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/lit/ - Literature

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1638899 No.1638899 [Reply] [Original]

So, let me start by saying I don't really like Shakespeare. I'm open about this, and I get many flacks for it. However, one day, a friend of mine said 'you don't like him because you can't understand him' and I said 'sort of, yeah.' That's a fucking challenge though, so here I am now, just starting to read the entire collected works online. And I'm already grinding my teeth at the pace I have to read to make sure I'm not missing anything, since he writes like no one I read, or for that matter have ever really read, and I've read numerous classics and taken a number of honors level literature classes. So what can I do to speed things up? Is there an annotated version so I can clarify things, or one which retains the meaning but has been modernized in its language? If not I am still going to read it, however this would make things far less tedious.

tl;dr: is there an easier way to understand/get through Shakespeare's works?

>> No.1638904

http://www.mangashakespeare.com/

>> No.1638907

stop bein' a dumbass, i guess. most of it's pretty clear if you think about what hes saying. try reading the line out if it'snot making sense. don't read modernized shakespeare b/c it loses the beauty of the language. annotations can be helpful, i guess, but you should probably get an irl book if you want annotations. shakespeare is rad.

>> No.1638952

>>1638907
Eh, I don't know about rad. Influential, certainly, and I appreciate him and what he did for modern writing in general, however I never actually 'enjoyed' reading him like I do many writers. Like I said, this is more to say 'Yeah, I read him, which I suppose I should have done, so let us move on.' My opinion may change, you never know, but at this point I'm just focused on getting through it all. And I'll check the library for an annotated version.

Also, I am not a dumb ass, I just find it tedious to read him.

>> No.1638971

>>1638952
he's awesome!!! how can you read, like, the tempest, or the st crispin's day speech, or othello, and not be like "holy carp this is rad." how. seriously what areyou reading by him, are you reading his comedies or what? imo his best stuff is histories and tragedies. also the things to read him for imo are characterization and langauge.

>> No.1638983

Shakespeare is shit and overrated.

>> No.1638986

>>1638971
Starting with the tragedies, yes. Should I do something else first? I'll keep the characterization thing in mind. As for language, I think part of the problem I have is my mindset going in, the one of 'deciphering his language is a tedious chore and I want the meaning...' I'll try to appreciate the language more as I read I guess.

>> No.1638993

Also, what music to accompany my reading? I'm listening to Chopin right now, since it's the only fittingly classical music I have on my computer.

>> No.1638997

>>1638993

>listening to music while reading

enjoy being a philestine

>> No.1639001

>>1638986
yeah you really need to, like, go with the language. also like don't read it by the line, read it by the sentence or the paragraph, you know? these are speeches not lines. go with the flow.

>> No.1639003

Secondary criticism is not hyped nearly enough. It's basically experts who have suffered through trying to understand the author for an entire career, doing research and reading other criticism etc., giving you their findings. I don't know about right now, but there used to be some awesome lectures on iTunesU. If not that, just check out any library; they're likely to have quite a bit of Shakesperean criticism.

I'd also like to add that it's more than worth it for Shakespeare. He really is head and shoulders above the rest of writers in the history of the world.

>> No.1639006

Shakespeare was a troll, newfags.

>> No.1639011

>>1638997
...ok then. I listen to music while doing nearly anything. I suppose I could just shut it off, but I'll do that because I feel like, not because some troll on an anonymous image board thinks it's inferior to listen to music and do something else simultaneously.

1/10

>> No.1639018

>>1639003
>>1639001
Thanks guys. I really feel like I should read him, but could never figure out 'how' I guess. This should make it easier.

>> No.1639023

OMFG DID U KNOW SHAKESPEARE WAS GAY!!!!!


LOL I WOULD NEVER READ A GAY MANS LITERaTURE ROFL! TELL THAT TO UR FGT FRIEND XD

>> No.1639036

>>1639023
...I'm gay. So I find that more of a good than a bad thing.

inb4OPisafaggot