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The Complete Works

by William Shakespeare

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midnightfaerie said: " I understand now why I have such a hard time reading Shakespeare. It's not that it's hard to understand. There are enough translations and self help guides to get you through the plot of any of the plays. And once I started reading and translating, I I understand now why I have such a hard time reading Shakespeare. It's not that it's hard to understand. There are enough translations and self help guides to get you through the plot of any of the plays. And once I started reading and translating, I started to get the hang of it, and had fewer words and phrases that I had to look up. No, it's not that. Simply put, it's a play, and not meant to be read. I know there are some who might disagree with me, however, that's my opinion. I revel in the complacency of description and plays don't have it. It is just dialogue. There is nothing to tell you infinitely how a character is feeling or what they're thinking. There's nothing to tell you how the set looks (besides a sometimes small minimalist description). There is nothing to tell how a character looks, are they beautiful? Are they old? Yes, I understand you can infer many of these things from the dialogue which is what you're supposed to do, but to me, there is great room for interpretation, unlike a book, which will describe it for you.

Also, after doing a little reading on Shakespeare and the republishing of his works, it seems there are many different conflicting sources of original text, which is why you often find various works with different scripts. I truly believe that Shakespeare meant these to be seen on stage, not read from a page. It's where his genius is best seen and appreciated. That being said, I plan to read each play, then watch a movie rendition of each one.

I would also like to list the reasons here that Shakespeare's works are classics instead of going into the same points repeatedly as I review each work. They are classics, I can't dispute it, whether or not I enjoy each individual play or not. And I do believe this is the first time that an author has gotten 8 out of 10 of my Definitions for a Classic.

1. Longevity: He's been around through the ages and I have no doubt we'll be acting out his plays on the moon.

2. The magic factor: His stories will pull you in every time. They focus on the aspects of human nature that we all can relate to, so you care about the outcome of the characters.

3. Unique: He has an unusual literary style that has made him popular throughout history.

4. New Style of Writing: Now I'm stretching it with this one, I know, because anyone who has studied literature knows Shakespeare wasn't the first to use Iambic Pentameter, however I believe he was the first to make it popular. You ask anyone to tell you the first author that comes to mind when you say Iambic Pentameter and they're not going to say Chaucer, they're going to say Shakespeare.

5. Huge Following: There isn't a person on the planet who doesn't know who Shakespeare is.

6. Controversial: To say his works are controversial is an understatement. The amount of times he's been banned is enough to put him in this category. The reasons for his censorship are diverse but range from vulgarity, to sex, to politics, to excessive use of freedom. (seriously, what does that even mean?)

7. Underlying themes: Underlying themes run rampant throughout his works and offer a wide variety of human conditions. Anything from betrayal and love to honour and glory can be seen in his works.

8. Substantial Influence: Shakespeare has had influence in every aspect of society from helping to shape the English language (It's all greek to me and tongue-tied - said to have added over 1700 words to the English language) to politics. (Dangers of introducing foreign politics into a city) ...more "

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(page 648 of 1248)
"Finished Romeo and Juliet. Ugh. Just ugh. Love Shakespeare, don't love stories that involve everyone dying at the end. Except Game of Thrones. I can see everyone dying in the end in those books and me still loving them." — Jan 05, 2019 09:44AM

Jan 05, 2019 09:49AM · see review

midnightfaerie is currently reading

Winnie-the-Pooh (Winnie-the-Pooh, #1)

by A.A. Milne

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Jun 01, 2017 05:55AM

midnightfaerie is currently reading

Othello

by William Shakespeare

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(page 25 of 314)
"I think I'm gonna really like Iago..." — May 16, 2016 06:20AM

Sep 12, 2013 06:57AM

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midnightfaerie rated a book it was amazing Les Misérables by Victor Hugo	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
One of my favorite stories of all time. As Larry the Cucumber would say "I laughed, I cried, it moved me, Bob." It has everything in it: suspense, love, romance, war, honor, drama, betrayal, among a myriad of others. Eponine was my favorite character ...more
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Great for a first time reader through the bible but I wasn't that impressed. It just didn't do that much for me. I think next, I'll read the bible through chronologically, which I've never done before. This was good for a bible study setting, as thos ...more
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I don't know what it is about Zafon that I love so much but he friggin transports me into his world so effortlessly, he's quickly becoming (or is?) my favorite author. No book has ever touched me like Shadow of the Wind, and although this is written ...more
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midnightfaerie is currently reading The Complete Works by William Shakespeare	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I understand now why I have such a hard time reading Shakespeare. It's not that it's hard to understand. There are enough translations and self help guides to get you through the plot of any of the plays. And once I started reading and translating, I ...more
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midnightfaerie is on page 648 of 1248 of The Complete Works: Finished Romeo and Juliet. Ugh. Just ugh. Love Shakespeare, don't love stories that involve everyone dying at the end. Except Game of Thrones. I can see everyone dying in the end in those books and me still loving them. The Complete Works by William Shakespeare progress:	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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I sometimes struggle to rate things on if their good based on how they're written or whether I enjoyed them personally. For Austen, it's a clear 4-5 stars when considering her writing. She's articulate and concise when doling out characters and plots ...more
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― Ernest Cline, Ready Player One

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“One is happy once one knows the necessary ingredients of happiness: simple tastes, a certain degree of courage, self denial to a point, love of work, and above all, a clear conscience.”
― George Sand, Correspondance, 1812-1876, Volume 5

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“I am a product of long corridors, empty sunlit rooms, upstairs indoor silences, attics explored in solitude, distant noises of gurgling cisterns and pipes, and the noise of wind under the tiles. Also, of endless books.”
― C.S. Lewis

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“Writing is the dragon that lives underneath my floorboards. The one I incessantly feed for fear it may turn and devour my ass. Writing is the friend who doesn't return my phone calls; the itch I'm unable to scratch; a dinner invitation from a cannibal; elevator music for a narcoleptic. Writing is the hope of lifting all boats by pissing in the ocean. Writing isn't something that makes me happy like a good cup of coffee. It's just something I do because not writing, as I've found, is so much worse.”
― Quentin R. Bufogle

tags: writer-s-pain, writer-s-philosophy, writer-s-voice, writers-on-writing, writers-quotes, writers-world, writing, writing-process

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“People who live in glass houses should shut the fuck up.”
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