Tempest: Buddy Read

[Katy, Quarterly Long Reads]

Sue, Portia, & Loretta? are doing a Buddy Read of The Tempest this week. Everyone is invited to read along.

[Loretta]

Kathy wrote: "Sue, Portia, & Loretta? are doing a Buddy Read of The Tempest this week. Everyone is invited to read along."

Thanks Kathy! :)

[Katy, Quarterly Long Reads]

You are welcome.

[Brina]

If I can get from library I'm in.

[Sue]

I hope you do Brina. I don't feel like I'm understanding this one as well so will be good to have people to talk about it with. I listened to it, now I'm going to read

[Lilly]

I'll be in as well. - I already have an old copy, but couldn't find the time so far ... :S

[Portia]

I'm running behind with everythung this week but am still with all of you and The Tempest

[Sue]

I had a hard time with the audio but then read it and absolutely loved it! I'll post my thoughts later

[Loretta]

Sue wrote: "I had a hard time with the audio but then read it and absolutely loved it! I'll post my thoughts later"

I'm glad you enjoyed it Sue!

[Melanti]

I won't be reading this with you guys, but thought I'd tell you an odd story.

When I was a teen, my mom gave me an antique edition of Shakespeare's complete works for Christmas. I'm not sure exactly how old it is, but I'd guess from around 1910 or so.

A couple of years after I got it, I grabbed it to look for something in The Tempest but couldn't find the play! I checked and double checked the table of contents, but it still wasn't where it was supposed to be.

I finally noticed that if you looked really close at the binding, there were a handful of pages missing. They'd been very, very carefully cut out with knife, and you couldn't even see the remaining edges of the missing pages unless you were looking for them.

But why?

Did someone really want to read that play but didn't want to carry around a massive volume? The care that was taken on cutting the pages out doesn't seem to fit that theory.

Was someone so offended by the occult content that they were willing to deface a book? If that's the case, why didn't they cut out Macbeth while they were at it? Was Prospero somehow a more threatening figure than Macbeth's witches?

It's a big mystery!

[Brina]

I'm pressed for time so I can join but I'm in interested in seeing the discussion.

[Loretta]

Melanti wrote: "I won't be reading this with you guys, but thought I'd tell you an odd story.

When I was a teen, my mom gave me an antique edition of Shakespeare's complete works for Christmas. I'm not sure exact..."

How sad for that beautiful, antique book! :(

[Katy, Quarterly Long Reads]

Melanti wrote: "I won't be reading this with you guys, but thought I'd tell you an odd story.

When I was a teen, my mom gave me an antique edition of Shakespeare's complete works for Christmas. I'm not sure exact..."

That is a cool story.

[Lilly]

Maybe the one who took the pages didn't own the book?

I got as far as act 2, scene 1 so far. I don't remember much from my last read - but I definitely thought the play just as strange as I do now. The stage directions are sometimes a little bit confusing ...

How are you all doing so far?

[Sue]

Melanti wrote: "I won't be reading this with you guys, but thought I'd tell you an odd story.

When I was a teen, my mom gave me an antique edition of Shakespeare's complete works for Christmas. I'm not sure exact..."

What a great story Melant. It's too bad the antique book is ruined but I'm sure it has more sentimental value anyway. It's the kind of thing you'd never want to get rid of.

I doubt it was taken out because someone was offended by the occult for the reasons you mentioned and also The Tempest conclusion is that real life is better than magic. But then again, someone may not have read far enough to get that part of it!

[Melanti]

Sue wrote: "Melanti wrote: "I won't be reading this with you guys, but thought I'd tell you an odd story.

When I was a teen, my mom gave me an antique edition of Shakespeare's complete works for Christmas. I'..."

Yes, it's more sentimental and ornamental than useful at this point. It's very bulky and rather fragile, so I only read a bit from it now and again, but I mostly read from newer individual editions rather than the antique edition. It's the sort of book you need to at a table to read, not a book you can curl up with.

I grew up in the Bible Belt, so I wouldn't rule out the occult angle completely. When things like Harry Potter or even cartoons like the Smurfs are taboo, it's not that far of a stretch to assume The Tempest would be taboo too. But, again, why would Macbeth be there if that were the reason... It's the cursed play, after all!

That's the neat thing about old books, though. The have histories and mysteries about them that'll probably never be solved.

[Sue]

Melanti wrote: "Sue wrote: "Melanti wrote: "I won't be reading this with you guys, but thought I'd tell you an odd story.

When I was a teen, my mom gave me an antique edition of Shakespeare's complete works for C..."

Yes! Very cool!

[Sue]

For now, since no one else has read it, I'm just posting my review which has the short spoiler hidden in a link. The spoiler is just my general interpretation of what the play is ultimately about (which could be wrong and therefore not really a spoiler!)

