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The Century Cycle #6
Fences
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play. Now a Major Motion Picture directed by and starring Denzel Washington.
From August Wilson, author of The Piano Lesson and the 1984-85 Broadway season's best play, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, is another powerful, stunning dramatic work that has won him numerous critical acclaim including the 1987 Tony Award for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize. The protagonist of Fences (part of Wilson's ten-part Pittsburgh Cycle plays), Troy Maxson, is a strong man, a hard man. He has had to be to survive. Troy Maxson has gone through life in an America where to be proud and black is to face pressures that could crush a man, body and soul. But the 1950s are yielding to the new spirit of liberation in the 1960s, a spirit that is changing the world Troy Maxson has learned to deal with the only way he can, a spirit that is making him a stranger, angry and afraid, in a world he never knew and to a wife and son he understands less and less.
From August Wilson, author of The Piano Lesson and the 1984-85 Broadway season's best play, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, is another powerful, stunning dramatic work that has won him numerous critical acclaim including the 1987 Tony Award for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize. The protagonist of Fences (part of Wilson's ten-part Pittsburgh Cycle plays), Troy Maxson, is a strong man, a hard man. He has had to be to survive. Troy Maxson has gone through life in an America where to be proud and black is to face pressures that could crush a man, body and soul. But the 1950s are yielding to the new spirit of liberation in the 1960s, a spirit that is changing the world Troy Maxson has learned to deal with the only way he can, a spirit that is making him a stranger, angry and afraid, in a world he never knew and to a wife and son he understands less and less.
101 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1986
About the author
August Wilson
58 books528 followersAmerican playwright August Wilson won a Pulitzer Prize for
Fences
in 1985 and for
The Piano Lesson
in 1987.
His literary legacy embraces the ten series and received twice for drama for The Pittsburgh Cycle . Each depicted the comic and tragic aspects of the African-American experience, set in different decade of the 20th century.
Daisy Wilson, an African American cleaning woman from North Carolina, in the hill district of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, bore Frederick August Kittel, Junior, the fourth of six children, to Frederick August Kittel, Senior, a German immigrant baker. From North Carolina, maternal grandmother of Wilson earlier sought a better life and walked to Pennsylvania. After his fifth year, his mother raised the children alone in a two-room apartment above a grocery store at 1727 Bedford Avenue.
After death of Frederick August Kittel, Senior, in 1965, his son changed his name to August Wilson to honor his mother.
In 1968, Wilson co-founded the black horizon theater in the hill district of Pittsburgh alongside Rob Penny, his friend. People first performed his Recycling for audiences in small theaters and public housing community centers. Among these early efforts, he revised Jitney more than two decades later as part of his ten-cycle on 20th-century Pittsburgh.
Wilson married three times. His first marriage to Brenda Burton lasted from 1969 to 1972. She bore him Sakina Ansari, a daughter, in 1970.
Vernell Lillie founded of the Kuntu repertory theatre at the University of Pittsburgh in 1974 and, two years later, directed The Homecoming of Wilson in 1976.
Wilson also co-founded the workshop of Kuntu to bring African-Americans together and to assist them in publication and production. Both organizations still act.
Claude Purdy, friend and director, suggested to Wilson to move to Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 1978 and helped him secure a job with educational scripts for the science museum. In 1980, he received a fellowship for the center in Minneapolis. Wilson long associated with the penumbra theatre company, which gave the premieres, of Saint Paul.
In 1981, he married to Judy Oliver, a social worker, and they divorced in 1990.
Wilson received many honorary degrees, including an honorary doctor of humanities from the University of Pittsburgh, where he served as a member of the board of trustees from 1992 until 1995.
Wilson got a best known Tony award and the New York circle of drama critics; he authored Ma Rainey's Black Bottom , and Joe Turner's Come and Gone .
In 1994, Wilson left Saint Paul and developed a relationship with Seattle repertory theatre. Ultimately, only Seattle repertory theater in the country produced all works in his ten-cycle and his one-man show How I Learned What I Learned .
Constanza Romero, his costume designer and third wife from 1994, bore Azula Carmen, his second daughter.
In 2005, August Wilson received the Anisfield-Wolf lifetime achievement award.
Wilson reported diagnosis with liver cancer in June 2005 with three to five months to live. He passed away at Swedish medical center in Seattle, and people interred his body at Greenwood cemetery, Pittsburgh on 8 October 2005.
His literary legacy embraces the ten series and received twice for drama for The Pittsburgh Cycle . Each depicted the comic and tragic aspects of the African-American experience, set in different decade of the 20th century.
Daisy Wilson, an African American cleaning woman from North Carolina, in the hill district of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, bore Frederick August Kittel, Junior, the fourth of six children, to Frederick August Kittel, Senior, a German immigrant baker. From North Carolina, maternal grandmother of Wilson earlier sought a better life and walked to Pennsylvania. After his fifth year, his mother raised the children alone in a two-room apartment above a grocery store at 1727 Bedford Avenue.
After death of Frederick August Kittel, Senior, in 1965, his son changed his name to August Wilson to honor his mother.
In 1968, Wilson co-founded the black horizon theater in the hill district of Pittsburgh alongside Rob Penny, his friend. People first performed his Recycling for audiences in small theaters and public housing community centers. Among these early efforts, he revised Jitney more than two decades later as part of his ten-cycle on 20th-century Pittsburgh.
Wilson married three times. His first marriage to Brenda Burton lasted from 1969 to 1972. She bore him Sakina Ansari, a daughter, in 1970.
Vernell Lillie founded of the Kuntu repertory theatre at the University of Pittsburgh in 1974 and, two years later, directed The Homecoming of Wilson in 1976.
Wilson also co-founded the workshop of Kuntu to bring African-Americans together and to assist them in publication and production. Both organizations still act.
Claude Purdy, friend and director, suggested to Wilson to move to Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 1978 and helped him secure a job with educational scripts for the science museum. In 1980, he received a fellowship for the center in Minneapolis. Wilson long associated with the penumbra theatre company, which gave the premieres, of Saint Paul.
In 1981, he married to Judy Oliver, a social worker, and they divorced in 1990.
Wilson received many honorary degrees, including an honorary doctor of humanities from the University of Pittsburgh, where he served as a member of the board of trustees from 1992 until 1995.
Wilson got a best known Tony award and the New York circle of drama critics; he authored Ma Rainey's Black Bottom , and Joe Turner's Come and Gone .
In 1994, Wilson left Saint Paul and developed a relationship with Seattle repertory theatre. Ultimately, only Seattle repertory theater in the country produced all works in his ten-cycle and his one-man show How I Learned What I Learned .
Constanza Romero, his costume designer and third wife from 1994, bore Azula Carmen, his second daughter.
In 2005, August Wilson received the Anisfield-Wolf lifetime achievement award.
