CONFUCIUS - ANALECTS
"It espouses an approach that I would consider soft (don't just focus on money, etc)."
SWIFT - A MODEST PROPOSAL
"I had a hard time with the thought of suggesting that the children of the poor be used as a source of food and clothing and just couldn't finish it."
PUSHKIN - EUGENE ONEGIN
"rhymed verse detracts from enjoyment of the novel."
DARWIN - ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES
"still even today this books contradicts itself and it doesn't answer the most simple question,if we humanscare descending from monkeys,why and when did we became conscius ?!"
"This is just crud cause do you really believe that we came from monkeys I mean seriously. What comes after monkeys? MONKEYS! And what come after humans? HUMANS!! I'm a Christian and I believe what is true. I'm not trying to force religion on you (by the way Christianity isn't a religion it's a relationship with our one, true, living Creator) but how can you believe that we came from monkeys? Sure our skeletons look alike but that doesn't mean that we came from them! And how can Darwin ever be a Christian if he said we came from monkeys? How can monkey 'all of a suddenly' turned into humans? This is just pure crud."
SHAKESPEARE - THE TEMPEST
"The Tempest is an outdated attempt of a sci-fi story. Yes it may have been a basis for many other authors and even present day movies, but his stories are so inapplicable and painful to read that I think they should just be destroyed. Hypothetically speaking, if Adolf Hitler was alive today and were to burn all of William Shakespeare’s texts, I feel as if the modern college and high school students would praise him just for this noble act. The only version of Shakespeare I will ever spend another minute on is if film producers have taken his story and somehow made it into a bad ass movie with a similar plot line."
DE BEAUVOIR - THE SECOND SEX
"feminism has certain core beliefs that are simply crazy -- yet women listen to the philosophy anyway."
JOYCE - DUBLINERS
"the fact is just plain and simply that Irish politics and what Ireland was going through in the early 2oth century just is not important"
"Nearly all the stories are boring. Our modern sensibilities have us yelling mentally at them, or rolling our eyes."
LAO TZU - TAO TE CHING
"Not very impressed. Philosophic fumblings about a mysterious power. Makes me so grateful to have the restored gospel of Jesus Christ."
ARISTOPHANES - THE BIRDS
"this title makes you think that its a field guide to birds but if you arent familiar with the aristophanes it is just nonsense"
JUNG - THE ARCHETYPES AND THE COLLECTIVE UNCONSCIOUS
"i think we die millions of times like we dnt wake up the same the next day evan in a moment we die an r reborn how far into non exitence is yesterday its gone like it was never ther just the ties of repocution jus the memories of our consiousness its hard 2 explain sumthing i dnt understand evan in my head and 2 express acuratly but think about time patterns and blind spots the answers right ther but im not evan sure wat the question is"
"Jung and Freud were listened to only because they managed to convince people they knew what they were talking about. Their era was so filled with ignorance and illiteracy that everyone believe them, even though most to the time they were incorrect."
"Jung was an idiot who had little understanding of the life force."
DICKENS - A TALE OF TWO CITIES
"I read A Tale of Two Cities my freshman year of high school and it drove me crazy. That following summer, I went to London on a trip and toured Westminster Abbey. Most of the tour I avoided the graves as much as possible, but once I arrived at The Poet's Corner, I spotted Dickens' grave and, well...I was jumping up and down on the grave in a post-AToTC fury. The guide was appalled until my mother explained that I had read that particular novel for class only a month prior."
MELVILLE - BILLY BUDD, SAILOR
"Melville seemed to wonder off topic a lot, writing about stuff I really didn't care about."
DANTE - THE DIVINE COMEDY
"In the dark ages it seems the whole focus was on the negative."
ORWELL - ANIMAL FARM
"Well, I really did like how the book related to World War 2, I'm a HUGE history geek when it comes to World War 2"
"Very great way to exemplify Hitler's rule"
"ANIMALS RUN A FARM 15/10 LIVES UP TO THE NAME."
TOLSTOY - ANNA KARENINA
"Six words- That Anna is one jacked-up whack-o!"
"It took every ounce of effort to get through this never-ending novel. It's difficult for me to admit that I didn't find this book captivating. After all-I'm an English major!"
GENERAL ENGLISH MAJOR BULLSHIT
"I’m definitely aware of postmodernist tenants regarding having no universal truths and the subjectivity of individual existence…"
"I'll admit it: I don't read a lot of classics. I know, 'a real reader reads the classics' and all that but I have so many books to read that it just doesn't seem like I have time for a bunch of old books."
"Using Elvis Presley and christmas songs as an example, He still makes alot of money and we never hear new christmas songs, just remakes of the old classics, because they were first. Books are the same way. Certain books remain classics because they were first and people refuse to let go and move on and create newer books, songs, and artists to replace the original."
ON THE VICTORIAN NOVEL:
"Slightly different take, from someone with 2 degrees in English.
Yes, they do suck. . .
By OUR standards. They're over-long, end with deus ex machina too much of the time, depend on astonishing coincidence and 180-degree reversal, and all sorts of other stuff we would dismiss in our entertainment today.
But they're not writing for our market. They're writing for theirs, and understanding that is what makes them interesting to study.
