Word: methods
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1970-1979
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...other hand, the confrontation scenes--as when the two couples assemble to discuss their situation--are, as always in Updike, beautifully done. The action could have been dreamed up as a perfect exercise for Method actors--each character has some goal he/she is trying to achieve in opposition to the others, the dialogue subtly belying those ultimate aims. Not only are these scenes masterpieces of construction, they are aided by Updike's finely honed talent for observation. And so, for instance, when Jerry informs Ruth that he's decided to leave her, there are no long metaphysical speculations...
Marry Me suffers from almost the exact opposite problem. The action is simple and complete, but with no one to hold it together. Its hero's plight is neither real enough to attract our sympathies, nor is his method of dealing with it courageous enough to merit our admiration. As a novel, Marry Me fails; but with some paring, it's a property Lee Strasberg might be interested...
Lewis said yesterday she would recommend against the use of a lottery, but that the actual method of selection used was the prerogative of each seminar leader...
With each of the interviewers, he is the perfect method actor. He tries to make a personal contact with each of them through objects--commenting on their faces, their fingernails, anything to make them relate to him personally. Instead, they barrage him with the same stupid questions and cliches. He takes the offensive against the sweet vacuous interviewer from Chicago--"Jeezus, I'm going to have to look you up when I go to Chicago...
...putting on a familiar Greek show of stubborn taunts mixed with something soft and weary, that always seems to end in resignation. I soon learned that the lament, "What can you do." (with a period), is an uncontestable way to squirm out of a tight spot, a nearly infallible method for stifling conversation and a tirelessly whispered non sequitur, paired with a byzantine, palms-up gesture...