Archive for April, 2011
I moved away from Shakespeare for the most part since finishing King John. However, I did start Shakespeare’s Kings by John Norwich, which is a nonfiction look at how Shakespeare portrays the kings in the histories and how factual his portrayals are. I read about 50 pages covering the introduction and the section on Edward III. It’s actually a pretty easy read, although maybe that’s because I’ve read other histories of this time period so it’s not completely new information that I’m trying to process.
Then, for lighter reading, I turned to By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Last fall my husband and I went to St. Louis and on the drive home to OKC we stopped at Wilder’s home in MO where she wrote the Little House series. I loved seeing her house and the museum had wonderful family items, including Pa’s fiddle. I loved these stories as a kid and was amazed at seeing the real items. That inspired me to reread the stories. Unfortunately, I don’t feel like they’re holding up to a reread as an adult very well. Maybe the timing is just off and I feel like they’re keeping me from other books. I don’t think I’ll finish rereading the series right now because I don’t want to taint my memory of the books. I do think it’s interesting to read about life on the prairie and appreciate all the work they had to do just to survive. I think it’s hard enough to keep the house clean, but they had to build their own homes and clean without any modern conveniences. And cook everything from scratch and farm and take care of the animals. I’m glad we don’t have to live that way anymore. It does make me question certain habits I have though, like eating out, and make me want to do that less and not buy as much stuff in general. It makes you think about the simpler things in life.
Finally, I read a chapter in The Story of Art by EH Gombrich. I’ve been reading this slowly, usually a chapter a week, to try to absorb the artwork instead of rushing through it. Today’s chapter focused on Roman art and the transition from earlier ancient artistic methods.
Well, that might be it on the Read-A-Thon for me, although I imagine I’ll do a little more reading at some point this evening. But for now I’m heading to the pet store so my cats will have food tomorrow then cooking dinner and probably hanging out with the husband while we eat. If you’re still powering through the Read-A-Thon, happy reading!
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Second “book” finished for the day! I read King John by Shakespeare. The history plays are my favorite type of Shakespeare plays. They’re what got me so interested in English history in the first place. Reading the second tetralogy – Richard II, Henry IV part 1, Henry IV part 2, and Henry V – in college got me intersted in the War of the Roses, Elizabeth I and Henry VIII, which led to a general interest in all of English history.
I think it’s probably good that I’m familiar with English history or I think King John would have been hard to follow. Even with the introduction, it assumes you know who most of the players are. This isn’t the King John you’re used to from Disney’s Robin Hood movie. 
The play focuses on the legitimacy of King John’s rule. His older brother had a son, who should technically be king. However, Arthur is a weak child while John grabbed the crown upon his other brother’s death (King Richard the Lionhearted). Richard named John as his heir, but the English didn’t usually handle succession that way.
The story is interesting in itself, but it’s made more interesting by knowing what was going on during Shakespeare’s time. Elizabeth was battling her cousin Mary Queen of Scots for the English crown. At various times Elizabeth had been declared illigitimate, which would give Mary a stronger claim to the throne. There were issues of how to pass on the crown since it was women who were next in line across the board. It was a difficult time with Elizabeth having to fight first her sister then her cousin. There are many parallels between the Elizabethan issues and the issues surrounding the reign of King John, which makes for a more interesting read because if contemporaries to Shakespeare are taking it that way, King John must be portrayed in a positive way so as not to make it seem like he’s insulting Elizabeth in any way.
In other reading news, I’ve read a few chapters in The Anglo Files by Sarah Lyall and learned about cricket. I still have absolutely no understanding of the game and only know that I have no interest in learning more! I also read a chapter about drinking in the British culture that was really interesting. They have such a reputation for being refined and stuffy, yet they get drink in Parliament and have crazy drinking habits.
I’m reading slower than usual today and haven’t read quite as much as I hoped, but I suppose I should have expected that with the Shakespeare. I’m going
Finished with the first book of the day! I read All’s Well That Ends Well by Shakespeare. I have now officially read all of his comedies! Woohoo! My favorite is The Merchant of Venice. Portia is one of the best characters in literature and I think it’s interesting that Shakespeare created such a strong, rational female character since he’s not really known for great female characters overall. My least favorite would probably be Love’s Labor’s Lost. Even the introduction in my Riverside Shakespeare collection focused on how bad it is and how it doesn’t even really make sense.
All’s Well That Ends Well falls somewhere in between for me. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would since I knew it was a problem play. The problem is that the main characters aren’t really likeable. You’re supposed to like Helena (every character says so a million times) but she’s in love with a worthless man who doesn’t care for her. The whole play is about her trying to win him over, which just makes her pathetic. She needs a copy of He”s Just Not That into You. This makes the “happy” ending not that happy.
As for the man she loves, Bertram, he’s a scumbag. He only marries her because he has to, then promptly runs away without consummating the marriage. Then, he tries to sleep with another woman. He’s really not worth winning.
There is a funny side plot centered around Bertram’s friend Parolles that is similar to something that happens to Falstaff in the Henry plays. That at least made me laugh!
I’m not one to normally notice quotes, but there were a few that stuck out to me today.
“But most it is presumption in us when the help of heaven we count the act of men.” Helena, II.i.151-152
“They say miracles are past, and we have our philosophical persons, to make modern and familiar, things supernatural and causeless.” Lafew, II.iii.1-3
There were also quite a few funny scenes with the clown, who made raunchy jokes (and I’m sure I barely caught most of them). One conversation he has with Helena surprises me though. Helena asks how a woman can get rid of her virginity by her own choosing. I’m surprised they were discussing that, and even more surprised that Helena actually succeeds in that area, albeit through trickery.
Even though I’m starting a little late and don’t plan to read the entire 24 hours, I’m still excited about Dewey’s Read-a-Thon and catching up on some reading today. And getting back into the habit of blogging. Here is my introduction post for anyone visiting from the Read-a-Thon site. Happy reading!
1)Where are you reading from today? My comfy reading in chair in my living room.
2)Three random facts about me…I love hockey, I’m going to London this fall and one of my favorite books is Vanity Fair by Thackeray
3)How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours? My goal is to read four Shakespeare plays because I’m behind in the reading I want to do before my London trip, a few chapters in The Story of Art for breaks, and Part 1 of Atlas Shrugged. My second tier books for if I can’t take that much Shakespeare in one day are Moby Dick (I’m halfway through and know I won’t finish today, but progress would be nice), The Anglophiles, Prince Caspian, By the Shores of Silver Lake, Reading Women, and Excellent Women. And I’ve got a whole slew of other books to choose from if I don’t get into those.
4)Do you have any goals for the read-a-thon (i.e. number of books, number of pages, number of hours, or number of comments on blogs)? I mentioned my main goal above – the Shakespeare and Atlas Shrugged. I hope to read for about 8-10 hours, maybe more.
5)If you’re a veteran read-a-thoner, any advice for people doing this for the first time? Don’t feel like you have to read the whole time to participate, or participate in every mini-challenge and update every hour. Then you’d spend more time blogging than reading! They are great for checking in when you need breaks though.
