Life Is a Dream (Dover Thrift Editions: Plays)

A very fine English rendering of a great classic. It avoids the pitfalls of trying to duplicate the rhymed couplets of the original Spanish, or of a flat prose, and opts for a simple verse, elevated and clear.

This play is a hidden gem. Calderon has written a classic comedy that follows the formula but ventures into classic philosophy as well: what is our life? Is it real? Is it a dream? If it is a dream, how then should we live our lives? This is the center of Oedipus Rex, with its fate versus free will theme, and Calderon explores it with humor and compassion. The Dover edition is inexpensive but doesn't cut corners, making it perfect for college students. I highly recommend it!

I needed to read this because I knew it was the key to understanding El Relato de una Vida Equivocada, which I am teaching in a college course right now. I enjoyed reading it, and I'm glad it was there for me to read, but, perhaps because of the way ebooks present physically, I didn't think it was the best edition of the work.

This was a very good transaction, and a classic read. My son needed to read this story for a school report, and found the story impressive.

required for school but a good read.