Death of a Salesman: Certain Private Conversations in Two Acts and a Requiem (Penguin Modern Classics) [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

Arthur Miller's play "Death of a Salesman" (1949) is probably one of the most popular fables of modern times, considering that the Lomans have even made their way into well-known shows such as "Seinfeld", where "Biff" was used as a cognomen for George Constanza once in a while, or "The Simpsons", where Willy Loman himself seems to have been the inspiration for the hapless salesman Gil Gunderson, admittedly one of the more annoying denizens of Springfield.

Of course, these appearances in popular culture tell us more about the ken of the scriptwriters of these shows and do not really prove that Willy Loman and his sons are well-known to the respective audiences. And yet - so much of what the play is about still touches us today that I strongly hope people might find some time to take a first, or maybe a second, look at Miller's grand play again.

The plot focusus on Willy Loman, who used to be quite a successful salesman in his prime, but whose fortune has been waning lately so that now he and his wife Linda have problems in making ends meet at the end of a month. Neither of his sons, for all the high hopes he had for them, has really succeeded in life. Whereas his youngest, Happy, leads a meagre existence as an assistant's assistant in a firm, things are even worse as far as the eldest son is concerned: Biff has never been able to hold on to a job for a longer time, and there seems to be some kind of grudge he harbours against his father, a grudge probably born out of a disappointment in the past. Incited by Linda and Hap, who tell him that it is important for his father's mere will to live to see Biff set up successfully in some kind of important business, however, Biff tries to mend his ways and win over an old employer for a "brilliant" business idea. All of a sudden, though, a simple truth dawns upon him ...

It happens very rarely to me that I actually enjoy reading the naked text of a drama, without all the life and passion added to it by reading it aloud or even watching it staged - but Miller is such a master with words and carefully mingles the different levels of Willy's consciousness, as in the latter's addled brain voices from the past interfere in present-day conversations, thus luring him - to his family's dismay - into talking to himself, - that I really had the impression of seeing it all in front of me. Okay, maybe knowing the film starring Dustin Hoffman and John Malkovich helped at little.

It is difficult to classify Miller's play as a denunciation of the callous rules of capitalism and their dehumanizing effect on society - this would lend the play a great degree of topicality - or as the psychological study of a man who clings to the past, feeding on false hopes and ideals and grandiloquently trying to lie to himself and others, without acknowleding that the world has changed. "Death of a Salesman" is both, and above all, a sombre comment on the American Dream and its basic tenet that an individual's attitude is the key to success and that, with a little bit of practice, you can, as the old Hamlet-inspired Dale Carnegie myth goes, win friends, influence people and really be happy by just forcing yourself to wear a happy face. It is the credo of the importance of being well-liked, Willy's mantra, the credo of trimming your personality in order to smooth all edges, the credo of selling yourself at top-price to a world dealing in casual relationships, this all-American motto that even makes teenagers sicken of their lives, that Miller scathingly calls into question. Doing this, he abstains so much from melodrama and presumptuous moralizing that his characters convince as three-dimensional beings. You will not only feel pity for Willy Loman, but you will definitely also despise him or feel annoyed by him at times. And maybe, you will even like him ... a bit.

Ich musste das Buch für den Unterricht bestellen. Es liest sich eigentlich ganz gut. Die Lieferung ging schnell und die Qualität der Ware ist auch gut. Ich bin zufrieden.

This complete performance was recorded in 1967, eighteen years after Death of a Salesman opened on Broadway. Lee J. Cobb and Mildred Dunnock, who play the salesman and his wife (Willy and Linda Loman), were members of the original cast. The others, except for Stanley the waiter, lack that distinction, but are quite impressive in their own right.

The performance is well rehearsed; the actors know and feel the play; the listener relaxes with confidence that the power, passion and meaning of the drama are in good hands all round. Only Dustin Hoffman, in the minor role of Willy's nephew, fails to get hold of his part.

Cobb and Dunnock are worth many times the price of admission. Willy would surely be a most unattractive person to live with. But the play, and Cobb, make you care what happens to him. Despite his bluster, temper, self-deception, arrogance, bullying, ineptitude, even patches of insanity, the soul comes through. Willy is shot through with heart and humanity, and it is all there in the sound and pace and pitch of Cobb's voice.

Linda Loman would have been easier to like, but she has helped to create the illusion and self-deception that the family inhabits and propagates. She is also a woman of great love, loyalty and affectional integrity. Dunnock captures it all, the tone of voice that has been hopeful and supportive for thirty-five years, firmly repressing doubts and discouragement.

Cobb and Dunnock seem to know every syllable, every nuance of this play as well as anyone could. They are soaked in it and masters of it. It would be great to see their performance again, but this is a splendid second-best. With a good play, words are the main thing. In this production, unlike most movie settings of stageplays, the words are all present, unabridged and unrevised. And they are beautifully expressed.