What Do you Read

I'm currently reading several books. Let's see if I can remember all of them . . . .

Candide, by Voltaire. I've read it before, and if you haven't read it, you need to. It's hilarious.

Hamlet, by Do I really have to say who. I'm reading this, along with Candide and the poetry of John Keats, for the Literary Criticism club at school.

I'm also reading The Children of Men by P.D. James (I think that's her name), re-reading Dune by Herbert (fantastic read, it's gets better every time), The Guns of August by an author whose name I can't remember (it's an amazing non-fiction book about the beginning of WWI. Not only is it highly informative, but also extremely- and surprisingly- beautiful), and Otherland by Tad Williams.

I think that's everything. That will take me a while to finish, simply because of the volume of it (I'm reading Hamlet first to get it out of the way, not because it's bad (it's Shakespeare- how could it be bad? Well, okay, it could be Romeo and Juliet, but I digress, and this paranthetical is getting lengthy enough as it is), but because I can't wait to talk about it in Lit Crit), but they are all good books, and I can't wait to sink my teeth into them.

And by the way, in case your curious (because I'm sure you all were just waiting on bated breath to know about my likes and dislikes!), I'm seriously considering pursuing a career in English Literature, and am almost positively going to major in English in college. It's a fascinating field of study, and I love nothing more than reading a book, dissecting it, and writing an essay over it.
 
I think Shakespeare is overrated.
 
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Everyone knows Shakespeare was just another alias used by Grant Morrison back in his time traveling days.
 
Even I'm surprised at how many people he was able to fool with that bad British accent and that glue-on goatee thing.

But seriously, I think Shakespeare is overrated. I thought I was alone in this opinion until my awesome English teacher from last year brought it up in class. We also both think that Romeo and Juliet is not intended to be an inspiring, grand romance, but a commentary on how impulsive and stupid teenagers are.
 
I find it impossible to read Shakespeare and understand it.


Especially Hamlet. I read that and no idea what the **** was happening.






Edgar Allen Poe on the other hand was fantastic. I remember reading them both back in middle school just for fun.
 
moonmaster said:
Even I'm surprised at how many people he was able to fool with that bad British accent and that glue-on goatee thing.

But seriously, I think Shakespeare is overrated. I thought I was alone in this opinion until my awesome English teacher from last year brought it up in class. We also both think that Romeo and Juliet is not intended to be an inspiring, grand romance, but a commentary on how impulsive and stupid teenagers are.
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I wrote my 9th Grade English final on that EXACT topic, how nothing between them even resembles anything close to love. They hook up based on pure physical attraction and from that point on don't have a single conversation consisting of more than "You're so beautiful." "Right back at you.", and then have the nerve to say "Wow, this must be love!".

But don't judge him on that alone. Although overrated, Shakespeare's certainly worked a few masterpieces. Caesar and Lear are must-reads, although you probably won't get as much out of them on your own. I was lucky enough to have the best English teacher ever during both of those, and he really made them great.
 
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It's not that Shakespeare in general is overrated, its mostly just Romeo & Juliet, which is not one of his better shows... And he's overexposed, People don't even know what the "To Be Or Not to Be" speech means, for god's sake, its just known in general.

More than half of The Comedies, Hamlet, Macbeth, and the entire Henriad (Richard II, Henry IV pts. 1 and 2, and Henry V) are some of the best plays ever written, to this day...

Reading Shakespeare is beside the point though, see it performed... Once the langauge is flowing its not that difficult to understand.

*is a big shakespeare fan*

I saw Much Ado About Nothing this past week... I loveses that show.

MY TOP TEN SHAKESPEARE:
1. Hamlet
2. As You Like It
3. A Midsummer Night's Dream
4. Much Ado About Nothing
5. Macbeth
6. Twelfth Night
7. Julius Caesar
8. Richard II
9. The Merchant of Venice
10. Henry IV Part One

I need to see King Lear, Tempest, and Othello... and eventually the lesser known works...
 
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Planet-man said:
I still think Julius Caesar is by far Shakespeare's best, then Lear, then Hamlet, and so on. Macbeth was decent. R+J and The Tempest were crap, though at least the latter was meant to be a light sort of affair.
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I've only read 4 of 5 of his plays, and Macbeth is my favorite so far.

