Anyone here like Shakespeare? (Or, who's your favorite classical author?)

Reality's Fringe

Reality's Fringe

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Everytime I mention to someone that I like to read Shakespeare they give me a look that one would give a freak at a sideshow. I was just wondering if there were any CAGs out there who enjoyed Shakespeare's plays. My personal favorites would have to be Julius Caesar (one of my favorite books) and Hamlet. I....I'm not crazy, am I?
 
Reality's Fringe said:
Everytime I mention to someone that I like to read Shakespeare they give me a look that one would give a freak at a sideshow. I was just wondering if there were any CAGs out there who enjoyed Shakespeare's plays. My personal favorites would have to be Julius Caesar (one of my favorite books) and Hamlet. I....I'm not crazy, am I?
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Who doesn't?

Of course the Tempest is my favorite. Some scholars argue it's his best work and I believe it was also one of his earlier plays. I think it's also the favorite of Patrick Stewart. I remember when he was in Central Park for its performance.
 
I've yet to read Tempest, actually. I hear great things about it, but I'm trying to work my way around the book rack, as it were. I think after I finish MacBeth, I'll pick it up. They're only $3 a piece at my local bookstore. At least now I know someone else doesn't think that his plays are pun-riddled bores.
 
Reality's Fringe]I've yet to read Tempest said:
really, you should just pick up a complete collection. Usually they're in chronological order of when his plays were performed. So you get a feel for how his writing developed over time.
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I enjoyed reading Henry V and Hamlet, but you'll never find me reading Shakespear in my free time. That would be like reading Hemingway for fun.
 
[quote name='dcfox']I enjoyed reading Henry V and Hamlet, but you'll never find me reading Shakespear in my free time. That would be like reading Hemingway for fun.[/quote]

Hey, I read Hemmingawy for fun! Him and Fitzgerald!
 
[quote name='Admiral Ackbar'][quote name='dcfox']I enjoyed reading Henry V and Hamlet, but you'll never find me reading Shakespear in my free time. That would be like reading Hemingway for fun.[/quote]

Hey, I read Hemmingawy for fun! Him and Fitzgerald![/quote]
Fitzgerald isn't bad but Hemingway is just horrible to read. It feels to much like a chore. I'd rather much read Faulkner.
 
I'm not too much for classical literature but Shakespeare gets a nod. His shiznat is pretty damn shaq-fuin' good. Hamlet - awesome tale into madness
 
It's hard to say which is a good colection. Theer have been several. If you're spending on average $3 a play... then I would get this...

The Complete Pelican Shakespeare That's about $35 shipped but it normally lists for $60.

You can also try to get a used version of The Signet Shakespeare Collection at Amazon for $25 or So Uead at Amazon.
The Complete Signet Classic Shakespeare

Finally, one final bit about shakespear. There was never a "shakespeare edition." In other words, he never had any of his plays officially published. Several of his plays were actually written down by audience members as they were preformed. If the actor messed a line up, the audince member did as well. Not to mention, this was a coopyright issue back then. That fan writing down the work could be considered stealing, and so such acts were dissuaded.

I remember once reading an actual example of this. A document had been authenticated to be recorded from the era and claimed to be a recording of snippets from Shakespearean plays. But there were sections wheer areas were "glossed"over. Imagine the fan scribbling fiercely in the back row, barely able to hear, in a crowded Globe, trying to keep up with the pace of the actors. At times he could only get the gist of the play. One of the sections was the classic "To be or Not to Be..." And they compared the generally accepted version and this document, and the writer was probably poorly educated, could barely write, and he had completely mangled the scene.

While by now we pretty much know what is authentically Shakespeare, there can be subtle differences between collections and publications of shakespeare's work. So, if you're really delving into shakespear you may want to get both colections and try to find the differences between the two.
 
I'm not using the normal definition for "classical". I'm basically reffering to anything that had a publish date before the 1940's or so. For example Lovecraft or Wells. In between MAcbeth, I'm also reading the Divine Comedy. It's pretty good thus far, if harder to follow than Shakespeare(damn you Dante!).
 
