1. I am banging right along on the Crazy Shakespeare Project: twenty days, twenty acts. Even if I get sick of it in April, this was absolutely the way to read the Henry VI trilogy. It would have been so painful to read those plays at my previous one-per-year pace. I would have been all "Wait, is it Suffolk or Somerset who's having an affair with Margaret? I know it's one of those Suh-something guys. And hold on, I thought Gloucester used to be a good guy!" [Yeah, that would be because the previous Gloucester died and the title (not a name) was given to Richard of the shriveled soul.]
2. I am not much of a Shakespeare scholar -- I didn't know that the three Henry VI plays and Richard III were written as a tetralogy. Yesterday in Act V of 3 Henry VI I realized that of course I had to read Richard III next. Of course. Gulp.
3. This is the fourth time I have started Richard III. It is one of the longest plays Shakespeare wrote, and in years past I have read about half of the first scene and said, "You know, I think this is a good play to read another year." This time, dernit, I'm getting out of the first scene. My husband and I saw a performance of it in '92 or '93 and neither of us can recall anything but vague impressions: long, slow, with a diminutive ranty king and Elwood's sister in a crazy wig.
4. I've been asked a few questions about the specifics of the project. Electriclady raised the question of reading on her Nook vs. her physical Complete Works. I have been rotating from Kindle to iTouch Kindle app to physical book. The electronic versions of the plays are really cheap, ranging from free to $0.99 -- at least for the plays I've priced so far. I got all three Henry VI plays for $0.89, total. (I think it's imperative to buy an edition that lets you go right to the scene of your choosing; not all of them do.) The disadvantage to the electronic versions I've bought is that they have no footnotes, and sometimes footnotes are indispensable. I usually read on a gadget until I begin to feel frustrated by the lack of footnotes. Then I skim all the footnotes from that stretch of Kindle reading in my Complete Works, and keep going in the book until I get interrupted. I keep the iTouch in my pocket so I can read while I'm nursing the toddler or even while I'm waiting for the onion to brown. (It's caramelized, kids! Not burned [because I was trying to finish the scene], just caramelized!)
5. Speaking of interruptions and reading around a houseful of children, another question was whether I have a set time for reading each week. I squeeze in bits wherever I can throughout the day, and usually finish up the day's act before I go to sleep. With the Kindle I can read a fair amount while I'm getting Stella settled at naptime and bedtime.
6. A couple of people have asked me about the selection of plays and their sequencing. The selection is completely idiosyncratic: the plays on my list are the ones I haven't read yet. I put them in that table in fairly random order, so I expect to jump around quite a bit.
7. Three people so far have said, "This makes me want to read Shakespeare!" To each of them I have said, "Yes! Do! Tell me all about it!" I'm having a blast with this project so far. If you're interested in reading four or more plays, you can still sign up for the Shakespeare Reading Challenge. If you just want to read a little bit of Shakespeare, I'd love to hear about it here.
Thanks to Jen for hosting Quick Takes!
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