitler terror. The play is about the Communist rule in his native country and the power of rock and roll to help breach cracks in the totalitarian regime. The music of the young was probably more influential and revolutionary than the endless petitions by the dissidents.
As usual with a Stoppard play, it is talky, clever, more focused on the political and philosophical than the truly dramatic. There's no question that Stoppard is bright and witty, but unfortunately his plays can be murky at times. The scenes in the play are separated by segments of rock and roll tracks by the Rolling Stones, the Plastic People, Pink Floyd, John Lennon, and others.
The women in this play and his "Coast of Utopia" are more vibrant, more dramatically potent, more believable, and draw more of an emotional response from the audience than his male characters who blather on and on, and who are more political, more theoretical, and ineffective. One scene near the end of Act One between Max and his wife Eleanor in which she confronts him with the cancer killing her is an emotionally draining one for the audience and the dramatic highpoint of the play. Stoppard's women get to you in your gut. His men at times seem to be drowning in gibberish.
There are few playwrights as daring, innovative, and intellectual as Stoppard, but there are other playwrights who are more dramatically and emotionally disturbing.

3.0 out of 5 stars Rock 'n Roll, the play, October 20, 2009

By	Duane M. Timm "opera lover" (Fort Lauderdale, FL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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I purchased the book, "Rock 'n Roll" because I was going to see a performance of the play. I knew that with many characters in the play, plus transferring the action between Prague and Cambridge would be confusing. I was already acquainted with the characters and scenes so I was comfortable at the performance. Stoppard is difficult. However, after the performance in discussion with friends, we found the play to be enlightening. I owe most of my participation to having read the book. I do not think I would have read the book without plans to see the play.

5.0 out of 5 stars Rock N' Roll, July 10, 2009

By	N. Kain - See all my reviews

Stoppard is a genius. Although the play is much better on stage, the script is a great read. I would highly recommend it.