200 years from now, Stephen King, Thomas Harris, Jane Green, Maeve Binchy, yes even JK Rowling, will seem boring/hideous/old/dusty to everyone too. That's just how it goes."
Showing posts with label shakespeare. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shakespeare. Show all posts
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
CHOICE SCRAPS FROM UNPUBLISHED POSTS PART I
HOMER - THE ODYSSEY
"Now, obviously, The Odyssey was not nearly as good as Rick Riordan's stuff, but it was still pretty good."
SHAKESPEARE - HAMLET
"Had to read for English Honors (yes, I am in 8th grade and taking 10th grade English, GET OVER IT) it was confusing and weird, Shakespeare, how you confuse me is beyond words, I bet if Yoda read this book he could decipher it, or better yet if Yoda wrote a book I would understand it better than this.... Oh well... I couldn't really understand the plot, but hey I got an A- and passed the class so IM SO DONE WITH THIS"
"Is it bad that I'm reading the No Fear version? Sounds like a cop-out, being an English teacher and all, but I just want to sit and read the story and enjoy it over the weekend without having to 'study' every speech for ten minutes like when I teach Macbeth or R & J. Oh well, sue me."
MACHIAVELLI - THE PRINCE
"Cheat to win is a philosophy that at times delegates how I play ultimate, teach, and get through the day."
"If we consider amoral politics to be the Hunger Games, Machiavelli has written a How-To manual for winning the game, desperately hoping that a Katniss will read his book and win on behalf of his district (Italy). Ultimately, his project is as objectionable as hers."
WOOLF - A ROOM OF ONE'S OWN
"Woolf's discussion about Aphra Behn, the fictional Shakesphere's sister is excellent."
MILTON - PARADISE LOST
"We had some fantastic discussion about Satan's character in Paradise Lost during my English class. I now only have a vision of him as this emo 15-year-old wearing a black t-shirt that says 'Humans = Death' (he, of course, rotates this shirt with his 'Satan is our king' hoodie)."
JOYCE - A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN
"Very soon, the book becomes a vehicle for astonishingly long-winded discourses on various issues better dealt with in a monograph; and midway then, Portrait ceases to be a novel or even a work of fiction really; as a diehard fan of literary fiction, having admired so many non-traditional novels, I have to say that this is an ugly book, with nary a human connection or relationship of warmth ... I'm a PhD candidate in English, and I'm deeply saddened by reading this. Portrait is an insult to the scores of wonderful novels from this past century that don't get the same recognition because they are not by James Joyce. Avoid if you can help it."
FREUD - THE INTERPRETATION OF DREAMS
"Dreams cannot be interpreted, they're random imagery. And Freudianism most definitely doesn't qualify as science. Anyone thinking otherwise is an utter idiot. And I absolutely hate it how every second film director has to put 'Freudian symbolism' in their works. I AM NOT INTERESTED IN LEARNING THEM GODDAMMIT. If your movie cannot be understood without knowing 'Freudian symbolism' then it's garbage, period."
KAFKA - THE CASTLE
"Okay, let me get my two cents in. As a lover of surrealism, a huge Kafka fan, and above all as a writer, I can vouch for this book. Was it bland? Yes. Was it dull and repetitive and even poorly written? I'd say so. Truth is, I didn't even read beyond Chapter 3. But this isn't a bad novel. We have to remember that this is a rough draft, a sketch if you will, of a novel left on the writer's desk. Hell, the draft wasn't even finished. Of course it's going to suck! Because it is unfinished. It is not published as the writer even intended it to be. Hell, Kafka didn't even want the bulk of his writing's to be published. I decided to stop reading this because to do so is disrespectful to the author."
NIETZSCHE - BEYOND GOOD AND EVIL
"His cause is further damaged by paragraphs containing no topic sentence and no resolution. Some paragraphs ramble on so long that even if there were a topic sentence, one would be hard pressed to remember it by the end."
SUETONIUS - THE TWELVE CAESARS
"A collection of the biographies of the twelve emperors of Ancient Greece from Julius Caesar to Domitian.
I found out that not all of emperors are great leaders. One of them is Caligula, a mentally deranged man. What he did is unbelievable. If he does not like his constituent is doing he want that person to suffer like being burned or tortured. He even engage in same sex relationship which is really shocking. I never thought homosexuality existed then already."
"I find it amazing that these alleged geniuses never seem to consider that perhaps Rome fell because the Romans were idiots who no longer took responsibility for their own actions. Accountability is something that isn't a foreign concept to the academics; it's something that is an alien thought process. And when I say alien, I don't mean a passive alien like ET."
SALINGER - THE CATCHER IN THE RYE
"I should not be rating this. It is my unrelieved pride in life that I have not read this book, that I will not read this book, that I, alone, utterly condemn this book as well as its author. Nor do I, have I ever, or will ever drive a car. I am unlicensed."
MELVILLE - MOBY-DICK
"HATED IT SO MUCH. As a person with a degree in literature, I feel quite guilty about this. Maybe need to try again. It did not help when the professor asked a question during our discussion of it and no one answered, so I offered my answer. Big mistake. For some reason that brought on ridicule and eventually the statement that 'ANY answer besides mine would be correct.' Which wasn't even true and quite harsh. I'd say not so conducive to the liberal arts learning method. Given how much we were paying, I should have told him what was what. But I was not nearly assertive enough in those days."