I don't really read Shakespeare that often, or in my spare time or anything, but when I have had to read it for school, I thought they were good stories.
 
Reality's Fringe]I'm not using the normal definition for "classical". I'm basically reffering to anything that had a publish date before the 1940's or so. For example Lovecraft or Wells. In between MAcbeth said:
If you're reading the Divine Comedy I highly recommend you move onto the Canzoniere next by Petrarch.

First Sonnet from the Canzoniere...

"You who hear the sound, in scattered rhymes,
of those sighs on which I fed my heart,
in my first vagrant youthfulness,
when I was partly other than I am,

I hope to find pity, and forgiveness,
for all the modes in which I talk and weep,
between vain hope and vain sadness,
in those who understand love through its trials.

Yet I see clearly now I have become
an old tale amongst all these people, so that
it often makes me ashamed of myself;

and shame is the fruit of my vanities,
and remorse, and the clearest knowledge
of how the world’s delight is a brief dream."

Yoou can find many different translations online for free and read the whole thing.
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I've read through Hamlet, Othello, MacBeth, Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet, and Much Ado About Nothing. No complaints here. I definitely enjoy watching Branaugh's faithful adaptations (except for Othello... I don't know why but that one didn't do it for me, although I enjoyed the play) as well.

The "new age" adaptations are hit-and-miss, with Romeo and Juliet being good, and that Ethan Hawke Hamlet bad (although there were some clever parts).

**

As for other classical authors, I'm currently reading through Voltaire's Candide... I find it interesting that this is considered a great satire. It lacks any semblance of sublety in the jabs it takes at determinism. Were it not so short, I'd have probably stopped reading it by now.
 
Lovecraft is so-so. I only really like one story by him "The Colour of Outer Space". For anyone who likes Lovecraft or Poe try reading Nathaniel Hawthorne's short stories.
 
I enjoy Lovecraft's stories that don't offer a clear description of the horror at hand, or only makes a refference to the "ancient Ones". Some of my favorites being: Pickman's model, Cool Air, The Dunwich Horror, the shadow Over Innsmouth, The thing on the doorstep, the Whisperer in the darkness, and the Portrait in the House. These are ones that don't rely on the Cthulu mythos for the entire story. Not to mention he was the inspiration for the Doom demons, eternal darkness etc.
 
Voltaire is my favorite classical writer. Candide is just screaming for a movie adaptation hehe. That story makes raiders of the lost ark look like driving miss daisy.
 
[quote name='Admiral Ackbar']
If you're reading the Divine Comedy I highly recommend you move onto the Canzoniere next by Petrarch.

First Sonnet from the Canzoniere...

"You who hear the sound, in scattered rhymes,
of those sighs on which I fed my heart,
in my first vagrant youthfulness,
when I was partly other than I am,

I hope to find pity, and forgiveness,
for all the modes in which I talk and weep,
between vain hope and vain sadness,
in those who understand love through its trials.

Yet I see clearly now I have become
an old tale amongst all these people, so that
it often makes me ashamed of myself;

and shame is the fruit of my vanities,
and remorse, and the clearest knowledge
of how the world’s delight is a brief dream."

Yoou can find many different translations online for free and read the whole thing.[/quote]

I'll look into it when I finish my other books. I'm enjoying this translation of Inferno immensely. From Canto III:
" Through me the way into the Suffering City,
Through me the way to Eternal Pain,
Through me the way that runs among the lost.
Justice urged on my high Artificer;
My maker was Divine Authority,
The Highest Wisdom, and the Primal Love.
Before me nothing but eternal things
Were made, and I endure eternally.
Abandon every hope, you who enter here."
 
[quote name='WildWop']As for other classical authors, I'm currently reading through Voltaire's Candide... I find it interesting that this is considered a great satire. It lacks any semblance of sublety in the jabs it takes at determinism. Were it not so short, I'd have probably stopped reading it by now.[/quote]

You haven't read Candide until you've read it in French.
 
