Reviews

Phedra by Jean Racine

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indy_q's review against another edition

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dark sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

lidotchka's review against another edition

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3.0

★★★☆☆ - I first read this book in high school and it was much better in my memory.

Maybe I should just stop re-reading books I read a long time ago and loved. Maybe I should just let these books be memories.
I swear when I first read [b:Phèdre|81864|Phèdre|Jean Racine|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1479741004l/81864._SX50_.jpg|79040] I loved it. I even loved it more than [b:Antigone|352383|Antigone|Jean Anouilh|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1174001536l/352383._SY75_.jpg|823316] (which was one of my favourite books). So, of course, I decided to re-read it because it has been a while. To my surprise, it wasn't as amazing as I remembered it was.
Don't get me wrong: [b:Phèdre|81864|Phèdre|Jean Racine|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1479741004l/81864._SX50_.jpg|79040] is a very nice book. The story is cool and the writing is very poetic and beautiful. But I found it a bit... boring? Maybe I'm just not used to reading classical French plays anymore like I was in high school. And maybe if I liked it back in the days it was because all the other plays we had to read were pretty awful (looking at you [a:Molière|29837|Molière|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1219168412p2/29837.jpg]).
Anyway, if you want to give a try to French classical plays, I would 100% recommend [b:Phèdre|81864|Phèdre|Jean Racine|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1479741004l/81864._SX50_.jpg|79040] (don't read anything by Molière please). If you enjoy poetry and poetic writing, you will probably love it.
But of course, if you hate plays, aren't interested in French classics, and dislike poetry, just don't waste your time reading it.

leoreadssmut's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I love the language. The characters explained and connects to each other. Love the way Greek and Roman tragedy oses out of every page. I couldn't put the book down.