The 306 Greatest Books #50 - King Lear

I am going back and posting all of my previous book reviews so that they are listed on my site in chronological order. The reviews are dated for the time when I read the book, hence the reason many of them will be listed for times before this website existed. 

The next up on my reading of the 306 greatest books is King Lear by William Shakespeare. This book can be found on the Norwegian Book List.

King Lear is the final play for me to read out of the six Shakespearean plays spread across my 100 Greatest Books lists. My personal take on Shakespearean English remains the same, I find it a barrier of entry for me to enjoy the stories and I often miss many of the subtleties within the plays. The plot of King Lear is generally easy to follow; King Lear (aka Dad) is nuts and his kids divide against him, with his "legitimate" son and one of his daughters on one side, and his bastard son with the other two daughters on the other. I hope this isn't too much of a spoiler but the story ends in true Shakespearean fashion, with 90% of the characters dead. I had found this play to be far easier to follow than most of the Shakespearean plays that I have read, however this isn't one of his best in my opinion.

The 306 Greatest Books #24 - The Tempest

I am going back and posting all of my previous book reviews so that they are listed on my site in chronological order. The reviews are dated for the time when I read the book, hence the reason many of them will be listed for times before this website existed. 

The next up on my reading of the 306 greatest books is The Tempest by William Shakespeare. This book can be found on the Sybervision Book List. 

While I usually do not like the writing style of Shakespeare, and I generally don't like reading plays in general, there are some plays that I do enjoy. The Tempest is perhaps one of, if not the, weirdest of the Shakespearean plays. The premise of the play deals with a mystical island with witches and spells. And although many of Shakespeare's play do have a bit of magic in it, such as Macbeth, I feel The Tempest strives the furthest into science fiction/fantasy of all of his plays. And that may be the reason that I enjoyed it so much. The story may be a bit abstract but this ranks within my top three favorite Shakespearean plays. It is rather easy to read for me and straight forward to follow plot wise making it one of his most accessible plays in my opinion.

The 306 Greatest Books #23 - Othello

I am going back and posting all of my previous book reviews so that they are listed on my site in chronological order. The reviews are dated for the time when I read the book, hence the reason many of them will be listed for times before this website existed. 

The next up on my reading of the 306 greatest books is Othello by William Shakespeare. This book can be found on the Sybervision and the Norwegian Book Lists. 

Continuing on through my "quick reads", I decided to read another Shakespearean play, this time Othello. Again, Shakespeare is not my favorite, and this play is no exception. I feel it is mostly because I don't appreciate the language that Shakespeare uses in his plays. For me it is hard to read. I know what you'll say though, "but you should see it live". For me though, as someone who is hard of hearing, even seeing the plays live I am often left confused and wanting because I can't understand what the actors are saying. So most of Shakespeare's plays leave me with a less than ideal taste in my mouth. Othello is a play about love, interracial romance (a certainly taboo subject at the time), racism, jealousy, and eventually, death. The play deals with some heavy topics and so I can see its continued use in modern day society helping people to discuss difficult topics, especially in schools, but the play isn't for me.

The 306 Greatest Books #22 - The Taming of the Shrew

I am going back and posting all of my previous book reviews so that they are listed on my site in chronological order. The reviews are dated for the time when I read the book, hence the reason many of them will be listed for times before this website existed. 

The next up on my reading of the 306 greatest books is The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare. This book can be found on the Sybervision Book List. 

A new year meant that I was off to the races to try and get as many books read as I could. Often this means reading the most accessible (meaning books I already have) and shortest books I can find on the list. In this instance it meant catching up on the Shakespearean plays on the lists because there is a ton of them. Personally, I am not a particular fan of Shakespeare. Actually, I generally don't like books written in "old English" or anything just off modern English, including Shakespeare or something like Beowulf. So I knew was in for a personal chore, a short one at least, but a chore nonetheless, in getting these read. One of the first stories I tackled was The Taming of the Shrew. This story has been redone quite a few times in modern storytelling. The one that comes right up in my mind is 10 Things I Hate About You, which I actually really enjoyed. The play on the other hand is not one of my favorites. The point of the story is a guy teaches a girl how not to be a "shrew", in a rather humorous way. It is probably the best of the comedies, but no where close to the best of Shakespeare's plays.  

The 306 Greatest Books #8 - Hamlet

I am going back and posting all of my previous book reviews so that they are listed on my site in chronological order. The reviews are dated for the time when I read the book, hence the reason many of them will be listed for times before this website existed. 

The next up on my reading of the 306 greatest books is Hamlet by William Shakespeare. This book can be found on the Sybervision, Norwegian, and the Zane Top 10 Book Lists.

Hamlet is often considered to be Shakespeare's best play, and this is a rating I can get behind. The tale is about a man trying to find the murderer of his father, while dealing with the slowly ensuing madness of most of the characters around him. Unlike Macbeth, I found Hamlet to be intriguing and quotable. Several of the scenes are memorable, even now, many years after having last read/seen the play. If I had to point people to only one Shakespeare's play to read or watch, this would be the one.

The 306 Greatest Books #7 - Macbeth

I am going back and posting all of my previous book reviews so that they are listed on my site in chronological order. The reviews are dated for the time when I read the book, hence the reason many of them will be listed for times before this website existed. 

The next up on my reading of the 306 greatest books is Macbeth by William Shakespeare. This book can be found on the Sybervision Book List.

Shakespeare has never really been my thing and this is only the first of several Shakespeare plays that can be found on the list. Macbeth is the story of a man who commits murder in order to become king. However classic the story may be, it just didn't grab me. This is one of the weaker of Shakespeare's famous plays and one that I probably won't be going back to, unlike Hamlet or Romeo and Juliet. In general though, the language is what holds me back. I just can't get immersed in the world like I want to. I would prefer to see this play, and most of the other plays, actually acted out. Unfortunately I do need to read them for me to feel I can cross them off the list.