Wilson reported diagnosis with liver cancer in June 2005 with three to five months to live. He passed away at Swedish medical center in Seattle, and people interred his body at Greenwood cemetery, Pittsburgh on 8 October 2005.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,010 reviews
December 29, 2016
Fences, a new movie starring Denzel Washington and Viola Davis, is a Pulitzer Prize winning drama by August Wilson. Part of Wilson's Century cycle of plays each depicting one decade of African American life during the 20th century, Fences takes us back to the 1950s when African Americans were first beginning to make inroads into white society.
Troy Maxson has been married to Rose for eighteen years. A family man, he has worked as a garbage collector alongside his closest friend Bono during this time. Although steady pay, the two men wonder why only white men can drive trucks while Negros collect trash. This leads Troy to question his union boss and take his grievances to a commission. In the years between Jackie Robinson integrating baseball and the passage of the Civil Rights Act, it was not likely for Maxson to achieve his promotion.
Meanwhile, Rose has been steady by his side as a typical 1950s housewife. She desires the best for their son Cory, who has been offered a football scholarship at a North Carolina university. Troy rather than looking toward the future, is rooted in the past, partially bitter and reminiscing that he never had a shot at the major leagues. A recurring theme in Wilson's Century plays, the playwright has multiple characters with an eye toward achieving the American dream with one protagonist living in his traditions of the past. In Fences, Troy Maxson is this such character as he would rather that Cory follow in his footsteps than be his own person.
Additionally, Troy has to look out for his brother Gabe, who had been disabled during World War II, and Lyons, a son from a first marriage. Each character in this drama would like a slice of the pie during a decade that is the crossroads of the 20th century. As Jackie Robinson has achieved the ultimate American dream, African Americans believe that anything is possible. This is embodied in Cory who desires to play football and earn a college education. This puts Rose in a precarious situation because during the 1950s, her position was to value her husband's position rather than her own opinion. These powerful characters create a poignant prose and memorable second act.
Fences first starred James Earl Jones as Troy Maxson. One of the premier actors of the last fifty years, I would have loved to see him in this role. August Wilson has created a legacy in his Century cycle plays, four of which earned the Pulitzer and other multiple awards. Having read the Piano Lesson and Fences, I am looking forward to reading the Cycle to its completion at the end of the century. A powerful drama, Fences is deserving of its Pulitzer and five star rating.
Troy Maxson has been married to Rose for eighteen years. A family man, he has worked as a garbage collector alongside his closest friend Bono during this time. Although steady pay, the two men wonder why only white men can drive trucks while Negros collect trash. This leads Troy to question his union boss and take his grievances to a commission. In the years between Jackie Robinson integrating baseball and the passage of the Civil Rights Act, it was not likely for Maxson to achieve his promotion.
Meanwhile, Rose has been steady by his side as a typical 1950s housewife. She desires the best for their son Cory, who has been offered a football scholarship at a North Carolina university. Troy rather than looking toward the future, is rooted in the past, partially bitter and reminiscing that he never had a shot at the major leagues. A recurring theme in Wilson's Century plays, the playwright has multiple characters with an eye toward achieving the American dream with one protagonist living in his traditions of the past. In Fences, Troy Maxson is this such character as he would rather that Cory follow in his footsteps than be his own person.
Additionally, Troy has to look out for his brother Gabe, who had been disabled during World War II, and Lyons, a son from a first marriage. Each character in this drama would like a slice of the pie during a decade that is the crossroads of the 20th century. As Jackie Robinson has achieved the ultimate American dream, African Americans believe that anything is possible. This is embodied in Cory who desires to play football and earn a college education. This puts Rose in a precarious situation because during the 1950s, her position was to value her husband's position rather than her own opinion. These powerful characters create a poignant prose and memorable second act.
Fences first starred James Earl Jones as Troy Maxson. One of the premier actors of the last fifty years, I would have loved to see him in this role. August Wilson has created a legacy in his Century cycle plays, four of which earned the Pulitzer and other multiple awards. Having read the Piano Lesson and Fences, I am looking forward to reading the Cycle to its completion at the end of the century. A powerful drama, Fences is deserving of its Pulitzer and five star rating.
March 11, 2020
Whenever I think of Troy, I think of James Earl Jones, the man who created the part. Sure, I saw Denzel Washington in the movie, and Denzel is pretty good in it too, but Troy should be played by a man tall enough and broad enough for tragedy: a massive man, with a massive voice, like ol’ Daddy Darth Vader his own self.
August Wilson’s Fences--the greatest play written by an African-American and one of the finest plays written by anybody anywhere—is the story of middle-aged Troy Maxson, once a legendary hitter of the Negro League but now a trash collector in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is an admirable man, in his own way, dedicated to fulfilling his responsibilities as a breadwinner to his wife and their son. But a life of economic and emotional impoverishment—first as the son of a vicious sharecropper, later as prisoner, and then as a black ball player with no opportunity to compete in the major leagues—has left him bitter, shriveled up inside, unavailable to the people who love him.
As we watch this damaged man make choices, most of which prove to be wrong, we feel both pity and terror for him, at his growing fear of death, at the great waste that has become his life. Yet we never quite feel we are witnessing a tragedy, for Troy, magnificent as he is, as noble as destiny has formed him, has been fenced in by poverty and racism so thoroughly that even a small tragedy—like Willy Loman’s, for example—will be forever denied him.
A tragic hero deprived of tragedy: that is Troy Maxson’s fate. Yet the play nevertheless ends with something like an apotheosis: in his wife’s Rose summing up (“I don’t know if he was right or wrong … but I do know he meant to do more good than he meant to do harm”); in his two children who sing again an old song Troy once sang; and in his brain-damaged brother Gabriel, who raises a trumpet to his lips to blow his brother past St. Peter's Gate, right into his fenced-in heavenly home.
I’ll conclude with Troy’s last soliloquy, spoken to Death after Death has come for the mother of his newborn daughter:
Alright...Mr. Death. See now...I’m gonna tell you what I’m gonna do. I’m gonna take and build me a fence around this yard. See? I’m gonna build me a fence around what belongs to me. And then I want you to stay on the other side. See? You stay over there until you’re ready for me. Then you come on. Bring your army. Bring your sickle. Bring your wrestling clothes. I ain’t gonna fall down on my vigilance this time. You ain’t gonna sneak up on me no more. When you ready for me...when the top of your list say Troy Maxson...that’s when you come around here. You come up and knock on the front door. Ain’t nobody else got nothing to do with this. This is between you and me. Man to man. You stay on the other side of that fence until you ready for me. Then you come up and knock on the front door. Anytime you want. I’ll be ready for you.
October 2, 2023
I read this in college for my "The Drama" course. I'm looking forward to watching the film.
