Lisa’s Comments (group member since Sep 23, 2009)

Lisa’s comments from the Should have read classics group.

What is everyone's impression of Lady Macbeth? Does it change during the first act?

I was wondering why Duncan was not in the battle in scene ii? If it was discussed, I missed it.

Susan wrote: "Will start tonight, just joined! Saw the PBS Shakespeare program about Macbeth a few months ago and it was great. Would recommend finding online if you can."

Fantastic! I will look it up and welcome to the group Susan! Hope that you enjoy it!

I did a little more research in to Macbeth and found out that it is one Shakespeare's four greatest tragedies. It was written in 1606 and the only source for the story is found in Holinshed's "Chronicles", a work frequently used by Shakespeare for his history plays. It is the shortest of the tragedies, with only 1993 lines, compared to 3924 of "Hamlet".

I finally started to read this book and I completely forgot how hard Shakespeare is to sit down and read. It is not something that you speed read through. I must say that it is easier to understand for me, when I say the parts out loud, however, my family thinks I'm very strange!
The opening is interesting, with the witches. Nothing like witches to catch you attention! I'm also amazed at how the perception of Macbeth, by the audience changes very quickly during the first act.

This is the discussion thread for Act II in Macbeth.

This is the discussion thread for Act III in Macbeth.

This is the discussion thread for Act IV in Macbeth.

This is the discussion thread for Act V in Macbeth.

I thought that it might help the discussion to split the thread into the 5 different acts. This thread will be for Act I. Maybe, this will help stimulate discussion in those parts.

When I was a teenager, the town that I grew up in had a free Shakespeare festival every summer where they would perform a play for two weeks. Being a teenager at the time, it really helped my understanding of Shakespeare and it made those plays seem "alive" more so than a movie or just straight reading. I also thought that it helped understand the subtle humor in the plays after the first act, it seemed to take that long for me to understand the words and speaking tone of the characters.

No problem! Then I will put Gatsby for Feb and Catcher for March.

My daughter has not read this book, but she picked up a book series about the sisters just last week. She read Jo's Story and loved it and now wants to read the other books in the series. Rather a funny coincidence, I thought!

I'm pretty sure that I read this in 9th or 10th grade. I only remember Lady Macbeth's line "Out damn spot", and that is about it. Looking forward to reading this one again!

What grade did you read this book in? Did you like it or hate it? Have you ever seen a Shakespeare play performed in real life? Join us for this November group read and reread a wonderful classic or read it for the first time and tell us your thoughts! This read goes through November 30, 2013.

I figured with all the craziness that December brings that it might be nice to have a break during that time. Plus, we can always add two months to Silas whenever we read it.

I was thinking that with only 4 books nominated, I don't see a reason for nominating for another 4 months! Let's read Macbeth for November, take a break in December, read The Great Gatsby in January, Catcher in the Rye in February and finish March in style with Silas Marner. How does that sound?

To update the next monthly group read nominations:
Macbeth, The Great Gatsby, Catcher In The Rye and Silas Marner. If you want to nominate make sure you get it in before Nov. 1st.

Ella's Gran wrote: "☯Emily Who Wonders Why GR Is Silent wrote: "Certainly Macbeth! Did not like at all!"

I totally relate. We not only had to read, but at the same time listen to it played over 28 long playing record..."


This is out of the blue, but I used to have The Hobbit on vinyl record. Loved it, and I can still remember the voice of Smaug in my head. Good stuff!

What does everyone think of the character Gollum?
He is an interesting one. He is another bridge between The Hobbit and TLOTR and twice he is saved by pity. Does he deserve to be pitied? Or does his actions nullify any pity?