Planet-man said:
Although overrated, Shakespeare's certainly worked a few masterpieces. Caesar and Lear are must-reads, although you probably won't get as much out of them on your own. I was lucky enough to have the best English teacher ever during both of those, and he really made them great.
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See, I haven't read those yet.
 
I usually love Shakespeare, but Romeo and Juliet is just aweful, so I have to agree with you guys there. Sadly, I have never seen a Shakespearan play performed, but I hope to some day. My favorite (of the ones I've read, mind you), is Julius Caesar. I just love Marc Antony's speech when addressing the people about Caesar's murder.

And I gotta say- loving Hamlet so far.
 
I'm also reading Candide.

Ulysses is the only Joyce I haven't even tried yet. I haven't finished Finnegna's Wake, but I'll start over with it someday. I've read the rest of his works.

I like Shakespeare, but believe it or not, the way it's printed has a huge effect on my enjoyment of it. It has to have pretty large print.
 
Planet-man said:
I wrote my 9th Grade English final on that EXACT topic, how nothing between them even resembles anything close to love. They hook up based on pure physical attraction and from that point on don't have a single conversation consisting of more than "You're so beautiful." "Right back at you.", and then have the nerve to say "Wow, this must be love!".

But don't judge him on that alone. Although overrated, Shakespeare's certainly worked a few masterpieces. Caesar and Lear are must-reads, although you probably won't get as much out of them on your own. I was lucky enough to have the best English teacher ever during both of those, and he really made them great.
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Dr.Strangefate said:
It's not that Shakespeare in general is overrated, its mostly just Romeo & Juliet, which is not one of his better shows... And he's overexposed, People don't even know what the "To Be Or Not to Be" speech means, for god's sake, its just known in general.

More than half of The Comedies, Hamlet, Macbeth, and the entire Henriad (Richard II, Henry IV pts. 1 and 2, and Henry V) are some of the best plays ever written, to this day...

Reading Shakespeare is beside the point though, see it performed... Once the langauge is flowing its not that difficult to understand.

*is a big shakespeare fan*

I saw Much Ado About Nothing this past week... I loveses that show.

MY TOP TEN SHAKESPEARE:
1. Hamlet
2. As You Like It
3. A Midsummer Night's Dream
4. Much Ado About Nothing
5. Macbeth
6. Twelfth Night
7. Julius Caesar
8. Richard II
9. The Merchant of Venice
10. Henry IV Part One

I need to see King Lear, Tempest, and Othello... and eventually the lesser known works...
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I've read Romeo and Juliet, Ceasar, and Macbeth. We're reading Hamlet this year.

I understand how much Shakespeare has contributed to the English language and I have very little trouble understanding his work, I just don't see anything especially exciting in anything I've read from him. It's all so...archetypal that it doesn't feel as new as it must have seemed in the past. It's like I've already seen everything he's written a hundred times before.
 
moonmaster said:
It's all so...archetypal that it doesn't feel as new as it must have seemed in the past. It's like I've already seen everything he's written a hundred times before.
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Yeah, and that "Rose by any other name" line.... what a cliche! They've said it a hundred times in TV shows and movies alone!

:p

But seriously, I do get where you're coming from and pretty much agree. Shakespeare should be taught as more of a pioneer and visionary who was also the greatest writer of the time than as somebody whose characters and writing style have still yet to be topped.

Saw what you will, but Harry Potter is a far, far, far more complex and brilliant character than Prince Hamlet.
 
I do not understand your fascination with Harry Potter. Though I've only read several of the books (and watched the movies) I've yet to see anything that distinguishes him from every other archetypal "coming of age" hero. His friends seem to have more personality than he does.
 
Planet-man said:
Yeah, and that "Rose by any other name" line.... what a cliche! They've said it a hundred times in TV shows and movies alone!

:p

But seriously, I do get where you're coming from and pretty much agree. Shakespeare should be taught as more of a pioneer and visionary who was also the greatest writer of the time than as somebody whose characters and writing style have still yet to be topped.

Saw what you will, but Harry Potter is a far, far, far more complex and brilliant character than Prince Hamlet.
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Jokes aside, I'm assuming that you understand that I think pop culture has kind of ruined Shakespeare for me. It's just that he's been so influential that nothing he does seems all that original.

It's like watching "The Shinning" before you see "The Shining."
 
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