Bøker av Thornton Wilder

An ancient bridge collapses over a gorge in Peru, hurling five people into the abyss. It seems a meaningless human tragedy. But one witness, a Franciscan monk, believes the deaths might not be as random as they appear. Convinced that the disaster is a punishment sent from Heaven, the monk sets out to discover all he can about the travellers. The five strangers were connected in some way, he thinks. There must be a purpose behind their deaths. But are their lost lives the result of sin? ... Or of love?

The Long Christmas Dinner - nine decades long - showcases the lives of several generations of the Bayard family. Wilder breaks the boundaries of time as we measure it, and invites us to partake of "one long, happy Christmas dinner" - past, present and future. As generations appear, have children, wither, and depart, only the audience appreciates what changes and what remains the same. "Every last twig is wrapped around with ice. You almost never see that," young Genevieve marvels, not realizing that her mother made this observation years earlier, or that her daughter-in-law will one day do the same.

In The Bridge of San Luis Rey, Thornton Wilder weaves a poignant tale of love, fate and the human condition. Set in colonial Peru, the sudden collapseof a bridge sends five lives intertwined into the depths of tragedy. Wilder's masterful prose explores the mysteries of chance and destiny.

"The Cabala" by way of Thornton Wilder, is a singular that delves into the complexities of human relationships and the search for which means in lifestyles. Wilder, an American playwright and novelist, is pleasant acknowledged for his acclaimed works together with "Our Town" and "The Bridge of San Luis Rey." Set in Rome, the unconventional follows the reviews of Samuele, a younger American painter, who turns into entangled inside the lives of a collection of eccentric and influential characters. The narrative unfolds via a sequence of interconnected memories, exploring topics of love, friendship, artwork, and the search for non-secular achievement. Wilder's "The Cabala" is widely known for its intricate man or woman development and its portrayal of the bohemian lifestyle of the put up-World War I technology. The term "Cabala" refers to a paranormal and esoteric lifestyle, and Wilder weaves elements of thriller and introspection all through the novel, inviting readers to ponder the deeper dimensions of existence. Through colourful and evocative prose, Wilder crafts a narrative that transcends the boundaries of time and area, supplying a meditation on the human circumstance. "The Cabala" stands as a testament to Thornton Wilder's literary versatility and his exploration of profound philosophical and existential questions.

In Lima, Peru, an ancient Incan rope bridge breaks and plunges five people to their deaths. A Franciscan monk witnesses it and decides to investigate the lives of the five people, in order to prove that God is just, that He had a purpose in choosing those five to die, on that day, on that bridge.And so we learn of the lives of the Marquesa de Santamayor and young Pepita her companion; of Esteban, a young man of the city; and of Uncle Pio and Don Jaime, the mentor and son, respectively, of a famous actress in Lima. We see how many of their lives intersect, we learn of their dreams, their struggles, and the events that led to them being on the bridge that day.The Bridge of San Luis Rey earned Thornton Wilder the first of his three Pulitzers. The novel's structure, in which a major event is presented followed by the backstory of the people involved, has been duplicated countless times in books, plays, and movies. It was the best-selling book the year of its release, and has never been out of print since.

The story centers on a fictional event that happened in Peru on the road between Lima and Cuzco, at noon on Friday, July the twentieth, 1714. A rope bridge woven by the Inca a century earlier collapsed at that particular moment, while five people were crossing it, sending them falling from a great height to their deaths in the river below. The collapse was witnessed by Brother Juniper, a Franciscan friar who was on his way to cross the bridge himself. A deeply pious man who seeks to provide some sort of empirical evidence that might prove to the world God's Divine Providence, he sets out to interview everyone he can find who knew the five victims. Over the course of six years, he compiles a huge book of all of the evidence he gathers to show that the beginning and end of a person is all part of God's plan for that person.The novel won the Pulitzer Prize in 1928, and was the best-selling work of fiction that year.

