What a thoroughly depressing book. I liked the message it was trying to send about being true to ones dreams but at the same time I think there are better ways of doing it than such a depressing way. ( )

Willie Loman is a salesman. He travels more than he'd like. He doesn't do as well as he'd wish. He's generally disappointed with his life. When his sons visit for a few days, Willie slips into a reminiscent mode, in which he relives past events, and spends a lot of time talking with his recently deceased older brother.

This concerns the Lomans, and they try to help. But at the same time, Willy's two sons learn a lot about their father from his flashbacks. Some things good, but other things bad.

The play itself is masterfully written by Arthur Miller, playwright of other notable works, including The Crucible and All My Sons. Miller masterfully paints a picture of a salesman, down on his luck, dissatisfied with life, and at the end of his rope, resorting to crazy (both highly irrational and legitimately insane) means to cope with his wasted life.

The play is both beautiful and tragic, wonderful and horrible, showing the dichotomy of visceral real life. Showing you a world that's too real, and too sad. Showing you a world that makes you glad it's not happening to you.

If you enjoy dramatic writings, then you must read Death of a Salesman. If you read it in school and HATED it, then you MUST reread it. Don't worry about extracting and dissecting during your reading. Enjoy, let yourself get wrapped up in its words. But don't get in too deep. Be careful not to get in too deep. ( )

This is my second experience of reading Arthur Miller (I've never seen him in performance, alas), and though Death of a Salesman lacks the emotional punch of The Crucible, it's still pretty dang good. Willie Loman is one of those people I can't help but empathize with, as he throws himself into his work to the utmost extent. Shame he's got two lackadaisical sons, and shame even more that it appears to be his fault. The flashbacks are confusing on the written page, but I'd imagine they'd look pretty good on stage. A damning indictment of the principles by which I sometimes feel I live my own life.

I was struck by the closeness of the ending to some aspects of It's a Wonderful Life, which came out only three years before this, and though the two very obviously have different tones, I can't help but think there's something in that. Death of a Salesman attacks the very principles upon which that film rests; furthermore, it attacks the entire 1950s before they even happened, which is both clever and depressing.

Den norske tittelen på dette skuespillet er "En handelsreisendes død". Det handler om selgeren Willy Loman og hans familie, kona Linda og de to sønnene Biff og Happy. Willy mister jobben, og blir mer og mer fortvilet og nærmest gal. Hans kone prøver å hjelpe og trøste ham, men alt blir bare verre og verre, spesielt når sønnene skuffer ham, og ikke lever opp til det faren venter av dem. Som tittelen antyder ender stykket som en tragedie, dvs. slik vi hadde forventet.

Etter min mening er ikke dette et spesielt godt skuespill, og det forbauser meg at det er blitt så pass berømt. Kanskje det er litt utdatert. Det var trolig mer nyskapende da det kom ut i 1949. ( )

One of the best American dramas.