Based on historical people and real events, Arthur Miller's play uses the destructive power of socially sanctioned violence unleashed by the rumors of witchcraft as a powerful parable about McCarthyism.

Arthur Miller, born in New York City, has been a prominent and influential playwright for the last half-century. His works include Death of a Salesman, The Crucible, and All My Sons. He has twice won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award and in 1949 was awarded the Pulitzer Prize.

RELEASE NOTES:

Sent to livrecache for my 3rd BC birthday draw.

I think I did this at school or sometime, but it''s such a powerful play, and I loved the film! (Always makes a difference!) Thanks, catsalive!

Off to fairy-whispers to accompany Credo on its journey after being claimed in the Oz VBB Round 7.

RELEASE NOTES:

A hitch-hiker

This book arrived a few minutes ago. I have been wanting to read this ever since we studied Arthur Miller in grade 8. Our class did Death of a Salesman, while the other class got to do The Crucible. At the time I was jealous but, looking back, I now see the value in Death of a Salesman. In any case, I never seemed to get around to reading The Crucible. Thank you for giving me the opportunity!

I first heard of this play when we studied Arthur Miller in high school. Of course it was the other class that got to study The Crucible - we got stuck with Death of a Salesman. At the time this was cause for jealousy, though the intervening years have taught me the value of Death of a Salesman. Despite a great desire to do so, I never seemed to get around to reading The Crucible. It was worth the wait.

This play is full of drama and suspense, despite the fact that the events it describes are well known. The parallels between Salem and the McCarthy era are obvious, but not so obvious as to spoil enjoyment. Other, more recent (and perhaps more disturbing) parallels can be drawn between Salem's treatment of their women (and McCarthy's paranoid witch-hunts) and today's paranoia about terrorism.

The Crucible was written well before modern events were even predicted, however the comparison remains valid. Today's society responds to the word 'terrorist' with the same knee-jerk reaction as the citizens of the 1950's did with the mention of 'communism' and the good people of Salem with the mention of 'witch'; and we are just as quick to condemn. This play is definitely worth reading, and I would like to see it performed sometime.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Ultimate Challenge 2008 - No Theme
Released as part of freelunch's OzVBB

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Have a great day and may you always have a good book to read!

Thanks fairy-whispers. This book arrived safely. I recently read Arthur Miller's autobiography and am now trying to read some of his plays. I'm looking forward to this, but with hundreds of other books to read as well it might be a while before I'll get to this.

Donated to the yearly bookfest booksale.
I did read this book some time ago, and forgot to journal at the time.
I quite enjoyed the book. It's a strong story, though a bit preachy at times.