February 12, 2024
نمایشنامه حصارها، داستانی داره که روایتگره دوره ای تاریخی اجتماعی حساس و جالب از زندگی مهاجران و سیاهپوستان آفریقایی آمریکایی هستش که در پیتسبورگ، پنسیلوانیا زندگی میکردن. ماجرای این درام در سال ۱۹۵۷ اتفاق می افته. داستان این نمایشنامه درباره تروی مرد سیاهپوست ۵۶ ساله و خانواده اش هستش. ما توی این نمایشنامه با موضوعات متن��عی از نژادپرستی، ارزشهای خانوادگی، روابط افراد، شکاف نسل ها و مرگ روبرو میشیم ولی همه اینها فقط در کنار شخصیت پردازی پیچیده و عمیق تروی، پدر خانواده، هستش که شکل میگیره و انسجام پیدا میکنه. تروی شخصیت کلیدی و مرکز ثقل داستان و کسیه که هرگز قادر به فهم و کشفش نمیشید . این شخصیت رو (میشه با ویلی لومن در نمایشنامه مرگ فروشنده از آرتور میلر مقایسه کرد). تروی توی این نمایشنامه پدریه که با کارهاش آسیب های زیادی به خانواده می زنه، سرنوشت همه خانواده رو بنوعی تحت تأثیر کنترلگری هاش عوض میکنه و در نهایت همه اینها رو زیر ماسک فداکاری و محافظت از خانواده انجام میده(چقدر آشنا).
.....
یک اقتباس سینمایی وفادار هم از این نمایشنامه ساخته شده، بنابراین فرقی نمیکنه اگه نمایشنامه رو بخونید یا فیلم رو ببینید، میتونید اینجا ادش کنید 😁
.....
یک اقتباس سینمایی وفادار هم از این نمایشنامه ساخته شده، بنابراین فرقی نمیکنه اگه نمایشنامه رو بخونید یا فیلم رو ببینید، میتونید اینجا ادش کنید 😁
April 25, 2017
3.5 Stars
1987 Pulitzer prize winner for drama
Fences is a very interesting period drama set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and the year is 1957. The story is all about Troy, a 53 years old African-American and his family. We get to experience Troy's relationship with various members of the play and each of them is unique.
We are exposed to many themes here: Racism, family values, relationships, and death are some of them. But the story thrives on the complicated characterization of Troy. He is one character you'll never be able to figure out. Seriously, I've never read a character as complicated as Troy. He does a lot of damage in this play, but he could've done worse and he didn't. Does that make him a better person?
Oh, Troy. You got to me real good here.
Overall, read this for the complexity of our lead character.
Can't wait to watch Denzel Washington's take on the character!
--------------------------------------
Update
And Denzel Washington did an admirable job bringing life to Troy in the movie. So did others.
The movie adapts the play completely (line-by-line) and adds some more materials to the story. So If you've seen the movie, you've experienced the play!
1987 Pulitzer prize winner for drama
"Some people build fences to keep people out and other people build fences to keep people in"
Fences is a very interesting period drama set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and the year is 1957. The story is all about Troy, a 53 years old African-American and his family. We get to experience Troy's relationship with various members of the play and each of them is unique.
We are exposed to many themes here: Racism, family values, relationships, and death are some of them. But the story thrives on the complicated characterization of Troy. He is one character you'll never be able to figure out. Seriously, I've never read a character as complicated as Troy. He does a lot of damage in this play, but he could've done worse and he didn't. Does that make him a better person?
Oh, Troy. You got to me real good here.
Overall, read this for the complexity of our lead character.
Can't wait to watch Denzel Washington's take on the character!
--------------------------------------
Update
And Denzel Washington did an admirable job bringing life to Troy in the movie. So did others.
The movie adapts the play completely (line-by-line) and adds some more materials to the story. So If you've seen the movie, you've experienced the play!
February 9, 2017
Description: "In his work, Mr. Wilson depicted the struggles of black Americans with uncommon lyrical richness, theatrical density and emotional heft, in plays that give vivid voices to people on the frayed margins of life." The New York Times
From August Wilson, author of The Piano Lesson and the 1984-85 Broadway season's best play, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, is another powerful, stunning dramatic work that has won him numerous critical acclaim including the 1987 Tony Award for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize. The protagonist of Fences (part of Wilson's ten-part Pittsburgh Cycle plays), Troy Maxson, is a strong man, a hard man. He has had to be to survive. Troy Maxson has gone through life in an America where to be proud and black is to face pressures that could crush a man, body and soul. But the 1950s are yielding to the new spirit of liberation in the 1960s, a spirit that is changing the world Troy Maxson has learned to deal with the only way he can, a spirit that is making him a stranger, angry and afraid, in a world he never knew and to a wife and son he understands less and less.
Oscar:
2* La La Land
6* Hidden Figures
4* Fences
4* Florence Foster Jenkins
From August Wilson, author of The Piano Lesson and the 1984-85 Broadway season's best play, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, is another powerful, stunning dramatic work that has won him numerous critical acclaim including the 1987 Tony Award for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize. The protagonist of Fences (part of Wilson's ten-part Pittsburgh Cycle plays), Troy Maxson, is a strong man, a hard man. He has had to be to survive. Troy Maxson has gone through life in an America where to be proud and black is to face pressures that could crush a man, body and soul. But the 1950s are yielding to the new spirit of liberation in the 1960s, a spirit that is changing the world Troy Maxson has learned to deal with the only way he can, a spirit that is making him a stranger, angry and afraid, in a world he never knew and to a wife and son he understands less and less.
Oscar:
2* La La Land
6* Hidden Figures
4* Fences
4* Florence Foster Jenkins
January 1, 2023
I highly recommend this play! I saw it performed live in the West End and was blown away. The play itself has so many raw pieces of the African-American culture woven into it that you can't help, but feel as if Wilson is talking to you as he writes the play. It sort of feels like he looked into a piece of your soul and wrote what was hidden deep inside of it. Even if you're not of African or African-American descent, you'll find something in this play to love. The play is a quick read and worth watching if you ever get a chance to see it performed live.*
*Update: Go see the film with Denzel Washington and Viola David. It will make you cry just because of the simplicity and deepness of the production.
P.S. Denzel was robbed of that Oscar!
*Update: Go see the film with Denzel Washington and Viola David. It will make you cry just because of the simplicity and deepness of the production.
P.S. Denzel was robbed of that Oscar!
June 24, 2022
This is damn near perfect theater. Wilson is giving characters, drama, tension, and SPEECHES! I’ve read this no less than 3 times and it’s better ever single time. Troy Maxon is easily one of the best characters in the American theatre.
November 6, 2023
"Fences" is the August Wilson play set in the 1950s in his ten-part "Century Cycle" about the experiences of African-Americans. The main character is Troy, an illiterate but very hard working trash collector in Pittsburgh. Troy was an excellent baseball player when he was younger, but he never realized his dream of making it to Major League Baseball because he was too old when he was released after a fifteen-year prison sentence. Racial discrimination was also prevalent in MLB, although the color barrier was starting to be broken. The play revolves around Troy's relationships with his wife, his two sons, his best friend, and his brother.
