Why I read the book: One reason, and one reason only. It’s on the Racine list. Now I only have 44 to go.

What I expected: I expected a play about some miserable people living miserable lives because of their own miserable choices. That’s what all of Ibsen’s other plays are about.

What the book was about: Hedda is a spoiled, bored young lady who marries Jorgen Tesman, an aspiring historian. Jorgen’s rival for a post at the university is Ejlert Lovborg who has just written a manuscript that will win him fame. Jorgen and Ejlert go to a party at Judge Brack’s and get drunk. Ejlert drops his manuscript, and Jorgen finds it. He brings it home and shows Hedda. She decides to throw it in the fireplace. When Ejlert shows up and mourns his loss, Hedda gives him one of her dueling pistols and encourages him to commit suicide in a brave, exciting manner. When she finds out that he shot himself in the bowels in a whorehouse, she goes into the next room and used the other pistol to shoot herself.

What I liked about the book: It was only 82 pages long and only took about an hour to read.

What I didn’t like about the book: Everything else.

The most interesting quote: “curtain”

Recommendation: I recommend that you read this play and explain to me why it was published and why it appears on anybody’s list of worthwhile books.