People who’ve been following me will know that one of my goals in my 30 Before 30 is to read the 100 books listed as the ‘must-reads’ according to the Guardian. I sort of arbitrarily picked this list and now I’m sort of regretting it, mostly because of all the Shakespeare I have to read.
Don’t get me wrong, I really like Shakespeare. I studied him in high school and took a Shakespeare class in college during study abroad which was in LONDON. It was truly a wonderful experience and, in my opinion, the best way to learn Shakespeare is to watch it performed live at The Globe. I find his life sort of fascinating, and I think that he came up with some really wonderful stories.
*sigh* Oh, Leo…
When I sat down to figure out how many Shakespeare plays I had to read, I was surprised by how many I was super familiar with, but haven’t actually read. I know what happens in Macbeth, The Twelfth Night, The Tempest, King Lear, Antony and Cleopatra and a couple of others (I get all the Henrys mixed up though), but never read the actual play or seen it performed live.
In short, I have less than 3 years to read 30 plays. I think 10 plays a year is doable, but it could be a little dry. So, I’m going to amend the rules. I can watch the BBC adaptations (since it’s basically a reading of the play), for some of the plays, or, if I have the opportunity, I can see them live. In fact, it might be preferable since I hear you gotta see Ian McKellan as King Lear and I want to see the movie version of Coriolanus (mostly because I need to know how to pronounce it.)
How about you, lovely readers? Any Shakespeare plays you absolutely love? Anyone out there read all of them?
Well, I’m off to read and get back to my life. Until later, I’m out.
[exit, pursued by a bear]
I would recommend Much Ado About Nothing. I’ve been reading through Shakespeare’s works this year and that one is my favorite so far.