What do You think about The Real Inspector Hound And Other Plays (1998)?
This collection of shorter works from the 1970s is among the better Tom Stoppard I've read. The title piece, a send-up of Christie-style whodunnits, is a seamless work of beauty which effectively blurs the line between performers, audience, and the critics who attempt to mediate between them. Both a poke at the formulaic structure of "classic" murder mysteries as well as a dig at theater critics, "The Real Inspector Hound" is non-stop laughs. Although the word "clever" is chronically over-used, the mesh between Stoppard's plot and dialogue earns it here.Much the same praise extends to "After Magritte," which succeeds in exemplifying that artist's work. It toys with the dichotomy between appearance and reality, the subjective and the objective. Specifically, the capacity to view one's self objectively is called into question, as is the inevitability of viewing others subjectively."Dirty Linen," is paired with "New-Found-Land," and the two form an inseparable whole. Stoppard has managed to recycle the same setting for two very different stories, one taking place in the middle of the other. Thus, "Dirty Linen," a study of sexual mores as they relate to people (not just men) in positions of power is, effectively split into two scenes. Between these appears "New-Found-Land," an hilarious concentrate of bad American stereotypes, somehow both accurate and ludicrously off-base at the same time.The dog of the bunch here is "Dogg's Hamlet," which is a noble, but failed, experiment in the redefinition and understanding of language. Stoppard effectively demonstrates how language is an act of collusion, but his point is made in the introduction, and the playing out of the scenario quickly becomes tedious as long streams of seemingly unrelated words fly past at a rapid pace. Its companion piece, "Cahoot's Macbeth," is generally much more successful, painting a picture of the absurdity with which totalitarian regimes must live in constant terror of the power of words. Unfortunately, because it is tied in directly to "Dogg's Hamlet," it cannot be separated from that piece in any meaningful way. And by intertwining the two, the end of "Cahoot's Macbeth" comes off a bit muddled and perfunctory, like an engine suddenly running out of steam.Despite the faults which "Dogg's Hamlet" introduces into this volume, based on its contents, it is clear that the overall quality of Stoppard's work during the 1970s was astonishing. Fans of his work should be well-pleased.
—John
Tom Stoppard is extraordinarily erudite, and often very funny. I love his best known play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, and was also a big fan of his one and only novel. This collection didn't hit me the same way, though.The first play, the Real Inspector Hound, was my favorite. As others have said, it is both a send-up of the mystery genre and a commentary on criticism, while also managing to be funny to boot.Unfortunately, I thought there was diminishing returns on the rest of the plays, though it has crossed my mind that they may play better on stage where it would be easier to understand some of the action and blocking. While these plays can sometimes be clever, there really isn't much emotional pitch involved.
—Brett
