Shakespeare Saturday

Okay, I admit it. Despite my best efforts, I’m bitten by the bug. Despite every fiber of my soul crying out in agony, I’ve fallen hard for it. I’m hooked.

I’m reading Shakespeare.

I guess it has something to do with the plan I stumbled upon (written about, here) while searching for the best version of the Bard’s plays. In the past two weeks I’ve read and watched three Shakespearean plays: The Tempest, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Much Ado About Nothing. I’ve spent no money (all are borrowed from one of my very well-stocked libraries), which is good, since I have no money to spend.

I do have time, usually at night when everyone’s asleep or when insomnia kicks in. You may think Will a great cure for the inability to nod off, but, strangely, for me, this isn’t the case. I can read him for an hour at a pop, and still feel charged enough to keep going. For the record keepers, I can put away a play in two, two-and-a-half hours. The BBC Television Shakespeare plays I’ve been watching on my little DVD player take about two-and-a-half to three hours a piece.

Because I’m no expert and hardly have any idea what I’m talking about, I can’t really review them (plays and DVDs) and would feel quite out of my league even attempting an analysis or whatnot. Surely nothing like what I enjoy doing to a good SF read. So let me just grade ’em on how I liked them: personal appeal and enjoyment. Pure subjective opinion; I really don’t want to give the impression I’m casting judgment on the work as a work of high literature.

Play

The Tempest … A
A Midsummer Night’s Dream … A+
Much Ado About Nothing … B+

BBC DVD

The Tempest … A+
A Midsummer Night’s Dream … D
Much Ado About Nothing … A


Yeah, didn’t like the BBC interpretation of Midsummer Night’s Dream.

I’ve also been reading a lot of side stuff about Shakespeare as well as the plays themselves. Back in January when I found myself drawn into Tolkien, I decided to do a post every Tuesday on some aspect of the Master or his great works. I think I’ll do the same about the Bard. A lot of info I’ve been browsing through I find intensely interesting. It seems overwhelming, but I think the discipline of fashioning a weekly post about him and / or his plays will prove a worthy investment.

It’s always been a vague goal of mine to read through Shakespeare’s works (36 to 39 plays plus 154 sonnets and a handful of longer poems) before I move on up to another plane of existence. Why not now? Maintaining my average of 45 minutes a day or so I can do this in under a year. The perennial question for me is, being a Hopper, can I keep my focus on this worthy goal?

So, in the spirit of Tolkien Tuesdays, I’m gonna start a series called Shakespeare Saturdays. I’ll try to keep it interesting and off-beat. I’m proud of the dozen or so posts about Tolkien, so I have to aim high here, but as of right now, I’m up for the challenge.

Part of my errands with Patch today is a stop at the library for the next play / DVD. Not sure what it will be (it often depends on what’s on the shelves), but I think I wanna stick with the lighter-hearted comedies before delving into Shakespeare’s histories or tragedies. Maybe The Comedy of Errors, Twelfth Night, or As You Like It. There is a little niggling thought in the back of my skull that’s wondering if I’m just digging these “comedies” and will collapse like that dancing suspension bridge once I crack open Lear or Richard III. I guess we’ll see …