The Crucible by Arthur Miller

Title: The Crucible Author: Arthur Miller Print Length: 144 pages Publisher: Penguin

Genre: Play ASIN: B005JZD30U

Plot Summary: The story of how the small community of Salem was stirred into the madness of a witch-hunt in 1692 by superstition, paranoia and malice, culminating in a violent climax. It is a savage attack on the evils of mindless persecution and the terrifying power of false accusations.

If you have ever contemplated reading a play, then I would recommend you start with this one. I love writing dialogue and the dialogue in The Crucible is, of course, brilliant. Through it the characters grow and fill out before your eyes. In addition, Miller includes instructions to the actors about how the characters are behaving and feeling and a lot of stage direction which gives the script a strong sense of narrative. This is a very easy play to read and the plot keeps you gripped right to the tragic end.

What others thought

At the time of writing there were 175 reviews on Amazon.co.uk, 162 (93%) of which were 3* or above, and giving an average rating of 4.4*. On Amazon.com, there were 617 reviews, with 89% being 3* or above, giving an average rating of 4.2*. On Goodreads.com there were 248,831 ratings (including 5,281 reviews), 83% were of 3* or more, giving an average rating of 3.5*.

Other Books by the same author (click on the image to go to Amazon for more details)

Other plays (click on the image to go to Amazon for more details)