"HOW DARE YOU TELL ME I'M WRONG? DON'T YOU KNOW MY PARENTS ARE PAYING FOR THIS EDUCATION?" ~ TERRIBLE ENGLISH MAJOR #85002
SAPPHO - POEMS/FRAGMENTS
"It’s hard to like Sappho. I know, I know, I’m being horrible. She’s an early feminist icon and she was a great poet and all of that sort of thing, but we have only one poem of hers in complete form, and the rest of the fragments have been so deeply mined by other poets that its hard to see where she’s being original. Sure, the first time someone said that moonlight was like silver that was mindblowing stuff…and it may well have been her, but her metaphors are tired now, and her work is so fragmentary that I can’t see it as more than the leftover choppings of the Romantic poets."
HAWTHORNE - THE SCARLET LETTER
"It was very hard to read. I did enjoy the idea of being ostracized for the bad you did (is that wrong of me?)"
"I had to focus immensely on every detail ... ruining the fluidity of my mind slowly absorbing all the print.
Then class discussions were always about the symbolism within, why couldn't the letter be red because that's the fabric they had? Why is there symbolism with a meteor shower? Sounds like an asteroid belt got too close and the earth pulled in some stellar rocks- that's not too out of the normal.
I think teachers ruined this book by making my mind try to see things that it saw as mere coincidences or straight facts instead of hidden meanings."
"Now, obviously, The Odyssey was not nearly as good as Rick Riordan's stuff, but it was still pretty good."
SHAKESPEARE - HAMLET
"Had to read for English Honors (yes, I am in 8th grade and taking 10th grade English, GET OVER IT) it was confusing and weird, Shakespeare, how you confuse me is beyond words, I bet if Yoda read this book he could decipher it, or better yet if Yoda wrote a book I would understand it better than this.... Oh well... I couldn't really understand the plot, but hey I got an A- and passed the class so IM SO DONE WITH THIS"
"Is it bad that I'm reading the No Fear version? Sounds like a cop-out, being an English teacher and all, but I just want to sit and read the story and enjoy it over the weekend without having to 'study' every speech for ten minutes like when I teach Macbeth or R & J. Oh well, sue me."
MACHIAVELLI - THE PRINCE
"Cheat to win is a philosophy that at times delegates how I play ultimate, teach, and get through the day."
"If we consider amoral politics to be the Hunger Games, Machiavelli has written a How-To manual for winning the game, desperately hoping that a Katniss will read his book and win on behalf of his district (Italy). Ultimately, his project is as objectionable as hers."
WOOLF - A ROOM OF ONE'S OWN
"Woolf's discussion about Aphra Behn, the fictional Shakesphere's sister is excellent."
MILTON - PARADISE LOST
"We had some fantastic discussion about Satan's character in Paradise Lost during my English class. I now only have a vision of him as this emo 15-year-old wearing a black t-shirt that says 'Humans = Death' (he, of course, rotates this shirt with his 'Satan is our king' hoodie)."
JOYCE - A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN
"Very soon, the book becomes a vehicle for astonishingly long-winded discourses on various issues better dealt with in a monograph; and midway then, Portrait ceases to be a novel or even a work of fiction really; as a diehard fan of literary fiction, having admired so many non-traditional novels, I have to say that this is an ugly book, with nary a human connection or relationship of warmth ... I'm a PhD candidate in English, and I'm deeply saddened by reading this. Portrait is an insult to the scores of wonderful novels from this past century that don't get the same recognition because they are not by James Joyce. Avoid if you can help it."
FREUD - THE INTERPRETATION OF DREAMS
"Dreams cannot be interpreted, they're random imagery. And Freudianism most definitely doesn't qualify as science. Anyone thinking otherwise is an utter idiot. And I absolutely hate it how every second film director has to put 'Freudian symbolism' in their works. I AM NOT INTERESTED IN LEARNING THEM GODDAMMIT. If your movie cannot be understood without knowing 'Freudian symbolism' then it's garbage, period."
KAFKA - THE CASTLE
"Okay, let me get my two cents in. As a lover of surrealism, a huge Kafka fan, and above all as a writer, I can vouch for this book. Was it bland? Yes. Was it dull and repetitive and even poorly written? I'd say so. Truth is, I didn't even read beyond Chapter 3. But this isn't a bad novel. We have to remember that this is a rough draft, a sketch if you will, of a novel left on the writer's desk. Hell, the draft wasn't even finished. Of course it's going to suck! Because it is unfinished. It is not published as the writer even intended it to be. Hell, Kafka didn't even want the bulk of his writing's to be published. I decided to stop reading this because to do so is disrespectful to the author."
NIETZSCHE - BEYOND GOOD AND EVIL
"His cause is further damaged by paragraphs containing no topic sentence and no resolution. Some paragraphs ramble on so long that even if there were a topic sentence, one would be hard pressed to remember it by the end."
SUETONIUS - THE TWELVE CAESARS
"A collection of the biographies of the twelve emperors of Ancient Greece from Julius Caesar to Domitian.
I found out that not all of emperors are great leaders. One of them is Caligula, a mentally deranged man. What he did is unbelievable. If he does not like his constituent is doing he want that person to suffer like being burned or tortured. He even engage in same sex relationship which is really shocking. I never thought homosexuality existed then already."
