Rating: 
Summary: Murder in the North
Review: "Morality Play" is a murder mystery set in the Middle Ages. Nicholas Barber, a wayward priest, joins a troupe of itinerant actors in northern England who are on their way to Durham.The troupe stops in a remote town, where recently a child has been murdered. Will the murderer be discovered as the troupe becomes more interested in the case? "Morality Play" is a short, entertaining book. I suppose that every novel of this type tends to be compared to "The Name of the Rose", despite the fact that it might be a little unfair to do that. It has a similar feel to Eco's work, but "Morality Play" is still good stuff - Unsworth is a skilled author, and manages to convey what might be an authentic feel for what life was like then. Although it's not as weighty as say "Stone Virgin", "Sacred Hunger" or "The Rage of the Vulture", it's still a well-controlled piece of writing. G Rodgers
Rating:
Summary: Murder in the North
Review: "Morality Play" is a murder mystery set in the Middle Ages. Nicholas Barber, a wayward priest, joins a troupe of itinerant actors in northern England who are on their way to Durham. The troupe stops in a remote town, where recently a child has been murdered. Will the murderer be discovered as the troupe becomes more interested in the case? "Morality Play" is a short, entertaining book. I suppose that every novel of this type tends to be compared to "The Name of the Rose", despite the fact that it might be a little unfair to do that. It has a similar feel to Eco's work, but "Morality Play" is still good stuff - Unsworth is a skilled author, and manages to convey what might be an authentic feel for what life was like then. Although it's not as weighty as say "Stone Virgin", "Sacred Hunger" or "The Rage of the Vulture", it's still a well-controlled piece of writing. G Rodgers
Rating: 
Summary: Good...
Review: ... Light fare. Seems more like a screen play for a film project.
Rating:
Summary: Good...
Review: ... Light fare. Seems more like a screen play for a film project.
Rating:
Summary: Very compelling. And no monks doing detective work!
Review: A medieval thriller, about a murder. Oh Brother Cadfael. I wouldn't have read anything as shallow-sounding if it hadn't been recommended to me. But I was pleasantly astounded by the author's deftness of touch; the characters of the players are very sharply and plausibly drawn, the descriptions bring vivid images into the mind, and the story is skilfully paced. I also enjoyed the way that seemingly inconsequential scenes, such as the appearance of the red-canopied knight after the burial of Brendan, have their symbolic relevance revealed towards the end. Overall, Unsworth pulls off a stunning trick: while continually reminding you of the dichotomy of truth and artifice, he cajoles you into believing his own fiction. I am only slightly bothered by one loose thread: there are strong hints throughout the novel, particularly in later chapters, that the chief player, Martin, has met a sticky end by the time of Nicholas's telling of the story. At the end, however, it seems Martin and his fellow players are about to be rescued from the castle. Does he live or does he die? Or is it the author's intention that we make up our own minds? Perhaps this is a job for Brother Cadfael, after all.
Rating: 
Summary: A monk discovers his part in life's larger drama
Review: A wondering monk joins a band of traveling player as one of the troupe exits his mortal coil. He discovers, through playing, that his part extends beyond the staged drama, and contains his role in the group, in his society and in the larger human drama of the times. The author brings the 14th century alive but in is in the recognition of our common human habit of being tied to our social roles that transforms this book into a work of great fiction. This will be required reading for my next group of students in my Group Dynamics class
Rating:
Summary: The author really kept the readers attention with the murder
Review: Barry Unsworth is a very accomplished author who worked his magic again with the novel Morality Play. It is an exciting story about the death of a young boy, Thomas Wells. It is not only his death, but the mystery that goes along with it. It takes place in fourteenth century England where the primary character, Nicholas Barber, a monk, stumbles onto a traveling players group. Its underlying theme is death, but it is the excitment of the murder mystery that keeps the reader hooked. Morality Play is an intersting, well-developed novel that is one of a kind.
Rating:
Summary: A novel of mystery or a mistery of a novel?
