Tough-O-Meter

We've got your back. With the Tough-O-Meter, you'll know whether to bring extra layers or Swiss army knives as you summit the literary mountain. (10 = Toughest)

(7) Snow Line

Arcadia is a play about a bunch of really smart people talking about really big ideas, so it can be hard for the rest of us (who can't recite Byron from memory or explain how fractals work) to keep up. However, these characters talk about their intellectual passions in a way that is often hilarious, or at least entertaining – and while our own obsessions may run to video games or webcomics rather than algorithms or gardening, we can still identify with their enthusiasm for their subjects.