Death of a Salesman
by Arthur Miller · first published 1940
12% recommend88% neutral
The blood of Willy Lohman flows in all of us. The story of the salesman who wanted more for his sons than he knew how to get, who harmed them through his well-meaning dreams but atoned with his life, is at least in part the story of all of us. That is why it is one of the most overwhelming successes of the modern American theatre. --back cover Also contained in: - Arthur Miller's Collected Plays - Bedford Introduction to Literature: Reading, Thinking, Writing: 6th edition - [Collected Plays 1944-
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…forced to read classics in high school. Classics in high school are mostly useless unless you are particularly mature; I was not. Rereading those books now is a bizarre experience. I remember reading Death of a Salesman a year back in a state of disbelief. It was something I remember absolutely hating in high school but six years later, I thought it was brilliant.
on “Why I read fiction” ↗Well, some classic "high school English literature class" books that fulfill that criteria are Miller's Death of a Salesman and Wharton's Ethan Frome. Still in the Western classical canon, Puccini's Madame Butterfly is fantastic, if you're into opera.
on “American Loneliness” ↗Death of a Salesman. This is yet another book that you are forced to read prematurely in middle or high school. At the time, it was a frustrating exercise; upon rereading it at age 25, I thought it was fantastic. I also…
on “Ask HN: Great books you read in 2009?” ↗…back for more! And if I may note, literature is a world thing that opens up new domains. No way to limit it to one place. However in your stated context, how about Steinbeck "The Pearl" and Miller "Death of a Salesman"
on “Ask HN: I'm reading all the classics, what should I read next?” ↗…so much like American reality of the 40s and 50s. Let me remind you that a) this was mainly about white middle class, and b) even among the white middle class this dream did not regularly come true ("Death of a Salesman" by Arthur Miller).
on “Why Prosperity Has Increased but Happiness Has Not” ↗…Story. I get that you prefer the one, but not everybody does. English classes also have you read lots of other more recent and more modern works. It's not exclusively Shakespeare. I remember, for example, Death of a Salesman, 1984, and Slaughterhouse-Five being part of my high school's English curriculum. Lord of the Rings is apparently in several English curricula now. Comedies of all kinds (from Aristophanes to Pratchett)…
on “'Students who use AI as a crutch don't learn anything'” ↗…he slap his forehead exclaiming, "yes I was so stupid. I should just be content with my family!" ? Maybe there are some people who can't have that Hollywood ending. Instead, they live in a perpetual "Death of a Salesman" loop. Maybe some folks must pursue a purpose and chase a dream and if they don't, "family and community" mean nothing to them. >I was the ambitious one, the one that strayed far from home, chasing…
on “Relationships Are More Important Than Ambition (2013)” ↗> Many blamed these problems on the government. They believed it had crippled certain products (major home appliances, especially) This is a claim that was already present in Death of a Salesman. Here's the quote: > I am always in a race with the junkyard! I just finished paying for the car and it's on its last legs. The refrigerator consumes belts like a goddam maniac. They time those things.…
on “O Holy Crap” ↗…explicitly shot down by his parents; he tried to go to college three times, failing each time until he finally had a mental break and decided to run away to a simpler life, like a cliched Happy Loman (Death of a Salesman). Given that this appointment is only about making sure the company maintains its ethics, that's not such a bad guy to put in that role. At least he's not obsessed with ROI at all costs.
on “Howard Buffet will succeed Warren Buffet as chairman of Berkshire Hathaway” ↗> I like prose that is a commentary on observations about life, man and business, if you're able to find anything. No idea about prose, but in terms of fiction, Death of a Salesman is the obvious one, I guess. Also, Rise of Silas Lapham, maybe? I'll be honest with you, I don't like to read books about man and life and business all in a single work. I took a few American literature…
on ““A book is a sneeze”” ↗Lol. I didn't mean all themes had to be in one work. Isn't death of a salesman a play? I've added slaughterhouse to my reading list. Thank you.
on ““A book is a sneeze”” ↗…this reverence for salesmen is because of a peculiarity of American history and because of some deplorable defects in our educational system. It's because Americans think Willy Loman was the hero in "Death of a Salesman".
on “Wolfram Language” ↗That was a 1950s thing. "Death of a Salesman", "Krapp's Last Tape", "Waiting for Godot", and most of Harold Pinter's works. They're either about depression, or after you watch them, you'll be depressed. Tom Lehrer on this, in the 1960s: "The characters…
on “Cyril Connolly and the literature of depression” ↗…powerful emotion. It might be related to me being European that I believe in sparing people such experiences (“dignity” is a big concept here), the stigma itself might be proportionally stronger in the US. Death of a Salesman is all about that, IIRC, and considered a cornerstone of Americana.
on “Photos Show the Staggering Food Bank Lines Across America” ↗…century a refrigerator costs so much that people would take out loans to buy one. Today you can get a quality refrigerator for $400. Seriously the cost of the refrigerator is a central theme of the play Death of a Salesman. Today, probably, nobody is killing themselves in despair over the prices of refrigerators.
on “Planned Obsolescence in Modern Homes [video]” ↗