Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw

10 reviews

raindrop_'s review against another edition

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reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Es una oba muy entretenida para leer desde un punto de vista superficial, a pesar de la gran abundancia de personajes insoportables. Desde un punto de vista más profundo, es realmente interesante. Me da un poco de pena haberlo leído con insomnio y no haber sido capaz de retener ni la mitad de eso, pero creo que no es el tipo de libro en el que sienta que me compense releerlo en un momento más lúcido. Ha sido una buena experiencia, pero ya está.
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mariahmmm's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Synopsis
In this play, phonetics experts Higgins and Colonel Pickering take on the challenge of raising the spirited flowergirl Liza Doolittle from the gutter to a refined lady through teaching her the Queen's English. 

Review
A clever story and good insight into how malleable human nature can be. One star deducted as the story dealt less with the "how" and more with setting the scene. 

The play itself was a little dissatisfying in that there were many unanswered questions surrounding the outcome of such a huge transformation for Liza, but the epilogue provided much of the explanations needed.

There were interesting parallels with the Ovid poem, where Pygmalion (here Higgins) created his perfect woman in a statue named Galatea (Liza), with Shaw answering the question of if love is possible when one is the other's god. 
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kate_has_book_thoughts's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

 ✨   Reviews are for Readers ✨
         Any spoilers are hidden! 

I read this book as an ebook. 

If you enjoy reading classics, you may be able to appreciate this play. Be prepared for some outdated views, especially in regards to class and sexism.

My issue with the play is that each act jumps quite a bit forward in time and I felt like I missed out on reading about the things that happened between acts.
For example:
The book is about two men making a bet that they can teach a lower class woman how to speak and act like a high society woman, and train her so well that she can go to an event and pass as a lady. We don’t get to read about them teaching her how to speak or act like a lady, and we don’t get to see the event they attend as the big test. We only hear about these things after they’ve happened. I was disappointed to say the least.


Though I didn’t enjoy Pygmalion very much, it’s short and easily accessible (It's free via the Project Gutenberg website), so it’s worth reading if you want to be able to say you’ve read it. 

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mangopassion555's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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seapotatohowisitalrtaken's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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colorful_lulu's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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saliwali's review against another edition

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funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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cubbykay's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted fast-paced
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

A play once ahead of it's time, now is a bit archaic. Good for Shaw being a feminist before it was cool. Someone had to do it. But these days, it's soaked with misogyny. It still has very witty dialogue and banter that I thoroughly enjoyed, and it's still an entertaining and engaging story. It's easy to step into the shoes of Liza and feel her struggle and her victories. It is unfortunate that Shaw saw the need to write an epilogue later on. It is deeply shaded by developments in Shaw's personal life and completely undermines the ending of the original writing. In the end, I enjoyed reading it. 
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c_lizziebeth's review against another edition

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funny hopeful informative reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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decembermagpie's review against another edition

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emotional funny inspiring lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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