The Bridge of San Luis Rey is American author Thornton Wilder's second novel. It was first published in 1927 to worldwide acclaim. The novel won the Pulitzer Prize in 1928, and was the best-selling work of fiction that year. The Bridge of San Luis Rey tells the story of several interrelated people who die in the collapse of an Inca rope bridge in Peru, and the events that lead up to their being on the bridge. A friar who witnesses the accident then goes about inquiring into the lives of the victims, seeking some sort of cosmic answer to the question of why each had to die. The Bridge of San Luis Rey won the 1928 Pulitzer Prize for the Novel, and remains widely acclaimed as Wilder's most famous work. In 1998, the book was rated number 37 by the editorial board of the American Modern Library on the list of the 100 best 20th-century novels. Time magazine included the novel in its TIME 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005. (wikipedia.org)

This anthology by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Thornton Wilder is acollection of twenty-two very short plays, three of which are published herefor the very first time. These snapshots of the creative spirit at play explorea variety of complex characters that range from the ordinary to the biblical,the haunted to the mystical. From the tale of a conflicted composer with astrangely familiar tune stuck in his head (The Song of Maria Bentedos) to apair of newlyweds who find themselves bizarrely affected by the color of theirhotel's tea room (Flamingo Red: A Comedy in Danger), all these tales - manytold with great wit and humor - ask the thought-provoking questions ofmortality, morality and faith that Thornton Wilder is famous for asking.Most of the plays run about four minutes in length, and can be presented withthree actors. The entire collection can be presented with a cast ranging fromsix to thirty-two actors.

In eighteenth-century Peru, a historic bridge collapses, plunging five people to their deaths. A Franciscan monk witnesses the disaster and embarks on a spiritual quest to reconcile free will versus fate and the existence of God in the victims' lives: "Why did this happen to those five?" This thought-provoking, Pulitzer Prize-winning second novel by American writer Thornton Wilder was called "a masterpiece" by The New York Times when it was published in 1927. McCall's praised it as "the philosophical novel brought to perfection." New generations have applied its messages to tragic events, including the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, and the September 11 terrorist attacks. The Bridge of San Luis Rey remains a compelling literary classic exploring destiny, love, religion, and the meaning of life.

Now, for the first time in a stand-alone edition, Thornton Wilder’s brilliant, hilarious play, which was adapted into the hit Broadway musical Hello, Dolly!, with an afterword by Tappan WilderHorace Vandergelder, a wealthy old merchant residing in Yonkers, decides it’s time to take a wife and hires a matchmaker. But Dolly Gallagher Levi is no ordinary matchmaker. She’s a force of nature, with a plan of her own. Levi soon becomes embroiled in the affairs of the hearts of all those around her—including Vandergelder’s niece, his store clerks, assorted young and lovely ladies, and the headwaiter at an expensive restaurant, where this swift farce inevitably runs headlong into hilarious complications. Indeed, after a series of slapstick situations involving mistaken identities, a secret rendezvous behind carefully placed screens, separated lovers, and a trip to night court, everyone eventually finds themselves paired with a perfect match.A delightful, deliciously funny classic by Thornton Wilder, The Matchmaker is astonishingly modern and is sure to resonate with audiences and readers today.

"e;An extremely entertaining array of American life in a bygone era."e; --The New YorkerThe last of Thornton Wilder's works published during his lifetime,Theophilus Northis part autobiographical and part the imagined adventure of his twin brother who died at birth. Setting out to see the world in the summer of 1926,Theophilus Northgets as far as Newport, Rhode Island, before his car breaks down. To support himself, Theophilus takes jobs in the elegant mansions along Ocean Drive, just as Wilder himself did in the same decade. Soon the young man finds himself playing the roles of tutor, spy, confidant, lover, friend, and enemy as he becomes entangled in the intrigues of both upstairs and downstairs in a glittering society dominated by leisure.Narrated by the elderly North from a distance of fifty years,Theophilus Northis a fascinating commentary on youth and education from the vantage point of age, and deftly displays Wilder's trademark wit juxtaposed with his lively and timeless ruminations on what really matters about life, love, and work at the end of the dayeven after a visit to Newport.