"I find it amazing that these alleged geniuses never seem to consider that perhaps Rome fell because the Romans were idiots who no longer took responsibility for their own actions. Accountability is something that isn't a foreign concept to the academics; it's something that is an alien thought process. And when I say alien, I don't mean a passive alien like ET."
SALINGER - THE CATCHER IN THE RYE
"I should not be rating this. It is my unrelieved pride in life that I have not read this book, that I will not read this book, that I, alone, utterly condemn this book as well as its author. Nor do I, have I ever, or will ever drive a car. I am unlicensed."
MELVILLE - MOBY-DICK
"HATED IT SO MUCH. As a person with a degree in literature, I feel quite guilty about this. Maybe need to try again. It did not help when the professor asked a question during our discussion of it and no one answered, so I offered my answer. Big mistake. For some reason that brought on ridicule and eventually the statement that 'ANY answer besides mine would be correct.' Which wasn't even true and quite harsh. I'd say not so conducive to the liberal arts learning method. Given how much we were paying, I should have told him what was what. But I was not nearly assertive enough in those days."
"HOW DARE YOU TELL ME I'M WRONG? DON'T YOU KNOW MY PARENTS ARE PAYING FOR THIS EDUCATION?" ~ TERRIBLE ENGLISH MAJOR #85002
SAPPHO - POEMS/FRAGMENTS
"It’s hard to like Sappho. I know, I know, I’m being horrible. She’s an early feminist icon and she was a great poet and all of that sort of thing, but we have only one poem of hers in complete form, and the rest of the fragments have been so deeply mined by other poets that its hard to see where she’s being original. Sure, the first time someone said that moonlight was like silver that was mindblowing stuff…and it may well have been her, but her metaphors are tired now, and her work is so fragmentary that I can’t see it as more than the leftover choppings of the Romantic poets."
HAWTHORNE - THE SCARLET LETTER
"It was very hard to read. I did enjoy the idea of being ostracized for the bad you did (is that wrong of me?)"
"I had to focus immensely on every detail ... ruining the fluidity of my mind slowly absorbing all the print.
Then class discussions were always about the symbolism within, why couldn't the letter be red because that's the fabric they had? Why is there symbolism with a meteor shower? Sounds like an asteroid belt got too close and the earth pulled in some stellar rocks- that's not too out of the normal.
I think teachers ruined this book by making my mind try to see things that it saw as mere coincidences or straight facts instead of hidden meanings."
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Shakespeare - Macbeth III
"One of the most horrible books I have had the pleasure to read.
I mean, this is the crap that makes people my age despise reading. People need to learn yesterday's classics can't even match the crappy teen books of today.
Get me some work from Shakespeare that is at least Dean Koontz level, then get back to me when he gets a character at least even with Koontz's Vess."
"I'm not a fan of Shakespeare to begin with, but Macbeth was especially awful in my opinion. All that happened was people died! Macbeth killed person after person. WHERE'S THE PLOT??? WHERE'S THE LOVE STORY??? And Lady Macbeth.. Whew! What a freak! I mean, 'unsex me here'? Who even says that? Something happened to Shakespeare when he wrote this because boy, oh boy... Even Romeo and Juliet was better and it was about these middle-schoolers thinking they were in love! Not to mention the names... I mean, FLEANCE?! It sounds like Fleece! What happened to normal names like Bob or Fred or George?"
"Shakespeare is stupid. You can't even tell what the characters are saying! Plus, he didn't even write all of Macbeth, the lazy bum. He didn't write the part with Hecate. I don't understand why he couldn't talk like a normal person. I also don't get why everyone likes himk so much, he wasn't that great. His plays all have such predictable endings."
"I DON'T SPEAK SHAKESPEARE, ONLY ENGLISH!!!! To be honest it's got a good plot, it's just not portayed well at all. Im pretty sure it took Macbeth two pages to stab Duncan. I'm an ameteur writer myself and when someone in my book gets stabbed, it takes about this much space:'I Stabbed him.' It's not that hard! Francly I think my world would be a lot easier if I didn't have to put up with the crap Shakespeare wrote in schools"
"I'm not the biggest Shakespeare fan...as an English teacher, am I allowed to say that?"
"EGH THE BEGINNING OF THIS BOOK MADE ME WANT TO SNORE AT THE ONSLAUGHT OF WORDS THAT ARE PUT THERE JUST TO BE PUT THERE AND OCEANS OVER OCEANS OF APOSTROPHES SEEMINGLY ABBREVIATING THE WORD UNTIL IT MULTIPLIED INTO MORE WORDS AND WORDS WORDS WORDS EVERYWHERE."
"while not as painful to read as a midsummer whatever or as loathsome as romeo & juliet, there's just nothing here i really appreciate.
which is partly due to saturation. my introduction to literature, in childhood, was primarily characterized by douglas adams, arthur conan doyle & david sedaris, which is a wide variety of authors who employ plenty of the same narrative techniques in their storytelling that shakespeare pioneered. & i've never enjoyed plays much.
so here are some crazy out-of-context complaints i can think of as i write this at three in the morning: clever wordplay is not the same thing as comedy; clunky wordplay is less similar still. poetic language (which is a description i also take issue with, but that's too tied to the time period for even me to seriously complain about) doesn't supplement weak characterization. dramatic sense is a poor substitute for plot. by the same token, well timed contrast is not good structure."
