Author: Willy Russell
Pages: 112
Genre: Play, Drama
Book Description:
A Liverpudlian West Side Story: twin brothers are separated at birth because their mother cannot afford to keep them both. She gives one of them away to wealthy Mrs Lyons and they grow up as friends in ignorance of their fraternity until the inevitable quarrel unleashes a blood-bath.
My Opinion:
During my time at secondary school, I came across this play as part of my English course. It follows the lives of two twin brothers that were separated at birth. One grows up in a high middle-class family whilst the other is raised by his real mother in a council estate. I really enjoyed studying this.
The best part of this play was the story line. Most authors use the well known, literary technique of flashback to hint at things that happened in the past. Interestingly, Russell does the opposite and frequently flashes forward in the text. This is a really unique feature of the play because we get to see how the two boys grow up and how their lives intertwine.
I thought the ending was also really well written because it was unexpected. Personally, I find that plays that end in tragedy are usually the best (perhaps why I love Shakespeare's work!) because it can be so surprising and sad. The ending really made me think about how the characters in this novel acted and how things could have been different if different choices had been made in the beginning.
The characters were interesting and had a lot of depth to them. I enjoyed the contrast between the two brothers since this linked to how the environment you've been raised in change shape your personality.
The play itself was quite short so it's a nice and quick read, as most play's usually are. To some degree, I would've liked to have heard more about the boy's life, however I also felt like everything wrapped up well and there were no loose ends or unanswered questions.
Overall I do recommend reading this if you're looking to explore more genres or fiction besides novels, since this is short, yet full of tragedy, humor and even a small romance!
Favourite Quotes:
The best part of this play was the story line. Most authors use the well known, literary technique of flashback to hint at things that happened in the past. Interestingly, Russell does the opposite and frequently flashes forward in the text. This is a really unique feature of the play because we get to see how the two boys grow up and how their lives intertwine.
I thought the ending was also really well written because it was unexpected. Personally, I find that plays that end in tragedy are usually the best (perhaps why I love Shakespeare's work!) because it can be so surprising and sad. The ending really made me think about how the characters in this novel acted and how things could have been different if different choices had been made in the beginning.
The characters were interesting and had a lot of depth to them. I enjoyed the contrast between the two brothers since this linked to how the environment you've been raised in change shape your personality.
The play itself was quite short so it's a nice and quick read, as most play's usually are. To some degree, I would've liked to have heard more about the boy's life, however I also felt like everything wrapped up well and there were no loose ends or unanswered questions.
Overall I do recommend reading this if you're looking to explore more genres or fiction besides novels, since this is short, yet full of tragedy, humor and even a small romance!
Favourite Quotes:
See,this means that we're blood brothers, an' that we always have to stand by each other
Rating ★
3 out of 5 stars
Next book I'm going to review:
The Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen
The Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen
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