?For much of the twentieth century, these remarkable early novels were hidden in the great shadow of The Bridge of San Luis Rey. Now we can examine them in the spotlight for the gifts that they are?memorable monuments to style and keys to understanding Wilder's genius.? ? Penelope Niven, Thornton Wilder BiographerFeaturing a foreword by Penelope Niven and a revealing afterword by the author's nephew, Tappan Wilder, this gorgeous reissue reacquaints readers with Thornton Wilder's first novel, The Cabala, along with The Woman of Andros, one of the inspirations for his Pulitzer Prize-winning play Our Town. The Cabala tells the story of a young American student who spends a year in the exotic world of post-World War I Rome. While there, he experiences firsthand the waning days of a secret community (a "cabala") of decaying royalty, a great cardinal of the Roman Church, and an assortment of memorable American ex-pats. A semiautobiographical novel of unforgettable characters and human passions, The Cabala launched Wilder's career as a celebrated storyteller and dramatist.The Woman of Andros, set on the obscure Greek island of Brynos before the birth of Christ, explores universal questions of what is precious about life and how we live, love, and die. Eight years later, Wilder would pose these same questions on the stage in a play titled Our Town, also set in an obscure location, this time a village in New Hampshire. The Woman of Andros is celebrated for some of the most beautiful writing in American literature.

Collected Plays and Writings on Theater, the most comprehensive one-volume edition of Thornton Wilder's work ever published, takes the measure of his extraordinary career as a dramatist by presenting the complete span of his achievement, beginning with his early expressionist experiments and daring one-act plays, such as "The Long Christmas Dinner" and "The Happy Journey to Trenton and Camden" (one of Wilder's personal favorites), ranging through the full flowering of Our Town, The Skin of Our Teeth, and The Matchmaker, and encompassing the intriguing dramatic projects of his later years, such as his adaptation of the ancient story of Alcestis (The Alcestiad) and plays written for dramatic cycles based on the Seven Deadly Sins and the varied ages of an individual's life. Complementing the selection of plays is an illuminating group of essays that captures Wilder's reflections on his plays and contains a revealing epistolary account of the film adaptation of Our Town.This volume also includes material never before published: scenes from The Emporium, an ambitious unfinished play that, emerging out of Wilder's intense engagement with existentialist philosophy in the postwar years, imagines a Kafkaesque department store whose enigmatic activities are as inscrutable as the mysteries of life itself; and the complete screenplay Wilder wrote for Alfred Hitchcock's film Shadow of a Doubt just before reporting for military service in 1942. Although faithful to the spirit of the film, the screenplay presented here restores Wilder's original dialogue, some of which (to Wilder's dismay) was altered for the movie. A study of family life, youthful illusions, and the desperation of a criminal on the run, the Shadow of a Doubt screenplay is a masterful exhibition of the art of suspense and taut dramatic storytelling, and is an essential part of Wilder's oeuvre.LIBRARY OF AMERICA is an independent nonprofit cultural organization founded in 1979 to preserve our nation's literary heritage by publishing, and keeping permanently in print, America's best and most significant writing. The Library of America series includes more than 300 volumes to date, authoritative editions that average 1,000 pages in length, feature cloth covers, sewn bindings, and ribbon markers, and are printed on premium acid-free paper that will last for centuries.

Our Town was first produced and published in 1938 to wide acclaim. This Pulitzer Prize–winning drama of life in the town of Grover 's Corners, an allegorical representation of all life, has become a classic. It is Thornton Wilder's most renowned and most frequently performed play.It is now reissued in this handsome hardcover edition, featuring a new Foreword by Donald Margulies, who writes, "You are holding in your hands a great American play. Possibly the great American play." In addition, Tappan Wilder has written an eye-opening new Afterword, which includes Thornton Wilder's unpublished notes and other illuminating photographs and documentary material.