Conversations give us Troy's past history as the son of a stern, abusive father. Troy is a flawed man with a severe parenting style with no room for listening to his children's dreams - although he loved them in his own way. The epigraph of the play, poetry written by Wilson, is about the influence of fathers:
"When the sins of our fathers visit us
We do not have to play host.
We can banish them with forgiveness
As God, in His Largeness and Laws."
"Fences" was a good choice as a title for the play. A fence can keep people out or enclose people in, emotionally and physically. That symbol is used many times in the play regarding relationships, Troy's time in prison, the baseball field, as a barrier from the Grim Reaper, and representing racial discrimination.
I saw the 2016 movie years ago featuring Denzel Washington and Viola Davis which has excellent dramatic acting. Even just reading the play is a fine experience because Wilson's writing is so good. "Fences" won the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the 1987 Tony Award for Best Play.
Conversations give us Troy's past history as the son of a stern, abusive father. Troy is a flawed man with a severe parenting style with no room for listening to his children's dreams - although he loved them in his own way. The epigraph of the play, poetry written by Wilson, is about the influence of fathers:
"When the sins of our fathers visit us
We do not have to play host.
We can banish them with forgiveness
As God, in His Largeness and Laws."
"Fences" was a good choice as a title for the play. A fence can keep people out or enclose people in, emotionally and physically. That symbol is used many times in the play regarding relationships, Troy's time in prison, the baseball field, as a barrier from the Grim Reaper, and representing racial discrimination.
I saw the 2016 movie years ago featuring Denzel Washington and Viola Davis which has excellent dramatic acting. Even just reading the play is a fine experience because Wilson's writing is so good. "Fences" won the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the 1987 Tony Award for Best Play.
January 6, 2021
I saw the original play back in 1985 with James Earl Jones and a young Courtney B. Vance. With the release of the movie with Denzel Washington and Viola Davis I was compelled to add the book to my reading list. The book is truly fulfilling as the author does a marvelous job drawing you into each character, but also the time frame and the settings. This is not done in a hurry but with effective storytelling and description. Like many stories put into movies, this book goes deeper for the reader to feel the emotion of each scene as they were a part of it.
December 21, 2016
Fences is Phenomenal
What a wonderful play. I wish I had seen the original starring James Earl Jones as Troy Maxson and Mary Alice as Rose. At the beginning of the book it lists the original players and mentally they fit perfectly. I pictured them the whole time. Even though I have never seen this live there is so much life in August Wilson's words that just reading it you can almost see the play.
I feel the need to apologize to the memory of August Wilson for living in his birth city and the location of many of his plays and am just now venturing into appreciating his work. August Wilson was born right home here in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He grew up in the Hill District, where I had friends living in this area and I went to church every single week through most of my childhood. Although he was from a different time period than I, it was amazing reading this play and feeling so connected as it took place in my town. There was mention of the Pirates and before them one of our Negro League teams, the Homestead Grays. Two local hospitals that are still around Mercy and Passavant were mentioned. Troy mentions his promotion to a garbage route through Greentree vs the previous one through Hazelwood, two places I'm familiar with. Lyons, Troy's son plays gigs with bands at the Historic Crawford Grill. It felt wonderful reading a book/play that takes place in my town.
Responsibility and Family are the two main themes of this play.
The word responsibility is repeated various times throughout this play. The jacket synopsis gives a good description and I don't want to spoil this for anyone because it is a must read. If it plays in your city, it is a must see. There is resounding lessons. Regardless of life's disappointments and curve balls, nothing is more important then family and taking care of ones responsibility.
I love the dialogue. It's only 100 pages. I recommend this whole heartedly. A friend and I just discussed how all of August's plays should be required reading in our city public schools. I will definitely be reading more plays by him and running to the nearest public theater that puts one on. Perfection. 7 Deb stars/5GR.
Addendum: I can't wait to see this movie with Denzel Washington and Viola Davis filmed right here in Pittsburgh. I actually happened to see them filming a little bit as I happened to drive past their filming site. Looking forward to comparing the book to the movie and looking for all the familiar landmarks.
What a wonderful play. I wish I had seen the original starring James Earl Jones as Troy Maxson and Mary Alice as Rose. At the beginning of the book it lists the original players and mentally they fit perfectly. I pictured them the whole time. Even though I have never seen this live there is so much life in August Wilson's words that just reading it you can almost see the play.
I feel the need to apologize to the memory of August Wilson for living in his birth city and the location of many of his plays and am just now venturing into appreciating his work. August Wilson was born right home here in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He grew up in the Hill District, where I had friends living in this area and I went to church every single week through most of my childhood. Although he was from a different time period than I, it was amazing reading this play and feeling so connected as it took place in my town. There was mention of the Pirates and before them one of our Negro League teams, the Homestead Grays. Two local hospitals that are still around Mercy and Passavant were mentioned. Troy mentions his promotion to a garbage route through Greentree vs the previous one through Hazelwood, two places I'm familiar with. Lyons, Troy's son plays gigs with bands at the Historic Crawford Grill. It felt wonderful reading a book/play that takes place in my town.
Responsibility and Family are the two main themes of this play.
The word responsibility is repeated various times throughout this play. The jacket synopsis gives a good description and I don't want to spoil this for anyone because it is a must read. If it plays in your city, it is a must see. There is resounding lessons. Regardless of life's disappointments and curve balls, nothing is more important then family and taking care of ones responsibility.
I love the dialogue. It's only 100 pages. I recommend this whole heartedly. A friend and I just discussed how all of August's plays should be required reading in our city public schools. I will definitely be reading more plays by him and running to the nearest public theater that puts one on. Perfection. 7 Deb stars/5GR.
Addendum: I can't wait to see this movie with Denzel Washington and Viola Davis filmed right here in Pittsburgh. I actually happened to see them filming a little bit as I happened to drive past their filming site. Looking forward to comparing the book to the movie and looking for all the familiar landmarks.
May 22, 2024
"That's all death is to me. A fastball on the outside corner"--Troy Maxson.
Fences (1986) by August Wilson, #6 in his decalogue, his century cycle of one play each decade of the twentieth-century focused on black experience in America, is a masterpiece, the best of the bunch I have read so far, and they are all great. It was awarded the Pulitzer prize for Drama in 1987, and is one of those in my humble opinion richly deserves it.
Fences takes place in 1957, and is about. Troy Maxon, a garbageman, a former baseball player hitting for the fences, building an actual fence for his home, and trying to fence outside infuences/threats out and keep his family fenced in, circling the wagons. Troy Maxson, now in his fifties, married eighteen years to Rose, who puts up wih his self-denial (bullshitting, lying: the first line of the play has Rose confront him: "Troy, you ought to stop that lying." The son of a sharecropper who never could make ends meet (and you know how sharecoropping worked for black people post slavery), he was in prison for several years and all of his wives left him. Until Rose.