"I just can't understand why Macbertha is so famous? Was the story revolutionary because it was the first of its kind? Okay then let’s say I went hiking (because I go hiking all the fucking time) and discovered a mysterious cave, and in the cave I found the first ever caveman drawings of a bunch of stick figures fucking, equivalent to the drawing ability of a four year old. Would this be considered as famous or revolutionary because it was the first ever drawing? Would it be the most single greatest form of art known to man?
No.
So why should I give a shit about Macbigbertha? Just because something is old doesn't make it good.
ALL the characters speak like they have… problems.
...
Seriously Macbertha, go check yourself into Arkham Asylum in Gotham City you psycho slut from hell."
"This book was so depressing, this book is not worth recommending to anyone. Just reading about murders sickens me to death. It makes me sick to my stomach. I cannot stand murders and hate books."
I mean, this is the crap that makes people my age despise reading. People need to learn yesterday's classics can't even match the crappy teen books of today.
Get me some work from Shakespeare that is at least Dean Koontz level, then get back to me when he gets a character at least even with Koontz's Vess."
"I'm not a fan of Shakespeare to begin with, but Macbeth was especially awful in my opinion. All that happened was people died! Macbeth killed person after person. WHERE'S THE PLOT??? WHERE'S THE LOVE STORY??? And Lady Macbeth.. Whew! What a freak! I mean, 'unsex me here'? Who even says that? Something happened to Shakespeare when he wrote this because boy, oh boy... Even Romeo and Juliet was better and it was about these middle-schoolers thinking they were in love! Not to mention the names... I mean, FLEANCE?! It sounds like Fleece! What happened to normal names like Bob or Fred or George?"
"Shakespeare is stupid. You can't even tell what the characters are saying! Plus, he didn't even write all of Macbeth, the lazy bum. He didn't write the part with Hecate. I don't understand why he couldn't talk like a normal person. I also don't get why everyone likes himk so much, he wasn't that great. His plays all have such predictable endings."
"I DON'T SPEAK SHAKESPEARE, ONLY ENGLISH!!!! To be honest it's got a good plot, it's just not portayed well at all. Im pretty sure it took Macbeth two pages to stab Duncan. I'm an ameteur writer myself and when someone in my book gets stabbed, it takes about this much space:'I Stabbed him.' It's not that hard! Francly I think my world would be a lot easier if I didn't have to put up with the crap Shakespeare wrote in schools"
"I'm not the biggest Shakespeare fan...as an English teacher, am I allowed to say that?"
"EGH THE BEGINNING OF THIS BOOK MADE ME WANT TO SNORE AT THE ONSLAUGHT OF WORDS THAT ARE PUT THERE JUST TO BE PUT THERE AND OCEANS OVER OCEANS OF APOSTROPHES SEEMINGLY ABBREVIATING THE WORD UNTIL IT MULTIPLIED INTO MORE WORDS AND WORDS WORDS WORDS EVERYWHERE."
"while not as painful to read as a midsummer whatever or as loathsome as romeo & juliet, there's just nothing here i really appreciate.
which is partly due to saturation. my introduction to literature, in childhood, was primarily characterized by douglas adams, arthur conan doyle & david sedaris, which is a wide variety of authors who employ plenty of the same narrative techniques in their storytelling that shakespeare pioneered. & i've never enjoyed plays much.
so here are some crazy out-of-context complaints i can think of as i write this at three in the morning: clever wordplay is not the same thing as comedy; clunky wordplay is less similar still. poetic language (which is a description i also take issue with, but that's too tied to the time period for even me to seriously complain about) doesn't supplement weak characterization. dramatic sense is a poor substitute for plot. by the same token, well timed contrast is not good structure."
"I just can't understand why Macbertha is so famous? Was the story revolutionary because it was the first of its kind? Okay then let’s say I went hiking (because I go hiking all the fucking time) and discovered a mysterious cave, and in the cave I found the first ever caveman drawings of a bunch of stick figures fucking, equivalent to the drawing ability of a four year old. Would this be considered as famous or revolutionary because it was the first ever drawing? Would it be the most single greatest form of art known to man?
No.
So why should I give a shit about Macbigbertha? Just because something is old doesn't make it good.
ALL the characters speak like they have… problems.
...
Seriously Macbertha, go check yourself into Arkham Asylum in Gotham City you psycho slut from hell."
"This book was so depressing, this book is not worth recommending to anyone. Just reading about murders sickens me to death. It makes me sick to my stomach. I cannot stand murders and hate books."
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Shakespeare - Julius Caesar II
"To be completely honest, this book is straight butt."
"this book sucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! not only is it shakespeare but its a complete rip off! ok so in r&j they both die for COMPLETELY NO REASON. well this ones basically the same. This group of guys feels that Caesers a tyrant so they kill him. then become tyrant like themselves. then there a big battle ... and my teacher made me memorize the freaking friends, romans, countryman speech. which you can be sure did not endear me. shakespear is so like eratic. sometimes he talks forwards somethines he talks backwords. sometimes its uber shakespearian other times its basically normal. the dude can not make up his mind for a writing style!"
