Reading Challenge Update: Mythology

About a week ago, I finished the first book in the Once Upon a Time Challenge. We had chosen to begin with Mythology and so I ran to open the play The Invention of Love by Tom Stoppard. I had read this play a couple of years ago but was unable to finish it because of time constraints. However, I soon realized that I may have cast the book aside not because of time constraints but because the play was just not good! In fact, it has taken me almost a week to even write this review because I have been conflicted on how to describe it and how to phrase my reactions to the story.

The Invention of Love tells the life story of the poet A.E Housman as seen from his eyes after he has died and is traveling down the River Styx. He watches as scenes from his life are played out in front of him. Many include his professors and fellow scholars at Oxford University as they express their views of Housman. It soon becomes clear that Housman's life was complicated by his homosexuality. This is further clarified in the second act in which Oscar Wilde becomes a character in the play.

Though the plot seems simplistic, there are a great deal of underlying themes that make the play an interesting read. Stoppard litters the play with allusions to mythology and classical literature. Classical creatures such as Hades make various appearances as Stoppard connects mythological tales to Housman's life. It also explores the mythology of life and how people view their own lives as they live it as opposed to reflecting on it after the events have occurred. Stoppard allows Housman to talk to his younger self as well as the other characters in the play which creates an interesting tension and dynamic.

Despite Stoppard's quirky way of storytelling, there is no saving this play. The classical allusions come off as being bombastic and simply an excuse for Stoppard to brag of his knowledge on the subject. At times Housman's soliloquies are overblown and merely a lecture on mythology. The theme of homosexuality is nothing new or introspective and actually feels like a cheap trick used to "increase ratings" (as they do on television shows). Overall, I was under-whelmed. I was hoping for more mythology and less narcissism.

-DLP