Rose to me is the heart of the play, one of the great chracters in American theater history. The play reminds me of Death of a Salesman and could be read as a pair of the greatest plays about the American Dream, but Rose is even a greater chracter than Linda Loman. Linda Loman has one terrific play at the end of Death, but Rose also has powerful speeches in this play.
Troy's bff also calls bs on Troy, and notes that Troy may be visiting another woman, warning him not to mess up a good thing he has with Rose. Troy doesn't have a good relationship with his two sons, discouraging one from going to college on a football scholarhip, convinced the white man will never give his son a proper cut of the proceeds if he plays football.
Troy was a baseball player after prison and pre-Jackie Robinson, and could have made the Big Leagues, but the timing was off. And: "The colored guy got to be twice as good to make the team."
This play has amazing language, music, great speeches, anguished tragic action, humor, some of it bawdy, and two of the greatest characters in American theater history. There's magic in it, and deep pain, and a kind of accceptance Rose reveals to us in finding a way to speak to the betrayal she experiences. I love the ecstatic poetry of the disabled Gabriel in thevery end, marvelous. That trumpet!
"You got more stories in you than the devil got sinners"--Bono, to Troy
Fences (1986) by August Wilson, #6 in his decalogue, his century cycle of one play each decade of the twentieth-century focused on black experience in America, is a masterpiece, the best of the bunch I have read so far, and they are all great. It was awarded the Pulitzer prize for Drama in 1987, and is one of those in my humble opinion richly deserves it.
Fences takes place in 1957, and is about. Troy Maxon, a garbageman, a former baseball player hitting for the fences, building an actual fence for his home, and trying to fence outside infuences/threats out and keep his family fenced in, circling the wagons. Troy Maxson, now in his fifties, married eighteen years to Rose, who puts up wih his self-denial (bullshitting, lying: the first line of the play has Rose confront him: "Troy, you ought to stop that lying." The son of a sharecropper who never could make ends meet (and you know how sharecoropping worked for black people post slavery), he was in prison for several years and all of his wives left him. Until Rose.
Rose to me is the heart of the play, one of the great chracters in American theater history. The play reminds me of Death of a Salesman and could be read as a pair of the greatest plays about the American Dream, but Rose is even a greater chracter than Linda Loman. Linda Loman has one terrific play at the end of Death, but Rose also has powerful speeches in this play.
Troy's bff also calls bs on Troy, and notes that Troy may be visiting another woman, warning him not to mess up a good thing he has with Rose. Troy doesn't have a good relationship with his two sons, discouraging one from going to college on a football scholarhip, convinced the white man will never give his son a proper cut of the proceeds if he plays football.
Troy was a baseball player after prison and pre-Jackie Robinson, and could have made the Big Leagues, but the timing was off. And: "The colored guy got to be twice as good to make the team."
This play has amazing language, music, great speeches, anguished tragic action, humor, some of it bawdy, and two of the greatest characters in American theater history. There's magic in it, and deep pain, and a kind of accceptance Rose reveals to us in finding a way to speak to the betrayal she experiences. I love the ecstatic poetry of the disabled Gabriel in thevery end, marvelous. That trumpet!
"You got more stories in you than the devil got sinners"--Bono, to Troy
September 10, 2016
ميشه نظر نداد؟! ميشه نظر نداشت؟! بايد فكر كنم!
پايان بندي، روابط خانوادگي، كاراكتر"رز" و تا حد زيادي "تروي" با مرگ فروشنده مو نميزد، چرا؟!
پايان بندي، روابط خانوادگي، كاراكتر"رز" و تا حد زيادي "تروي" با مرگ فروشنده مو نميزد، چرا؟!
June 13, 2017
No surprise - great play - an August Wilson play.
An average black man in the 1950's - trying his best to make his way in an average American city. Working hard, looking for more, and knowing that his chances are slim to none. The expectations of his wife and children, his expectation of himself and running from both. Responsibilities, vulnerabilities, infidelities and expectations are all witnessed in this short play.
This will be a movie in 2017. Reenacted by Denzel Washington and Viola Davis from their original award winning play on Broadway.
An average black man in the 1950's - trying his best to make his way in an average American city. Working hard, looking for more, and knowing that his chances are slim to none. The expectations of his wife and children, his expectation of himself and running from both. Responsibilities, vulnerabilities, infidelities and expectations are all witnessed in this short play.
This will be a movie in 2017. Reenacted by Denzel Washington and Viola Davis from their original award winning play on Broadway.
February 20, 2024
”But you was born with two strikes on you before you come to the plate. You got to guard it closely, always looking for the curve ball on the inside corner. You can’t afford to let none get past you. You can’t afford a called strike. If you going down, you going down swinging. Everything lined up against you. What you gonna do. I fooled them, Rose. I bunted. When I found you and Cory and a halfway decent job, I was safe. I wasn’t gonna strike out no more. I wasn’t gonna get that last strike. I was on first looking for one of them boys to knock me in. To get me home.”
Troy Maxson was a giant of a man. He had a big, strong frame, a big voice, took up a big space in the lives of his family and friends. But all that size was constrained, fenced in, cramped into reduced possibilities. A prodigious baseball talent in the Negro Leagues, second only to Babe Ruth and Josh Gibson, he was denied his big league dream by the color line. Troy learned to adjust to the reduced possibilities granted him — found a good woman, a family, a steady job collecting garbage. But it rankled. It cramped his vision. And it brought out his big flaws.
Troy is a tragic hero who refused to surrender to his tragedy. His flaws are as big as everything else about him, and they cause him to lose what he values most. Until the end he remains the biggest thing in the lives of all those who know him. And he keeps standing until the end, keeping his code, if nothing else.
”Death ain’t nothing. I done seen him. Done wrassled with him. You can’t tell me nothing about Death. Death ain’t nothing but a fastball on the outside corner. And you know what I do to that!”
It is Troy Maxson, the greatest of August Wilson’s characters who elevates Fences to his greatest play, if not the greatest of all American plays.
Troy Maxson was a giant of a man. He had a big, strong frame, a big voice, took up a big space in the lives of his family and friends. But all that size was constrained, fenced in, cramped into reduced possibilities. A prodigious baseball talent in the Negro Leagues, second only to Babe Ruth and Josh Gibson, he was denied his big league dream by the color line. Troy learned to adjust to the reduced possibilities granted him — found a good woman, a family, a steady job collecting garbage. But it rankled. It cramped his vision. And it brought out his big flaws.
Troy is a tragic hero who refused to surrender to his tragedy. His flaws are as big as everything else about him, and they cause him to lose what he values most. Until the end he remains the biggest thing in the lives of all those who know him. And he keeps standing until the end, keeping his code, if nothing else.
”Death ain’t nothing. I done seen him. Done wrassled with him. You can’t tell me nothing about Death. Death ain’t nothing but a fastball on the outside corner. And you know what I do to that!”
It is Troy Maxson, the greatest of August Wilson’s characters who elevates Fences to his greatest play, if not the greatest of all American plays.
