Book 4: Anna in the Tropics by Nilo Cruz: Review

A Cigar Label

Author: Nilo Cruz

Nationality: Cuban-American

Year Published: 2003

On this list because: Won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2003

Primary Location: Tampa, FL (Ybor City)

Edition I Read: A Nice little paperback, very pretty, from the Theatre Communications Group.

First Line:  ELIADES: Cockfights! See the winged beauties fighting in midair!

Drama

This is the first book in my list that is a play and not a novel. It is said that plays should be seen, not read, but I disagree, because there is a great tradition of both, and one of the great things about a play is that it can be enjoyed both ways. I’d not like to restrict myself unneccesarily to only seeing plays. That said, the difference between a drama and a novel was especially apparent in Anna and the Tropics after reading Anna Karenina, which so intensely conveyed the inner thoughts of its characters.

The dialogue in Anna and the Tropics is more poetic and less natural than most plays, which I think was meant to convey the deep connection between the lower-class cigar workers and the upper-class Tolstoy. I liked this play a lot, in that I found the characters likable and pleasant, and my mind was smiling as I read. But I did not have the same feeling of connection that I did with Tolstoy. I wonder if that is because Tolstoy is a superior writer to Cruz (which he surely is) or if it was a product of reading a play and not a novel. If I saw the play, would seeing the flesh and blood humans create that connection which I think is missing?

Book 3.5: Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy: Review

Author: Leo Tolstoy

Translator: Constance Garnett

Nationality: Russian

On this List Because: a prerequisite reading for Book 4: Anna in the Tropics by Nilo Cruz

Primary Locations: Moscow, St. Petersburg and the surrounding countryside, Russia

Secondary Locations: Italy; Baden, Germany

Edition I read: A used hardcover published in 1978 by the Bobbs-Merrill Company. It has green colouring on the top of the pages.

First Sentence: Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.

What a great book! So heavy, and yet so fun and easy to read, even in the moments that seemed most mundane. The basic strength, as I mentioned in my last post, was Tolstoy’s insight into how humans think, from the very beginning of the novel until the end, when Levin has a spiritual epiphany, but then is shocked and disappointed when everything about his life isn’t changed. That has happened to me I can’t tell you how many times.

Book 3.5: Anna Karenina: Parts 1-3

How Can I Better Use My Peasants? and other important questions asked in Tolstoy's classic Anna Karenina

Just finished Part 3 of Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, I am on page 380 of a 870 page copy.

I ended up buying the book used, this option having the best combination of cheapness and it also allows me to keep the book for a long enough time to read it, plus all the other pros I mentioned in my last entry. The copy I got is from the 70s (I think), a hardcover that is coloured green along the tops of the pages. I took off the dust jacket so I could more easily transport it around in my backpack, and the naked book cover has the initials “A K” and a little picture of Anna holding an umbrella, which I quite like. The used bookstore I went to was having a half-off sale, and I got it for ten bucks.

Book 4 Announced

This one is guaranteed to be a Pulitzer, either for fiction or drama.

Anna Karenina

The 3 options for book 4, following Middlesex, were as follows:

1,2 = North = Empire Falls by Richard Russo, Pulitzer Prize 2002

3,4 = East = Anna in the Tropics by Nilo Cruz, Pulitzer Prize for Drama 2003

5,6 = South = The Known World by Edward P. Jones, Pulitzer Prize 2004

I rolled a 4, so I will be reading Anna in the Tropics.