Bertolt Brecht - Life of Galileo

[livi]

I've just had a beautiful edition of Life of Galileo delivered in the post. Has anyone already read it? Any thoughts to consider before I tackle the play?

[Pompey Bum]

I've just had a beautiful edition of Life of Galileo delivered in the post. Has anyone already read it? Any thoughts to consider before I tackle the play?

I remember reading the "American version" (just called Galileo) that Brecht developed from the original after fleeing the Third Reich. I read it in college and didn't really see past the humanistic tragedy. As the years went by, though, I often thought of the play in the context of the choices one makes in professional life. Anyone who has/has had a career (at least one working for others) knows that there are inevitably long, dark nights of the soul in which one juggles issues of integrity, self-interest, and protection of family, in the face, essentially, of institutional evil. I think that is what Brecht was talking about in Galileo: is it better/wiser to do what you know is right, to stand up to what you know is wrong, or to compromise in a way that may or may not give what is right a fighting chance in the future? If I had known how important those questions were going to be, I would have paid more attention the first time Brecht asked.

Hope that bit of blither helps, Livi. Enjoy the play!