April 24, 2015
Fences, the sixth in the ten play cycle by August Wilson, takes place in 1957, two years after the Montgomery Bus Boycott began, ten years after Jackie Robinson broke the color line that by a so-called “gentlemen’s agreement” kept African-American players out of the major leagues (but two years before the Red Sox became the last team to include a black player on their team), six years before the March on Washington, seven and eight years before the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. In other words, it takes place during the early years of a slow, long delayed and much resisted change. For Troy Maxson, a garbage man who according to his friend had only two ballplayers better than him, Babe Ruth and Josh Gibson, the change is not just over-due but too late. He’s gruff and bitter about his own denied opportunities. “There ought not never have been no time called too early.”
Troy is supported by a devoted wife, Rose, and a great friend, Bono, but he’s struggling with the times, challenging his bosses about the fact that there are no Negro drivers among the city’s garbage men, trying to raise his sons his way while they push for their own way, and wrestling with temptations related to love and identity. Fences is one of Wilson’s best plays and has the street poetry dialogue, the blend of folk wisdom and superstition, of the personal and societal, and the ever presents shadows of history and race that are characteristic of his work.
While times are changing, to what degree they are changing and the cost of the changing is far from clear in 1957. Selma and Birmingham and the Mississippi Summer are yet to come; Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King’s assassinations are six, eight and eleven years away. As with its beginning, segregation will be supported by violent acts of terrorism through its end. So Troy’s bitterness is earned, his courage in advocating for equality of opportunity in the workplace is real and his suspicion of the permanence of any incremental change is not just reluctance to adjust. His refusal to let his son Corey talk to a college recruiter about a football scholarship is in fact a swamp of motivations: fear, jealousy, suspicion. “The white man ain’t gonna let you get nowhere with that football noway. You go on and get your book learning so you can work yourself up in that A&P or learn how to fix cars or build houses or something, get you a trade….You go on and learn how to put your hands to some good use. Besides hauling people’s garbage.” Equally complex and all too human are the personal battles Troy fights. Wilson turns the mundane into something epic; something personal into the universal.
Fences is a play about family, responsibility, love, friendship, and respect. The relationships between Rose and Troy, between Troy and his brother Gabriel, whose brain was damaged in World War II, between Troy and Corey, and between Troy and Bono are each richly complex and compelling. It is a drama, not a tragedy. It has moments of uplift and of sorrow. Troy is a human figure, strong, mostly decent and upright, though not always, and flawed. He is a less melodramactic, less hysterical Lear but a more human and deserving one. (There are no bodies strewn around the stage but lives are.) The secondary characters are full-bodied and with the efficiency of Hemingway Wilson lets a bit of dialogue, an exchange that has the roots of pattern in it, stand not just for the moment but for the history and character of those involved. He is a master at getting us recognize much in little. Fences is a bittersweet drama, compassionate, moving, and thoughtful.
Troy is supported by a devoted wife, Rose, and a great friend, Bono, but he’s struggling with the times, challenging his bosses about the fact that there are no Negro drivers among the city’s garbage men, trying to raise his sons his way while they push for their own way, and wrestling with temptations related to love and identity. Fences is one of Wilson’s best plays and has the street poetry dialogue, the blend of folk wisdom and superstition, of the personal and societal, and the ever presents shadows of history and race that are characteristic of his work.
While times are changing, to what degree they are changing and the cost of the changing is far from clear in 1957. Selma and Birmingham and the Mississippi Summer are yet to come; Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King’s assassinations are six, eight and eleven years away. As with its beginning, segregation will be supported by violent acts of terrorism through its end. So Troy’s bitterness is earned, his courage in advocating for equality of opportunity in the workplace is real and his suspicion of the permanence of any incremental change is not just reluctance to adjust. His refusal to let his son Corey talk to a college recruiter about a football scholarship is in fact a swamp of motivations: fear, jealousy, suspicion. “The white man ain’t gonna let you get nowhere with that football noway. You go on and get your book learning so you can work yourself up in that A&P or learn how to fix cars or build houses or something, get you a trade….You go on and learn how to put your hands to some good use. Besides hauling people’s garbage.” Equally complex and all too human are the personal battles Troy fights. Wilson turns the mundane into something epic; something personal into the universal.
Fences is a play about family, responsibility, love, friendship, and respect. The relationships between Rose and Troy, between Troy and his brother Gabriel, whose brain was damaged in World War II, between Troy and Corey, and between Troy and Bono are each richly complex and compelling. It is a drama, not a tragedy. It has moments of uplift and of sorrow. Troy is a human figure, strong, mostly decent and upright, though not always, and flawed. He is a less melodramactic, less hysterical Lear but a more human and deserving one. (There are no bodies strewn around the stage but lives are.) The secondary characters are full-bodied and with the efficiency of Hemingway Wilson lets a bit of dialogue, an exchange that has the roots of pattern in it, stand not just for the moment but for the history and character of those involved. He is a master at getting us recognize much in little. Fences is a bittersweet drama, compassionate, moving, and thoughtful.
June 22, 2011
A great American drama. The writing is masterful, obviously, but what struck me most on this first reading is the complexity of responses that Wilson evokes from the reader/audience. I am a middle aged Caucasian AP Lit teacher, so while some might expect my reactions to center on the African American experience, what struck me first was the recognizable conflicts between father and son, husband and wife, man and woman. I felt a kinship to Troy, Cory and Rose, even while I watched the fruits (consequences?) of a life experience for which I had no frame of reference. I felt "it shouldn't be this way" while I acknowledged "isn't this the way it always is?"
I did expect more plot, but Fences plays more as a reflection or observation of a life past than a trip through the life. Somewhat like Oedipus, the action happens offstage, yet the sting is just as painful. I already find myself placing it on a shelf with Williams and Miller. I will not be forgetting this any time soon, and I look forward to seeing it live.
I did expect more plot, but Fences plays more as a reflection or observation of a life past than a trip through the life. Somewhat like Oedipus, the action happens offstage, yet the sting is just as painful. I already find myself placing it on a shelf with Williams and Miller. I will not be forgetting this any time soon, and I look forward to seeing it live.
December 31, 2016
Aidan has been telling me to read this since his Honors English class read it in October. I finally picked it up (to better understand the essay he wrote about it) and devoured it in an hour or two. Talk about dense story-telling! Closer to poetry in a way, capturing so much in so few words. I will never forget Troy, who reminded me of a more-alive version of Willy Loman. Highly recommended.
November 8, 2017
1 Star
I really did not enjoy this. Literally, I could not find one thing that I enjoyed in this play. Nothing. There was not one character I could connect to or identity with. So, if I wasn't bored, I was mad at Troy for being so blatantly sexist.
Honestly, plays just aren't my thing, so I cannot wait until the day I no longer have to read them for English classes.