"Dear William Shakespeare,
I fucking hate Julius Caesar. If I ever have to read this fucking thing again I’m gonna flip some shit. Fucking fuck."
"I did not enjoy reading this book. The text was extremely difficult to read and the vernacular used by Shakespeare does not translate well into todays language. The story wasnt structured well and it seemed as if the story was rushed and cluttered. Julius Caesar is the king of Rome and eventhough he has many batle victories under his belt, many people believe that he abuses his power and isnt fit for the role he holds.
I rated this book a 2 out of 5 because the text is so difficult to read and the major conflict is solved early on in the story and the rest is just piled on to lengthen the story. The dialogue is dry and the logic of the characters is majorly flawed."
"Oh my holy hell! What the hell is up with Julius Caeser!"
"what so hard about writing in modern English rather then jibberjabber"
"Shakespeare. Call me a Kulturbanause but I have zero interest or will to read anything related. The same for other 'classic' literature, once deemed good by mainstream and repeated over and over. There are exceptions but they’re rare and far between. I believe it has to do with my aversion to anything 'theatrical'. And the fact that, just because someone decided this is world literature doesn’t mean that I will follow the herd and gobble it up like a sheep ... You can follow trends or you can set trends for yourself. So don’t ask me about Shakespeare. I will laugh in your face."
"I never got around to reading Julius Caesar until now, as a 34 year old, a teacher of Shakespeare to HS juniors. And, I'm underwhelmed."
"Et tu Brute? A Roman Caeser speaking French in his dying breath...that alone made this play a good read."
"great job Shakespeare, you just RUINED this quarter!"
"Blah blah blah. Enough already. It was the same petty arguments throughout the whole story. Plus, it's even worse in old English."
"this book sucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! not only is it shakespeare but its a complete rip off! ok so in r&j they both die for COMPLETELY NO REASON. well this ones basically the same. This group of guys feels that Caesers a tyrant so they kill him. then become tyrant like themselves. then there a big battle ... and my teacher made me memorize the freaking friends, romans, countryman speech. which you can be sure did not endear me. shakespear is so like eratic. sometimes he talks forwards somethines he talks backwords. sometimes its uber shakespearian other times its basically normal. the dude can not make up his mind for a writing style!"
"Dear William Shakespeare,
I fucking hate Julius Caesar. If I ever have to read this fucking thing again I’m gonna flip some shit. Fucking fuck."
"I did not enjoy reading this book. The text was extremely difficult to read and the vernacular used by Shakespeare does not translate well into todays language. The story wasnt structured well and it seemed as if the story was rushed and cluttered. Julius Caesar is the king of Rome and eventhough he has many batle victories under his belt, many people believe that he abuses his power and isnt fit for the role he holds.
I rated this book a 2 out of 5 because the text is so difficult to read and the major conflict is solved early on in the story and the rest is just piled on to lengthen the story. The dialogue is dry and the logic of the characters is majorly flawed."
"Oh my holy hell! What the hell is up with Julius Caeser!"
"what so hard about writing in modern English rather then jibberjabber"
"Shakespeare. Call me a Kulturbanause but I have zero interest or will to read anything related. The same for other 'classic' literature, once deemed good by mainstream and repeated over and over. There are exceptions but they’re rare and far between. I believe it has to do with my aversion to anything 'theatrical'. And the fact that, just because someone decided this is world literature doesn’t mean that I will follow the herd and gobble it up like a sheep ... You can follow trends or you can set trends for yourself. So don’t ask me about Shakespeare. I will laugh in your face."
"I never got around to reading Julius Caesar until now, as a 34 year old, a teacher of Shakespeare to HS juniors. And, I'm underwhelmed."
"Et tu Brute? A Roman Caeser speaking French in his dying breath...that alone made this play a good read."
"great job Shakespeare, you just RUINED this quarter!"
"Blah blah blah. Enough already. It was the same petty arguments throughout the whole story. Plus, it's even worse in old English."
Friday, May 3, 2013
Shakespeare - Romeo and Juliet VII
"One reason I did not like this book is i do not believe in love. They claim to have a lot of love in this book. If, you are into falling in love and standing for your love this is a book for you to read."
"I spent almost 10 years trying to read this"
"i lov dis book its about love 4 ever and being together its somthing i would lov too have"
"THIS IS A VERY GOOD BOOK IT JUST TALKS ABOUT LOVE, BATLAS,FITES, BUT THE MOST IMPORTANT IS LOVE I LIKE THE BOOK BECAUSE THEY FITE FOR THERE LOVE THEY ARE ONE TO EACH OTHER ......ECT....."
"i think this story is a complete waste of your time, it shows all the wrong morals. As it is a classic the story line sucks. the only tradgedy that takes place is that someone would write such a horrific story.okay it just stinks."
"Well, here's a story I honastly hate. The whole thing is just about two families who dispise one another for no apparent reason and two utterly idiotic, stupid hormone-driven kids. Romeo couldn't have fallen in love with Juliet! He fell in love with her face and ,probably, bossoms-if she had any, since she was fourteen, for shite's sake! Really,I can only applaud Shakespeare for the manner of saying this sodden fairy-bloody-tale. Well' if he wanted to show how stupid people are sometimes he did one marvelous job. The only character I liked was Mercutio with all that black humor emanating off him. Ugh, even if this is a theatrical masterpiece, let me tell you, the plot's completely fictitious, because two horny teenagers wouldn't die for each other if the only reason they had married was their looks! So, as disrespectful as I am to the great British playwright, Romeo and Juliet, I hate you."