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I'll come back when people are ready to comment on the play.

[Lilly]

Well, if there's no logical reason a g a i n s t the Tempest to take the pages out of the book, then maybe the reason was f o r the play. - This is also in favour of my theory (above). ;)

There are quite some older books with missing pages at our university's library. Usually, the reason is that someone wanted those pages in particular, while the book is owned by the library.
I wouldn't suppose theft on the occasion of this Shakespeare edition. But maybe it was a gift? Something handy that could be taken along on a voyage? ...

[Lilly]

So, Sue, I'm all ready for discussions ;)
Though I'll have to go through it once more, I guess ...

[Lilly]

I had some problems with invisibility and such - who can see whom?
Ariel, for example, is sometimes marked "invisible" - but still, Prospero seems able to see him, giving directions ... ? Then at other times, he is not marked as "invisible" and Prospero is giving him directions while he's actually addressing someone else. - So Ariel seems to be invisible again, while Prospero is talking "aside" (not marked) ...
Then, I had some difficulties with the "real" persons as well: who can see whom? Like Prospero, for example, when his entry is marked with "above" (or not marked at all), while he seems to be spying, and others are obviously not noticing him.
And then, there's this weird scene featuring Caliban, Trinculo, Stephano. Trinculo seems to be hiding within Caliban's - clothing(?) - when Stephano enters and mistakes them for a four-legged monster. - But why could he not see Trinculo right there? And as for that, why didn't Caliban notice him either? Or how could Caliban be taken for something dead, when he had been carrying wood just before - which means he had been moving about? Etc. ...

Of course, some of this difficulty is due to the Elizabethan theatre beeing so very different from our theatre today. - And I'm glad critics also have trouble with invisibility.

It all just reminds us that Shakespeare wasn't really meant to be read, but to be played and seen. Having traditional markers like an "invisibility cloak" just would help a lot.

Personally, I also found it useful to keep Shakespeare's Globe in mind (especially the different areas of the stage). - It helped a lot to understand some of the stage directions (like "above" or "reveals"), or how some of the characters might be positioned on stage ...

What did you all make of it so far?

[Melanti]

Lilly wrote: "And then, there's this weird scene featuring Caliban, Trinculo, Stephano. Trinculo seems to be hiding within Caliban's - clothing(?) - when Stephano enters and mistakes them for a four-legged monster. - But why could he not see Trinculo right there? And as for that, why didn't Caliban notice him either? Or how could Caliban be taken for something dead, when he had been carrying wood just before - which means he had been moving about? Etc. ... ..."

So, my take on that scene - Caliban sees Trinculo before Trinculo sees him, thinks he's one of Prospero's spirits, and lays down and pretends to be dead hoping to avoid some of the abuse.

Trinculo thinks Caliban is dead - but there's a bad storm, so he crawls under Caliban's cloak or coat for some shelter from the rain - with only the legs sticking out - which is why Stephano takes Caliban for a 4 legged monster. It probably helps that Stephano is drunk at the time.

Caliban does notice Trinculo on top of him - but he thinks that Trinculo and Sephano are both some of Prospero's spririts come to torment him - which is why he keeps talking about being tormented and gathering the wood faster.

[Sue]

Melanti wrote: "Lilly wrote: "And then, there's this weird scene featuring Caliban, Trinculo, Stephano. Trinculo seems to be hiding within Caliban's - clothing(?) - when Stephano enters and mistakes them for a fou..."

This is how I saw it too

[Sue]

Lilly wrote: "I had some problems with invisibility and such - who can see whom?
Ariel, for example, is sometimes marked "invisible" - but still, Prospero seems able to see him, giving directions ... ? Then at ..."

I also thought there were sometimes when asides weren't labeled but I didn't keep track. With both invisibility and asides, I just assumed if another character didn't respond to Arial, she was invisible or if they didn't respond to Prospero (or someone else) that it was an aside.

I do agree, that Shakespeare is meant to be seen live, as is any play, but I think I'd get a lot more out of it reading it first. I haven't done this in the past, but I will in the future. I love the side by side modern because you can read it straight through both ways and I get a lot out of it that way.

[Melanti]

Shakespeare's stage directions are a little lacking sometimes.

That's one of the reasons I like editions with footnotes, cause they often add in additional stage directions in cases like that scene where they aren't clear.

[Lilly]

Melanti wrote: "Lilly wrote: "And then, there's this weird scene featuring Caliban, Trinculo, Stephano. Trinculo seems to be hiding within Caliban's - clothing(?) - when Stephano enters and mistakes them for a fou..."

Seems to be a good explanation. :)

Though, of course, this only works because Caliban himself is a little strange ... :D

[Lilly]

For me it's always easier to read a play when I have seen it before - that way it's already ordered. Especially with very modern plays, this is sometimes just as tricky, as they might give no stage directions at all ...