Ebook8 pages3 minutes
The Seagull
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
()
About this ebook
While my wife, Breda, and I we were on holiday in Portugal recently, a strange thing happened, something that I am still trying to come to terms with,
It was a hot day and I was lying in bed, enjoying a welcome rest after a busy few hours shopping for all those tacky souvenirs one feels obliged to bring home and distribute amongst close family and friends, each holiday. The patio door to the balcony was open, allowing a cool breeze into our hot apartment.
I was really enjoying the holiday. I hadn’t a care in the world, but then I saw it, a seagull that was staring into our apartment, with its beady, piercing eyes watching our every move. I sat up in bed, gazing curiously at it. The seagull, however, seemed oblivious to how I was feeling, and the fact that he was encroaching on our privacy.
“Look,” I whispered to Breda, “see what’s looking in at us.”
“It must be hungry. Give it something to eat,” she said impatiently to me.
It was a hot day and I was lying in bed, enjoying a welcome rest after a busy few hours shopping for all those tacky souvenirs one feels obliged to bring home and distribute amongst close family and friends, each holiday. The patio door to the balcony was open, allowing a cool breeze into our hot apartment.
I was really enjoying the holiday. I hadn’t a care in the world, but then I saw it, a seagull that was staring into our apartment, with its beady, piercing eyes watching our every move. I sat up in bed, gazing curiously at it. The seagull, however, seemed oblivious to how I was feeling, and the fact that he was encroaching on our privacy.
“Look,” I whispered to Breda, “see what’s looking in at us.”
“It must be hungry. Give it something to eat,” she said impatiently to me.
Read more from Gerrard Wilson
My Crazmad Book of Poems Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNamaland Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Three Faerie Sisters and the Big Bad Wolf Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGarlic and Stink Bomb Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Holy Picture That Almost Scared Me to Death Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLike a Storm Trooper Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThunder and Lightning Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSunday Morning Coming Down Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAliens Landed In Ballykilduff Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Circus of Grotesques Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReilly the Slug Gets His Comeuppance Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Christmas Fairytale Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsI Saw Fire In the Sky Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCroaky the Frog Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSearching for Alocyrrehcyzzif Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGod, Dog and Beelzebub Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDanger Is My Middle Name Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMad Mr Viscous Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Air-raid Shelters Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Punt On the Thames Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWot and Nott's Race Against Time: Part Two - the Realm of the Black Crystals Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsI Fell Down a Waterfall Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBeetles About! Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCastleknock Henry Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsConfused By the Night Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Witches Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThings That Go Bump In the Night Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTwo Bold Little Boys Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Three Faerie Sisters and the Golden Locket Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to The Seagull
Related ebooks
The Nightmare Game System Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAngel Flights Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Mysterious Disappearance of Kurt Kramer: A Romantic Teenage Sci-Fi Thriller - Book 1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Deep Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Four AM Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGirl's Night OUt Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Accidental Death Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Great Gatsby Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Fox Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Can't Sleep, Won't Sleep, Volume 7. Grownup Stories for Bedtimes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWild Child Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Among Wolves Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOut Of Time: The Dream Traveler, #1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Clarity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Running in the Moonlight Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSahara Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Broken for You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tomboy: A Jane Benjamin Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bittersweet Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Magician: Dark Romance Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Young Lions: A Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Arrival: The BirthRight Trilogy, #1 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5What will become of you? Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Atom Bomb Baby: A Dystopian Retro-Future Adventure Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDying to Forget, Book 1 of The Station Series Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lethal Dissection Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Nightmare in Central Park Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Start of Something Good: Jamett & Joseph Series, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBuilt for Dreams Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Speed Queen Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Fantasy For You
The Priory of the Orange Tree Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Is How You Lose the Time War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Stories of Ray Bradbury Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The City of Dreaming Books Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Piranesi Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tress of the Emerald Sea: Secret Projects, #1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Assassin and the Pirate Lord: A Throne of Glass Novella Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Assassin and the Desert: A Throne of Glass Novella Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Immortal Longings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fellowship Of The Ring: Being the First Part of The Lord of the Rings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Assassin and the Underworld: A Throne of Glass Novella Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fairy Tale Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Picture of Dorian Gray (The Original 1890 Uncensored Edition + The Expanded and Revised 1891 Edition) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Silmarillion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Don Quixote: [Complete & Illustrated] Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Phantom Tollbooth Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Golem and the Jinni: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Assassin and the Empire: A Throne of Glass Novella Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Eyes of the Dragon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Talisman: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Neverwhere: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nettle & Bone Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Labyrinth of Dreaming Books: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Titus Groan Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Seagull
Rating: 3.8946280578512398 out of 5 stars
4/5
242 ratings9 reviews
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Absolute birdshit. No this is not a new flavor of vodka.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A fairly standard setting of Russian drama, I feel, with drama and death and love and everything expected.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Very impressed. Feels crisp and modern. I prefer Chekhov's plays to his short stories.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How easy it is, Doctor, to be a philosopher on paper and, how difficult in real life.