"Awful exhausting to read. They should translate all Shakespeare works into contemporary language. Then it would be more likely that more persons like it."
"this is also the first love story that ended in a tragedy which makes it a good and realistic play/book."
"Most of the world may find this play about two over-sexed and irresponsible teenagers romantic, but I, for one, do not ... as a contemporary reader, I find the whole story silly and irritating."
"I am not actually a fan of Shakespeare. Not because I don’t like, adore, his works. It’s because I have no idea of it. Like, what was Les Miz about? I really don’t know. And even Romeo and Juliet. All I know is it has a tragic ending where both of the characters, main characters, died. Uhuh. Should I consider my self dumb?"
"I spent almost 10 years trying to read this"
"i lov dis book its about love 4 ever and being together its somthing i would lov too have"
"THIS IS A VERY GOOD BOOK IT JUST TALKS ABOUT LOVE, BATLAS,FITES, BUT THE MOST IMPORTANT IS LOVE I LIKE THE BOOK BECAUSE THEY FITE FOR THERE LOVE THEY ARE ONE TO EACH OTHER ......ECT....."
"i think this story is a complete waste of your time, it shows all the wrong morals. As it is a classic the story line sucks. the only tradgedy that takes place is that someone would write such a horrific story.okay it just stinks."
"Well, here's a story I honastly hate. The whole thing is just about two families who dispise one another for no apparent reason and two utterly idiotic, stupid hormone-driven kids. Romeo couldn't have fallen in love with Juliet! He fell in love with her face and ,probably, bossoms-if she had any, since she was fourteen, for shite's sake! Really,I can only applaud Shakespeare for the manner of saying this sodden fairy-bloody-tale. Well' if he wanted to show how stupid people are sometimes he did one marvelous job. The only character I liked was Mercutio with all that black humor emanating off him. Ugh, even if this is a theatrical masterpiece, let me tell you, the plot's completely fictitious, because two horny teenagers wouldn't die for each other if the only reason they had married was their looks! So, as disrespectful as I am to the great British playwright, Romeo and Juliet, I hate you."
"Awful exhausting to read. They should translate all Shakespeare works into contemporary language. Then it would be more likely that more persons like it."
"this is also the first love story that ended in a tragedy which makes it a good and realistic play/book."
"Most of the world may find this play about two over-sexed and irresponsible teenagers romantic, but I, for one, do not ... as a contemporary reader, I find the whole story silly and irritating."
"I am not actually a fan of Shakespeare. Not because I don’t like, adore, his works. It’s because I have no idea of it. Like, what was Les Miz about? I really don’t know. And even Romeo and Juliet. All I know is it has a tragic ending where both of the characters, main characters, died. Uhuh. Should I consider my self dumb?"
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Shakespeare - The Taming of the Shrew II
"When the younger sister gets married we see her true colors as she turns out like her sister, a loud mouth."
"Of all the assholes shakespeare wrote about, Petruchio is by far the worse ... And I totally get the whole being a strong independent woman who doesn't need a man thing... but WHOA. Katherina is one bad bitch. And not in a good way."
"On the one hand I understand that it isn't appropriate for Katherine to be abusive to him, but using abuse to make her complacent is also not appropriate. But after reading what was going on during the time of Shakespeare, I understand his point of view."
"I can forgive the misogyny considering when the play was written but I have a very hard time forgiving the slapstick."
"The Taming of the Shrew was easy to understand than most of Shakespeare's novels. In contrast to 10 things i hate about you."
"The women in Shakespeare's comedies are so empty and flat."
"Reading a play is difficult, to say the least"
"there were a few crude sayings and apparent uses of the Lord's name in vain."
"This one should be forgotten as crap from history not worth reading in the modern day."
"I found this story to be extremely elementary. This Shakespeare fellow obviously has no idea what he is talking about"
"As for Taming of the Shrew, I read it as a tragedy: the destruction of a real, living, thinking, churlish woman. The brilliance of Shakespeare is such that one can make that reading, even though he himself was a patriarchal asshole who saw the whole thing as a joke."
"The title alone is cause for hatred.
The whole idea of 'taming' any living creature is quite bothersome in fact."
"of course Shakespeare isn’t known for having written female characters particularly well ... there’s no one in his work that measures up to Antigone, Cassandra or Euripides’ version of Elecktra."
" fuck you shakespeare cause i hate taming of the shrew and i have to read for the 2nd time.
*flips off lit department*"
"Person: Oh my God, I just love Shakespeare!
Me: Ew, why?
Person: Because he captures my emotions in such a poetic way.
Me: John Green does the same thing and you don't need to translate his words in order to read his works, let alone enjoy them."
"Of all the assholes shakespeare wrote about, Petruchio is by far the worse ... And I totally get the whole being a strong independent woman who doesn't need a man thing... but WHOA. Katherina is one bad bitch. And not in a good way."
"On the one hand I understand that it isn't appropriate for Katherine to be abusive to him, but using abuse to make her complacent is also not appropriate. But after reading what was going on during the time of Shakespeare, I understand his point of view."