I highly recommend Petrarch. He lived shortkly after Dante and was a student of his works. He's considered one of the most influential writers in history, an equal to Shakespeare. He chiefly developed the sonnet form.

The Canzoniere could be argued to be one of the five most influential books ever written. Also, his story is facinating.
 
Where to even begin, Salinger, Byron, Twain, Whitman, W.C. Williams, H. Selby Jr. , Oscar Wilde, Yeats, Frost, Wordsworth, to name a few. Oh and Sam Coleridge (can't forget the Rime of the Ancient Mariner) :D
 
[quote name='x0thedeadzone0x']Favorite CLASSIC author? Well, IMO, Poe's stories are amazing, especially Black Cat. I love his writing.[/quote]

Poe is one of my favorite authors....I have read through nearly all of his works, from his poetry to his essays to his short stories, all are unbelievable. I love Lovecraft's work as well and I feel that he deserves more recognition than is granted towards him. Hemingway is one of those hit or miss authors with people. Some people truly relate to his work and others find it monotonous and that most of them jstu deal with war. I truly enjoy his work and find it to say the least, different. Other awesome, I guess you would say classical writers I have enjoyed are, J.D. Salinger and John Steinbeck. They are truly amazing authors. When it comes to Shakespeare, I really could care less.. Most of the works I have read of his I have found were tedious...maybe it was because I was forced to read them but I just never can really get into his works. I have only mildly enjoyed from him Julius Ceasar and Hamlet.
 
[quote name='hiccupleftovers'][quote name='x0thedeadzone0x']Favorite CLASSIC author? Well, IMO, Poe's stories are amazing, especially Black Cat. I love his writing.[/quote]

Poe is one of my favorite authors....I have read through nearly all of his works, from his poetry to his essays to his short stories, all are unbelievable. I love Lovecraft's work as well and I feel that he deserves more recognition than is granted towards him. Hemingway is one of those hit or miss authors with people. Some people truly relate to his work and others find it monotonous and that most of them jstu deal with war. I truly enjoy his work and find it to say the least, different. Other awesome, I guess you would say classical writers I have enjoyed are, J.D. Salinger and John Steinbeck. They are truly amazing authors.[/quote]

Awesome... sounds like I really need to pick up some Lovecraft stories, as they sound great. I like Frost's poems as well, very well-written.
 
Personally, I am a fan of Macbeth, but thats cause I read it at school and haven't read many other of his plays. I have the complete works of Shakespeare OPn my desk, so occasionally I will read it.
 
Midsummer Night's Dream is my personal fav. Shakespeare play. I like it's fantastical background.

I love Hemingway. I'd say A Farewell to Arms is one of the best books ever. Salinger is also excellent.

Others authors who may or may not have reached "classical" status yet, but are great nonetheless are Jack Kerouac (The Dharma Bums being my personal fav.) and Frank Herbert (Dune is one of the most complex and well thought out series ever written).
 
The Shakespeare I've read I've liked.

Speaking of semi-old stuff, I just finished The Fountinhead by Ayn Rand.

All I've got to say is what a book...
 
[quote name='evilpenguin9000']Midsummer Night's Dream is my personal fav. Shakespeare play. I like it's fantastical background.

I love Hemingway. I'd say A Farewell to Arms is one of the best books ever. Salinger is also excellent.

Others authors who may or may not have reached "classical" status yet, but are great nonetheless are Jack Kerouac (The Dharma Bums being my personal fav.) and Frank Herbert (Dune is one of the most complex and well thought out series ever written).[/quote]

Now that I think of it, Frank Herbert should be considered classical literature as well as Robert Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, Ray Bradbury, and Isaac Asimov. All authors works are well worth reading at least twice (one exception could be Clarke's writing since he has I believe over 1200 stories.) I like all of Hemingway's stories in particular The Killers and The Old Man and The Sea.
 
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