The Seagull was a delightful exploration of binary contrasts, a meditation rocking the countryside as a mélange of folk gather by the shore of a lake for some Slavic R&R: adultery and suicide. I am only kidding. Echoing Hemingway, one would imagine all of Mother Rus hanging themselves judging by the pages of its marvelous literature. The contrast between urban and rural is explored as is the space between art and labor. Regret happens to ruminate and the servants receive a whole ruble to divide amongst themselves. There's a play-within-the-play which somehow struck me as did Bergman's Through A Glass Darkly and everyone appears to be quoting Hamlet. Substitute a sea gull for an albatross and pen a portrait of the artist (or author) as lecher and Bob's your uncle (but not Vanya). - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The best Seagull I've seen is Stoppard's at the Old Vic in London. In fact, I bought a signed copy of Stoppard's text--as an Eastern European, I figured his Russian was better than mine. His English is, too, I say having just seen his Arcadia for the third time, first time it made real sense; in fact, one time at the Royal Court I sat next to a Cambridge prof whose history of English I had on my shelf in the states; he had returned twice because of the play's confusions. He should have come here to the Gamm Theater in Rhode Island, directed by Fred Sullivan, Jr, brilliantly. The academic played by the Gamm's Tony Estrella presented a great parody slide lecture; also, the presence of the computer made Thomasina the 18C prodigy's math insights all the more convincing.Behind me in line for the Seagull at the Old Vic was the director of the Hong Kong Shakespeare Company.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Summary (on some review-page): The Seagull by Anton Chekhov is a slice-of-life drama set in the Russian countryside at the end of the 19th century. The cast of characters is dissatisfied with their lives. Some desire love. Some desire success. Some desire artistic genius. No one, however, ever seems to attain happiness.I’m a big fan of L.A. Theatre Works - but not even this fine audiobook-production with Calista Flockhart could save this “self-occupied” play. A lot of modern existential ideas are at play here - a psychological story about self-centered artists who are unable to connect with each other or get any fulfillment out of life.I’m now wondering if I should listen to more of Chekhov’s plays.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This is what I found in my experience: some plays read well - just like any novel, while others have to be performed to be enjoyed fully. To me, "The Seagull" is definitely of the latter type. Even though I've just re-read this play in its original language (my mother tongue) and should have been smitten by Chekhov's prose, I wasn't. Ideas in the dialogues rang true, but the dialogues themselves didn't - again, on stage they probably would. The infusion of drama (some would say melodrama?) and the symbolism are, of course, undeniable. My favorite part was Trigorin's monologue about the essence of a writer's life.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I saw a brilliant production of this play on Broadway (brought over from London) a few years ago, so I guess I wouldn't say read it, I would say, if you can see a first class production of it that gets the humor and doesn't make Kostya a clueless sad sack, sell part of your book collection to get a ticket. For a writer, it's all about your worst nightmares. For anyone, the final scene between the two failed young lovers, and what follows, is devastating.
But reading it is worthwhile too. Just pick a good translation and remember that the author had a very dry and brutal sense of humor.
As a writer, I am always in awe of Chekhov. His characters, his dramatic structures, his settings, there is nobody like him. He was so good, in every way, and apparently once said he could toss off a salable short story about anything, about the ashtray in front of him. He was boasting, but I'm sure it was true. - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Bloody good but gloomy stuff, definitly realistic in the gloomy sense of the world.
Book preview
The Seagull - Gerrard Wilson
Enjoying the preview?
Page 1 of 1