I really did not enjoy this. Literally, I could not find one thing that I enjoyed in this play. Nothing. There was not one character I could connect to or identity with. So, if I wasn't bored, I was mad at Troy for being so blatantly sexist.
Honestly, plays just aren't my thing, so I cannot wait until the day I no longer have to read them for English classes.
February 17, 2018
Fences is a play about race. It is also a play written about family struggles that any family can relate to and endure, but to be a black family in 1957 is an even greater challenge. August Wilson does an outstanding job capturing the moment through the primary perspective of a 53-year-old garbageman in Troy Maxson and a family that can be described as typical in the way that they are everything BUT typical. Fences is the kind of play that is easy to read, but at the same time it makes you want to see it acted out.
Troy Maxson lives with his second wife, Rose, as well as his teenaged son, Cory, who goes to school, works part-time at A&P, but wants to become a football player. Frequently making visits are his best friend and co-worker, Jim Bono, his oldest son from his first marriage, Lyons, who is frequently asking for money, and his brother, Gabriel (referred to as "Gabe"), who was injured in the war and is frequently singing praises of when St. Peter will make his arrival. The family encounters their individual hardships, but each of them go through Troy in some way, shape, or form. Troy is old school in how he believes in labor-based work in order to obtain success and respect from his wife and children. He disapproves of Cory's interest in football and Lyons' interest in music, while he himself finds solace in escaping from the house to watch baseball at the bar. The theme of baseball is something that one should keep a clear eye on when reading. There is a lot that can be critically analyzed in this play and baseball is one of them and one with great example. The fences that are being built on their property and the fact that there are no white people in this play is another.
Fences really made me think and it is something that will continue to make me think. It is especially a great reminder to the fact that people are people and their desires and struggles are all the same depending on their circumstances. Being degraded because of your race is only a greater hardship to what already is a great deal of hardships. I feel that this play does a great job capturing the hardships of each of the characters and developing a backstory and everything else we may need to know about them. Everybody is as fleshed out as we feel they need to be and I think August Wilson levels it out exactly the way he feels it should be. The emphasis on the fences is not as strong as it could have been, but perhaps it would be up to the reader to make that connection. Nevertheless, it was a very thought-provoking read that I would recommend.
The play was written and acted out in 1985 with James Earl Jones in the leading role of Troy Maxson. It was readapted in 2010 and became adapted into a film 2016 with Denzel Washington as Troy and Viola Davis as Rose. This is definitely something I would be keen on keeping an eye out to watch. Reading the script made its viewership very, VERY convincing!
You can find the Literary Gladiators discussion of this book that I took part in (containing spoilers) here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyYUJ...
Troy Maxson lives with his second wife, Rose, as well as his teenaged son, Cory, who goes to school, works part-time at A&P, but wants to become a football player. Frequently making visits are his best friend and co-worker, Jim Bono, his oldest son from his first marriage, Lyons, who is frequently asking for money, and his brother, Gabriel (referred to as "Gabe"), who was injured in the war and is frequently singing praises of when St. Peter will make his arrival. The family encounters their individual hardships, but each of them go through Troy in some way, shape, or form. Troy is old school in how he believes in labor-based work in order to obtain success and respect from his wife and children. He disapproves of Cory's interest in football and Lyons' interest in music, while he himself finds solace in escaping from the house to watch baseball at the bar. The theme of baseball is something that one should keep a clear eye on when reading. There is a lot that can be critically analyzed in this play and baseball is one of them and one with great example. The fences that are being built on their property and the fact that there are no white people in this play is another.
Fences really made me think and it is something that will continue to make me think. It is especially a great reminder to the fact that people are people and their desires and struggles are all the same depending on their circumstances. Being degraded because of your race is only a greater hardship to what already is a great deal of hardships. I feel that this play does a great job capturing the hardships of each of the characters and developing a backstory and everything else we may need to know about them. Everybody is as fleshed out as we feel they need to be and I think August Wilson levels it out exactly the way he feels it should be. The emphasis on the fences is not as strong as it could have been, but perhaps it would be up to the reader to make that connection. Nevertheless, it was a very thought-provoking read that I would recommend.
The play was written and acted out in 1985 with James Earl Jones in the leading role of Troy Maxson. It was readapted in 2010 and became adapted into a film 2016 with Denzel Washington as Troy and Viola Davis as Rose. This is definitely something I would be keen on keeping an eye out to watch. Reading the script made its viewership very, VERY convincing!
You can find the Literary Gladiators discussion of this book that I took part in (containing spoilers) here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyYUJ...
April 20, 2018
I've been meaning to read this since I saw the incredible film adaptation. There were several bits of this play that were super compelling: the scene where Cory asks his dad, Troy, why he doesn't love him; the scene where Rose lets Troy know that she's been faithful to him in the past the 18 years of their marriage (I can't help but conjure Viola Davis' face in my mind when I read "I've been standing in the same spot with you!"), and the scene where Cory tells his mother that he's not going to his dad's funeral.
A really, really great read!
A really, really great read!
April 22, 2014
SIX WORD REVIEW: For Negro leaguers banned from majors.
September 15, 2017
This was the ninth and last of the Pittsburgh-related books I was able to get to out of the total of 10 before last night's Battle of the Books tournament.
Much like most of my reading experiences, this is probably something I read in high school for class and then remembered nothing about it. Or maybe, now that I live in Pittsburgh, it is so highly referenced (for good reason) that it became one of those plays that I just figured I read, even though maybe I didn't actually.
This is a quick read, much like most other plays, and it's fantastic. Premiered in 1985, the events in the play begin in the 1950s in Pittsburgh. A lot of familiar places are mentioned in this play for those of us who live here, but I don't think the actual neighborhood where Troy Maxson and his family live is referred to by name. (I have not yet seen the Denzel Washington movie, so if it's more evident in that, I don't know about it yet.) Troy is a 50-something-year-old who spends a great deal of his time (as many do) on the porch with his buddy, Bono. The frequent porch-sitting made me think of another local story, though much more recent than Fences, Here Lies Memory by Doug Rice.
Maxson is an angry man, but he's been through some shit so it's almost understandable. It's difficult, however, to remember that when we see his interactions with those closest to him, or his decisions in his relationships. He gives everyone a hard time - his son from a previous relationship, his son from the current relationship, even, to some degree, his wife, though Rose does not have one bit of a problem reminding Troy where he really stands. Rose is, by far, the most interesting character and I cannot wait to see Viola Davis's portrayal of her. The only person who Troy seems to have compassion for that he does not also want to control in some way is his brother, Gabriel, who was wounded during the war which has permanently diminished his mental and psychological capacity.