The drunken sisters. Apollo challenges The Three Fates to a life-and-death battle of wits, but despite their taste for liquor, the sisters win the wager.

The essence of Mr. Wilders book is really the feeling in it; it is a notation of the heart with sympathy. Gaily or sadly, but always with understanding, a belief in the miracle of love runs through it all. --TimesLiterary Supplement(London)"e;On Friday noon, July the twentieth, 1714, the finest bridge in all Peru broke and precipitated five travelers into the gulf below."e; With this celebrated sentence Thornton Wilder beginsThe Bridge of San Luis Rey,winner of the Pulitzer Prize, one of the towering achievements in American fiction, and a novel beloved throughout the world.By chance, a monk witnesses the tragedy. Brother Juniper then embarks on a quest to prove that it was divine intervention rather than chance that led to the deaths of those who perished in the tragedy. His search leads to his own deathand to Wilders timeless investigation into the nature of love and the meaning of the human condition.This edition includes a foreword by acclaimed author Russell Banks and features previously unpublished notes and other illuminating documentary material about the novel and author.

"Among these plays [Wilder's most famous one-acts] we encounter a first glimpse of Wilder's Stage Manager, his use of pantomime, minimal scenery and farce, as well as his signature connection between the commonplace and the cosmic dimensions of the human experience"--P. [4] of cover.

Drawing on such unique sources as the authors unpublished letters, business records, and obscure family recollections, Tappan Wilders Afterword adds a special dimension to the reissue of this hilarious tale about goodness in a fallen world.Meet George Marvin BrushDon Quixote come to Main Street in the Great Depression, and one of Thornton Wilders most memorable characters. George Brush, a traveling textbook salesman, is a fervent religious convert who is determined to lead a good life. With sad and sometimes hilarious consequences, his travels take him through smoking cars, bawdy houses, banks, and campgrounds from Texas to Illinoisand into the soul of America itself.

A father, mother and two of their three surviving children drive from Newark, New Jersey to Camden to visit their married daughter, who has recently lost her baby in childbirth. Their journey is punctuated by talk, laughter, memories (some mundane, some happy, some painful), and appreciation of the Now - ham and eggs, flowers, family, sunsets and the joy of being alive. In this family drama, nothing much happens-and yet everything important happens. As Ma Kirby says, "There's nothin' like bein' liked by your family."

The year is 1898 and the place is an over-sumptuous parlor in New York. Mrs. Mowbrey, a mature, wealthy woman with a history to bury, makes a plan--she'll befriend her estranged niece and fiancé, and their subsequent marriage will provide her own entre into respectable society. Or at least, that's what she tells the young couple. In Shakespeare and the Bible uncovers a mystery inside a melodrama inside a meeting. Mrs. Mowbrey invites her niece, Katy and her niece's fiancé Mr. Lubbock to her home separately and unbeknownst to each other. Mr. Lubbock arrives first, and is asked to become Mr. Mowbrey's attorney. Katy comes later, to meet this aunt who has fallen from her family's good graces for unknown reasons. With all three in the room, it becomes apparent that Mr. Lubbock and Mrs. Mowbrey share something that's not deemed proper for Katy to know. Yet Katy insists they tell her. When Mrs. Mowbrey leaves the room, insisting that they work things out among themselves, the mystery looms large. Katy discovers their secret and the true intent of Mrs. Mowbrey's agenda hangs in the balance: Did she intend to use her wealth to buy respectability and family relations? Or exact revenge?

A mother-daughter team of con-artists are putting the touch on the widows of military brass. Mrs. McCullem, housekeep for the wonderfully regal but now wheel chair-bound window of General Beattie, recognizes them in the drug store--having witnessed the two pull their game on her previous employer--and overhears them asking directions to the Beattie home! The play begins as she rushes back to warn Mrs. Beattie of the impending danger. Sure enough, the doorbell rings and our charlatans appear with quite a story. But instead of throwing them out or turning them over to the police, the widow Beattie allows the game to be played.