The Hogarth Shakespeare Project by Crown Publishing is publishing re-tellings of the bard by famous contemporary authors including Jeannette Winterson, Jo Nesbo, and Gillian Flynn. I'm eager to read more, but don't think any will top Atwood's Hag-Seed.
After reading it I kept thinking of one of my favorite poems:
When I Read Shakespeare--
When I read Shakespeare I am struck with wonder
that such trivial people should muse and thunder
in such lovely language.
Lear, the old buffer, you wonder his daughters
didn't treat him rougher,
the old chough, the old chuffer!
And Hamlet, how boring, how boring to live with,
so mean and self-conscious, blowing and snoring
his wonderful speeches, full of other folks' whoring!
And Macbeth and his Lady, who should have been choring,
such suburban ambition, so messily goring
old Duncan with daggers!
How boring, how small Shakespeare's people are!
Yet the language so lovely! like the dyes from gas-tar.
--D.H. Lawrence
Every few years, I return to this poem and feel the smile on my face as I read it. Such a humorous, yet accurate, approach to characters often enshrined in a kind of literary Taj Mahal.
Lawrence doesn't include Prospero in his poem, but Margaret Atwood (in modern language) gives you a new look at Prospero, Caliban, and Ariel in modern language as prison inmates undertake a production of Shakespeare's The Tempest. Delightful!
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The Olympics have kicked off in Rio. I have not paid much attention this year, but there are a few events I enjoy watching. I'm especially looking forward to watching Simone Biles in the women's gymnastics competition.
Outgoing Mail
I love this poem *smile*. I'm busy reading mouse stories these days, as you will soon see. I've fallen in love, all over again, with "Stuart Little". I'm a winter Olympics girl. I enjoy some of the summer events but not enough to stay glued to the television for hours on end. However on a warm summer afternoon its a good excuse not to go out and sweep the front porch *smile*.
ReplyDeleteWhy am I not surprised that your are reading mouse stories? All those little creatures are obviously in need of someone to read Stuart Little to them!
DeleteA good book on a warm afternoon is a real treat, isn't it - but so different to having a good book by a roaring fire on a cold night... Some books are "winter books".
ReplyDeleteYou are right--there are definitely seasonal books. There is a certain comfort reading by a fire with a cup of tea when the weather is too cold to be outside!
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