Daily Lit - Pygmalion

I signed up for Pygmalion during the winter (and two other books that mostly did not get read -- shame on me!). Anyway, Pygmalion was a lot different than I expected it to be, based on my somewhat hazy memories of seeing My Fair Lady.

After finishing Pygmalion, I watched My Fair Lady again (yes, the two are fairly different, particularly the ending). Then I read a short children's version of the ancient Pygmalion story (which may have been cleaner and simpler than the adult version -- I don't know).

All three vary widely; if it wasn't for knowing that the three are based on each other, I don't know that I would have figured it out. I never did figure out exactly how the play version was exactly supposed to be staged, because of the LONG (as in five to ten pages) ending that explained much of the rest of the lives of the individuals. Was there supposed to be a narrator who read all that at the end of the play? I did enjoy how the surroundings for each change of scenery was so perfectly described (there are fewer than half a dozen different "sets" and a much smaller cast of characters than were in the movie).

SPOILER ALERT: The movie version has an ending that leaves you hanging, and there is some violence (mostly imagined). At the end, about all I could say was that the two would probably deserve each other if they ended up together, and I hoped that if they had kids they would change a lot in character.

And the kiddie version of the ancient story? It involved prayers to a goddess (not good), but otherwise was fairly tame. And there were very, very few characters involved in the story.

Daily Lit - Pygmalion

I signed up for Pygmalion during the winter (and two other books that mostly did not get read -- shame on me!). Anyway, Pygmalion was a lot different than I expected it to be, based on my somewhat hazy memories of seeing My Fair Lady.

After finishing Pygmalion, I watched My Fair Lady again (yes, the two are fairly different, particularly the ending). Then I read a short children's version of the ancient Pygmalion story (which may have been cleaner and simpler than the adult version -- I don't know).

All three vary widely; if it wasn't for knowing that the three are based on each other, I don't know that I would have figured it out. I never did figure out exactly how the play version was exactly supposed to be staged, because of the LONG (as in five to ten pages) ending that explained much of the rest of the lives of the individuals. Was there supposed to be a narrator who read all that at the end of the play? I did enjoy how the surroundings for each change of scenery was so perfectly described (there are fewer than half a dozen different "sets" and a much smaller cast of characters than were in the movie).

SPOILER ALERT: The movie version has an ending that leaves you hanging, and there is some violence (mostly imagined). At the end, about all I could say was that the two would probably deserve each other if they ended up together, and I hoped that if they had kids they would change a lot in character.

And the kiddie version of the ancient story? It involved prayers to a goddess (not good), but otherwise was fairly tame. And there were very, very few characters involved in the story.

A Strange Request

A college student emailed me to ask for information on a certain topic because the individual DOES NOT HAVE TIME TO GO TO A LIBRARY. I'm kind of flabbergasted; I'm not sure what to write back.

I understand that college students are busy (actually, who isn't, these days), but still . . . .