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sheriffrockyraccoon's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Thanks to several English classes over the years, I have seen the film Twelve Angry Men several times. This book is an adaptation of the teleplay for Broadway, but is almost entirely identical to the film’s dialogue and direction.
I absolutely love this story. The film is one of my favorites and this book was gifted to me by a friend who knew this. I am really happy to have a physical copy of the words, especially since the dialogue takes into account a “50s accent”. The characters truly jump off the page and it feels as though I was watching the production instead of reading.
This play is extremely relevant, even today. It speaks to unrest during the 50s, which is often overlooked in favor of saying it was a better time for Americans. Topics such as immigration, family, and democracy are discussed and allow us to see many different sides of a single experience.
I would recommend this play to anyone. It’s a classic, and for very good reason. I especially would recommend it after watching the film in order to really delve into the dialogue and plot development.
I absolutely love this story. The film is one of my favorites and this book was gifted to me by a friend who knew this. I am really happy to have a physical copy of the words, especially since the dialogue takes into account a “50s accent”. The characters truly jump off the page and it feels as though I was watching the production instead of reading.
This play is extremely relevant, even today. It speaks to unrest during the 50s, which is often overlooked in favor of saying it was a better time for Americans. Topics such as immigration, family, and democracy are discussed and allow us to see many different sides of a single experience.
I would recommend this play to anyone. It’s a classic, and for very good reason. I especially would recommend it after watching the film in order to really delve into the dialogue and plot development.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
This is a story about a murder case. The aforementioned content is mentioned but not seen or described in depth.inspector_fergus's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Violence
Moderate: Classism
sassmistress's review against another edition
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
5.0
Really enjoyed this gripping courthouse drama! There weren't very many dated references, despite being written in 1954, and it's an exciting story. I see why this is a classic. To read the play, you do have to be able to keep track of characters by number instead of name, but it was pretty easy to follow as long as I kept 4 of those numbers straight. Definitely want to go see a production version at some point!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Murder, and Classism
Minor: Domestic abuse and Physical abuse
- Being centered on the jury for a murder trial demanding the death penalty, death is discussed frequently, but not in a detailed way beyond the angle of the stabbing and the neighbor hearing the body hit the floor. The defendant is underage and facing the death penalty (electric chair is mentioned callously a few times).- I counted 1 "a**", 2 "ba***rds" and quite a few occurrences of "he**" and "g**d***". Also, "Chr**sakes", "son of a b****", "load of cr**". There may be more that I missed. It picks up pace during the climax, when you're already invested.
- Very aggressive racism is closely depicted.
- "The father wasn't exactly a model citizen... He was in prison once. He was a compulsive gambler and a pretty consistent loser. He spent a lot of time in neighborhood bars and he'd get into fistfights sometimes after a couple of drinks. Usually over a woman. He was a tough, cruel, primitive kind of man who never held a job for more than six months in his life." Someone suggests he could have instead have been murdered by "a man he'd beaten up" or "a woman he picked up".
- Y'know, "Angry Men." The conversation gets heated, there are a few creative insults, near-fights that get broken up, and one man makes as if to stab another to get him to flinch
kwichris's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism
Moderate: Violence and Murder
solid_circle's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism
the_page_traveller's review against another edition
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Racism
sssssoup's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Classism
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting
Minor: Alcoholism, Cursing, and Alcohol
victor_gannon's review against another edition
emotional
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Let me tell you something, the only reason I have scored this lower is because I was forced to read this story SO many times, I am slowly starting to get a burning passion of hating this story.
It's alright, a good short story that you can read quickly, some racism and stuff but that's expected.
It's alright, a good short story that you can read quickly, some racism and stuff but that's expected.
Content Warnings
Minor: Cursing, Death, Racism, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder
yellow_star's review against another edition
inspiring
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
This just works much better when you watch it performed, it isn't as good read. Even though it's a short read it also felt horribly slow to read through it. Most editions also have a little lecture on the importance of civic duty at the beginning which is an even slower read and is also very preachy. Please don't be turned off by the content warning, it contains a prejudiced character but the others are against it so it's not a pro-prejudice piece.
Content Warnings
Minor: Racism
they don't specify if a few of the jurors are racist or classist and the race of the accused isn't mentioned, but there is dialogue about a juror not caring if the accused is innocent or guilty because he is "one of THEM [and deserves to die for just that]." In the dialogue a few of the jurors disagree with that reasoning so it's not a pro-prejudice piece.