Review: Barry Unsworth starts his novel excellently. A renegade monk Nicholas Barber, a protagonist of the novel, promises us a thrilling story and author's splendid descriptions of characters vouch for its first-rate implementation. Attracted by the lure of money, a troupe of travelling players makes a decision to perform impromptu play based on circumstances of a real murder happened in town. But their inability to lie on the stage before the concerned audience gives them chance to approach a clue of the murder with every new performance. Brilliant plot! The medieval mystery story transforms into paean in praise of actors' mettle. But something happens in last chapters of the novel. And unfortunately it happens not with the characters of the novel but with the author himself. As if Mr Unsworth lost all interest in his book and last chapters were written by someone who only vaguely understood author's initial conception. A mystery aficionado can untimely guess the felon and his motives. A reader who prefers serious novels will be disappointed by the finale where, in order to tie up a few loose ends, the author quietly abandons most of his characters in a hostile castle without any regret. Influence of Umberto Eco's "The Name Of The Rose" is beyond all question. But Eco's novel is more profound, intellectual and interesting.
Rating:
Summary: A brilliant medieval murder mystery
Review: Barry Unsworth's "Morality Play" is a brilliantly told murder mystery set in 14th century medieval England. It tells of how a fallen monk in his escape from the monastery joins up with a travelling theatre troupe and in the process helps solve a town murder by performing a morality play to expose the murderer. There are strong shades of Umberto Eco's "The Name Of The Rose" in this wonderfully captivating novel, which though far less ambitious in its aims, is arguably as effective in its delivery. Unsworth's prose is simple, unpretentious and uncluttered, yet so beautifully written with a sureness of touch that renders the overall effect almost poetic. A highly engaging novel that I would recommend unreservedly to anyone who enjoys a murder mystery in an unusual setting.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Morality Play
Review: Barry Unsworth's book borders on brilliance. Unlike some period pieces purportedly focusing on medieval times and life, the timelessness of this tale draws us in and challenges us, like a play. As we all know, life is art, and art is life. Unsworth takes us to the next step as he illuminates a world, perhaps ultimately not that different from ours, that does not welcome light thrown onto its preferred mode of darkness. On one level, "Morality Play" is a simple tale of traveling players during the calamitous fourteenth century, a time when all bad aspects of life were perhaps at their ascendancy. The author spares us neither the plague nor the corruption of the church and the nobility. There is more than enough avarice and cruelty in this short volume to make the reader grateful that our days are so much better. As one expects in a narrative of the Middle Ages, Fortune drives men to their destiny, in spite of any thoughts, wishes, or desires recalcitrant or reasoning minds may offer in opposition. It is Fortune that drives Nicholas Barber, our erstwhile narrator, to join a troupe of itinerant players. It is Fortune that drives the players to a town that recently had lost a child through foul murder. It is also Fortune that drives the players to create a new art form, plays based on life though still rooted in types. The end has more than a hint of deus ex machina, making the point that the timeless is so for a reason, perhaps the most valid reason of all. Although the players are types on stage, the change is obvious as each shifts to a position where it is not clear whether the person or the role is more in control. These players are radical beyond what a casual reader might suspect. Completely absent from their discussion is the medieval respect for "auctoritee," the belief that nothing new was permitted. Given Unsworth's attention to detail, this omission must be deliberate. Indeed, one of the reasons the players decide to proceed with their play based in reality is to make money, a desire more modern than medieval. Yet, the reader wonders at what point the modern world gave its mother the pains of birth. Could it have been that players first showed people the fruits of new impulses towards art? Through it all, Nicholas Barber, our errant priest narrator, discovers that to follow one's heart is to follow one's nature, and there perhaps one may find whatever God there is. For his part, he finds a way to live more full of life than the old texts who were his companions for so many years could ever provide. I hope that Barry Unsworth gives him a chance to speak again in another novel. I would gladly her his voice again. Ultimately, the players are our contemporaries, in spirit if not in time. By shedding light on their time, the reader wonders what shadows we cast. No more than they knew what they were starting, are we able to see what will come, in the end, of all that we hold dear. Like traveling players looking for food and shelter in winter, we make our way as best we can in the our circumstances, beset on all sides by the powers that honor only privilege. "Morality Play" seems to me a highly successful book. I recommend it for those with an interest in medieval life, as well as for those with a curiosity about why life and art might have all turned out as it did. It is a little book, not a big book, but it does force some big ideas upon the careful reader. Well done, Mr. Unsworth.
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