John Crowther

I read The Tempest in preparation for reading Brave New World. It was a quick read, a bit like a feverish sea-dream. I much prefer to see Shakespeare performed vs. reading his works. I'm not as enamored with this work as many probably are &, for some reason, I kept getting stuck on trying to understand how Miranda would have had proper clothing per her century if stranded on an island since childhood. (Not that Shakespeare stated whether or not she was properly clothed, but they did seem to show more have regular clothing & such.) I guess Prospero conjured what was needed? Lol. I know, a stupid musing on my part, but things like that just kind of pulled me out of fully enjoying it. By the end, I'm not sure those that were supposed to be contrite & repentant actually were. It just ended too quickly to feel that those strands were fully wrapped up, in my opinion. show less

I have read Lear twice before. This time I purchased the No Fear Shakespeare edition. I read it through the first time in the regular vernacular of Shakespeare. I then read it through using the "modern" version and I really liked it. I won't give up the regular versions for anything, but I did get a new understanding of some of the passages I just passed over because I didn't have a clue, especially some references to mythology. I was unable to choose just one theme for this play, but I can show more narrow it down to two: greed and loyalty. It's very easy to pick out who is who. So glad I read this! 320 pages (160 for each version). show less

Off and on I keep trying to appreciate Shakespeare's plays, but I can't. I love certain lines, characters, speeches, scenes... and even some of his sonnets. But the plays, the stories, just don't work for me.

Not this edition's fault for sure. Sparknotes "No Fear" edition makes it easily readable. Much better than having a scattering of annotations off in the margins.

Otoh, I still need a 'so what' guide at the same time, too. Hamlet comes across to me as a stripling cuss, Horatio as a show more cypher, a nobody, Claudius & Gertrude as royalty just doing what royalty had always done (though usually with a bit more subtlety)... only the gravediggers and the keepers of the watch seemed to me like real people. Well, in a way they are the only real ppl, being the only members of the lower classes I guess. Anyway, obviously I'm missing a lot.

A few things I did note:

"nature cannot choose his origin" - seems pretty modern to me

Old Polonius says, "It is as proper to our age to cast beyond ourselves in our opinions as it is common for the younger sort to lack discretion." - true that

But I'm particularly puzzled by one bit. When the Ghost exhorts Horatio & Marcellus to "swear" not to reveal that they saw Hamlet talking with him, Hamlet seems jocular about the "truepenny" in "the cellarage." What's up with that? show less

Found it difficult to be inspired by, instead of annoyed by all the mishaps in the story. Also the nature of "Romantic" love during this time period is somewhat unbelievable to me. The theme of holding grudges and how that can be passed on to hurt future generations is a good one though. Will reread at some point.