I read this play in over a couple of days, and had it been a weekend I could have easily read it in one sitting. It's a powerful story that Wilson tells here, and the relationship between Troy and the various family members and with himself is skillfully portrayed. I am intrigued by the past, current, and future nature of his children - one from a previous marriage, one with his current wife, and one with another woman. Here is a man who is not comfortable in his place in life, never certain of his role, but he's been the boss for so long it's his way or the highway. I wanted to understand Troy and why he was so hard on his sons especially, but the way he pushes everyone away (essentially builds a fence around himself - a fence which both protects on the inside and prevents anyone from the outside coming in - METAPHOR) makes it difficult to appreciate his perspective. (Which just means that Wilson did an amazing job, btw, not that I can't enjoy the read because of Troy as a character.)
It's not a simple read, though on the outside it's easy to be like "Oh, yeah, okay, fences, yup, got it." These characters have depth which normally in plays (for me anyway) is hard to recognize unless I'm watching the performance itself. I can imagine the set, the direction, the tension that must be felt in the theater while watching this performance. I would have loved to have seen the original cast which included both James Earl Jones and Courtney B. Vance. But I also look forward to finally watching the movie which I have been putting off so I could (re?)read the play.
I was surprised that this was included in the Battle of the Books (this is another one where I was able to answer all of the questions about this book correctly) initially, but after reading it I fully understand. Wilson lived in Pittsburgh for much of his life, I believe, and it's interesting to me how much of his Pittsburgh knowledge (history, culture, even some of the language) came through in his 100-page two act play just through the characters, though through Troy Maxson most of all.
This is a Pulitzer Prize-winning play and it deserves every bit of that award.
Much like most of my reading experiences, this is probably something I read in high school for class and then remembered nothing about it. Or maybe, now that I live in Pittsburgh, it is so highly referenced (for good reason) that it became one of those plays that I just figured I read, even though maybe I didn't actually.
This is a quick read, much like most other plays, and it's fantastic. Premiered in 1985, the events in the play begin in the 1950s in Pittsburgh. A lot of familiar places are mentioned in this play for those of us who live here, but I don't think the actual neighborhood where Troy Maxson and his family live is referred to by name. (I have not yet seen the Denzel Washington movie, so if it's more evident in that, I don't know about it yet.) Troy is a 50-something-year-old who spends a great deal of his time (as many do) on the porch with his buddy, Bono. The frequent porch-sitting made me think of another local story, though much more recent than Fences, Here Lies Memory by Doug Rice.
Maxson is an angry man, but he's been through some shit so it's almost understandable. It's difficult, however, to remember that when we see his interactions with those closest to him, or his decisions in his relationships. He gives everyone a hard time - his son from a previous relationship, his son from the current relationship, even, to some degree, his wife, though Rose does not have one bit of a problem reminding Troy where he really stands. Rose is, by far, the most interesting character and I cannot wait to see Viola Davis's portrayal of her. The only person who Troy seems to have compassion for that he does not also want to control in some way is his brother, Gabriel, who was wounded during the war which has permanently diminished his mental and psychological capacity.
I read this play in over a couple of days, and had it been a weekend I could have easily read it in one sitting. It's a powerful story that Wilson tells here, and the relationship between Troy and the various family members and with himself is skillfully portrayed. I am intrigued by the past, current, and future nature of his children - one from a previous marriage, one with his current wife, and one with another woman. Here is a man who is not comfortable in his place in life, never certain of his role, but he's been the boss for so long it's his way or the highway. I wanted to understand Troy and why he was so hard on his sons especially, but the way he pushes everyone away (essentially builds a fence around himself - a fence which both protects on the inside and prevents anyone from the outside coming in - METAPHOR) makes it difficult to appreciate his perspective. (Which just means that Wilson did an amazing job, btw, not that I can't enjoy the read because of Troy as a character.)
It's not a simple read, though on the outside it's easy to be like "Oh, yeah, okay, fences, yup, got it." These characters have depth which normally in plays (for me anyway) is hard to recognize unless I'm watching the performance itself. I can imagine the set, the direction, the tension that must be felt in the theater while watching this performance. I would have loved to have seen the original cast which included both James Earl Jones and Courtney B. Vance. But I also look forward to finally watching the movie which I have been putting off so I could (re?)read the play.
I was surprised that this was included in the Battle of the Books (this is another one where I was able to answer all of the questions about this book correctly) initially, but after reading it I fully understand. Wilson lived in Pittsburgh for much of his life, I believe, and it's interesting to me how much of his Pittsburgh knowledge (history, culture, even some of the language) came through in his 100-page two act play just through the characters, though through Troy Maxson most of all.
This is a Pulitzer Prize-winning play and it deserves every bit of that award.
September 19, 2019
Papa was like a shadow that followed you everywhere. It weighed on you and sunk into your flesh.
Reading this play here in Alabama has been moving, nearly cathartic. We just left the Legacy Museum and walked back through the terrible heat to decompress. My entitlement kept me quiet today. As I sat here in this historic sitting area my heart broke for Troy Manson. History was against him. The Greatest Generation was just cover for white supremacy. He anticipates mass incarceration in his own escape from the Deep South. I’m not sure of the utility of further words.
Reading this play here in Alabama has been moving, nearly cathartic. We just left the Legacy Museum and walked back through the terrible heat to decompress. My entitlement kept me quiet today. As I sat here in this historic sitting area my heart broke for Troy Manson. History was against him. The Greatest Generation was just cover for white supremacy. He anticipates mass incarceration in his own escape from the Deep South. I’m not sure of the utility of further words.
December 9, 2016
I enjoyed this play. August wilson brings to light how difficult it was for african-americans to survive during segregated times. It was written as a drama with a dash of comedy. Wilson also gave an outstanding visual of family dynamics. I'm glad I read it and I cant wait for the movie to come out December 25th
October 7, 2018
آزادی وزن داره سنگینه، باس شونه تو بدی زیر این آزادی. شونه بدی زیرش به این امید که کمرت خم نشه. و اگه این اطراف دنبال عدالت میگردی، ول معطلی. از عدالت خبری نیست. واسه همینه تو مجسمه ی عدالت چشمای دختره رو در آوردن.
July 31, 2022
Denzel Washington is creative and awesome
I love this guy😍
I love this guy😍
June 4, 2020
"Some people build fences to keep people out...and other people build fences to keep people in."
Fences is a period drama set in the '50s. It introduces a number of vivid characters, who seem so life-like. The play is not free from the prejudices of that time including racism and sexism, and depicts it in a very realistic fashion. The plot isn't extraordinary, but the writing, setting, and the allegories, seizes the readers until the end.
Fences is a period drama set in the '50s. It introduces a number of vivid characters, who seem so life-like. The play is not free from the prejudices of that time including racism and sexism, and depicts it in a very realistic fashion. The plot isn't extraordinary, but the writing, setting, and the allegories, seizes the readers until the end.
July 27, 2022
Read in 2018 but GR says current. My whole list is screwed up dates wise. Half My friends list was wiped out. Since Amazon took over GRs it’s gone to seed. I know I’m not the only one having these things. K
May 4, 2015
It was way too short. I didn't feel any attachment to really any of the characters either. Things happened way too fast and randomly, as well.
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