"I can forgive the misogyny considering when the play was written but I have a very hard time forgiving the slapstick."
"The Taming of the Shrew was easy to understand than most of Shakespeare's novels. In contrast to 10 things i hate about you."
"The women in Shakespeare's comedies are so empty and flat."
"Reading a play is difficult, to say the least"
"there were a few crude sayings and apparent uses of the Lord's name in vain."
"This one should be forgotten as crap from history not worth reading in the modern day."
"I found this story to be extremely elementary. This Shakespeare fellow obviously has no idea what he is talking about"
"As for Taming of the Shrew, I read it as a tragedy: the destruction of a real, living, thinking, churlish woman. The brilliance of Shakespeare is such that one can make that reading, even though he himself was a patriarchal asshole who saw the whole thing as a joke."
"The title alone is cause for hatred.
The whole idea of 'taming' any living creature is quite bothersome in fact."
"of course Shakespeare isn’t known for having written female characters particularly well ... there’s no one in his work that measures up to Antigone, Cassandra or Euripides’ version of Elecktra."
" fuck you shakespeare cause i hate taming of the shrew and i have to read for the 2nd time.
*flips off lit department*"
"Person: Oh my God, I just love Shakespeare!
Me: Ew, why?
Person: Because he captures my emotions in such a poetic way.
Me: John Green does the same thing and you don't need to translate his words in order to read his works, let alone enjoy them."
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Shakespeare - The Taming of the Shrew
"I think this book is a little difficult because they say to many hard and different words to understand how they said it in the time of year."
"Other than this book being a pain, and a horrible old english text. This book was one of the best by Willian Shakespeare."
"i didnt like this book because it was so hard to read and so annoying and hurt to understand what was happening so i hope we dont read more sahakespare because its hurt."
"i hated this book because the words were to deficult to read and just to understanding the book was to hard for me."
"Every woman and wife should read this. The importance of being feminine, kind and gracious to our husbands."
"This book in the Lake Illustrated Classics series is like Shakespeare, without all the pesky Shakespeare."
"the moral of the story is to tame your wife so she does whatever you want her to do"
"If it weren't for the fact that the girl they are trying to 'tame' didn't have much dialogue in the play, and actually SHOWED more resentment/disrespect, etc. for men, I'd see why this 'taming' would be needed."
"i can't get over the blatant sexism of shakespeare in this play. his chauvinism is so great, and so ignorant, that i'm tempted to question his overall intelligence."
"When Shakespeare wrote this, it was obviously a very different time. (Heck, it was like 5 centuries ago, when women were probably traded for goats, so I guess maybe this was forward thinking, at the time...) While some parts of this play were somewhat amusing, I just hate all of the dressing up in disguises that always seems to happen in any of Shakespeare's plays. But maybe that's how people got their kicks back in the day.. Dressed up and pretended to be someone else until they got caught. 'You idiot, its me, Carl. I can't believe all I had to do was put on a dress and say I was Susy to get you to believe me!!' Or dress up random drunks when they're sleeping to try to get them to think they're someone else, like in this play. "Hmm... I'm pretty sure before I passed out drunk I was wearing a lot rattier clothes, and people called me Sly. Wait, you say I'm a Prince?? And I'm rich?? Are you sure? Well you're right, I AM wearing nice clothes now. That SETTLES it! I MUST be someone else!" How does everyone fall for all of these tricks?? It's like the 1500s were all just a bunch of Bosom Buddies episodes."
"It's not so much a romantic comedy as a guide on how to torture your wife to force her to submit to your every whim."
"it’s hard to believe that Shakespeare, penner of such sensational heroines as Juliet and Viola, could ever produce this sexist drivel."
IT IS HARD TO BELIEVE! WHICH IS WHY WE SHOULDN'T BELIEVE IT WITHOUT THINKING ABOUT IT CAREFULLY, PREFERABLY IN THE CONTEXT OF URBANIZATION AND THE CHANGING ROLE OF MARRIAGE IN 16TH-CENTURY ENGLAND. PUT VERY BRIEFLY AND OVER-SIMPLY, THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NUCLEAR FAMILY AND THE URBAN ECONOMY CHANGED THE PURPOSE OF MARRIAGE. AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 16TH CENTURY IN ENGLAND, MARRIAGE WAS AN INSTITUTION THAT HAD VERY LITTLE TO DO WITH ROMANTIC LOVE. FOR THE MIDDLE AND LOWER CLASSES, IT WAS ESSENTIALLY A PRACTICAL PARTNERSHIP IN THE AGRICULTURAL WORK OF THE LARGE CLAN-STYLE HOUSEHOLD OF THE MEDIEVAL PERIOD. BUT IN THE GROWING CITIES THERE WAS NO OPPORTUNITY FOR RESPECTABLE WOMEN TO WORK OUTSIDE THE HOME--THE WIFE, HAVING NO LABOUR TO OFFER HER HUSBAND, WAS TRANSFORMED INTO AN ACQUISITION AND STATUS SYMBOL. MARRIAGE, FOR MEN AND WOMEN, WAS A GAME OF SOCIAL CLIMBING, PLAYED WITH DOWRIES AND LAVISH DISPLAYS OF BORROWED WEALTH. ONCE MARRIED, THE WIFE'S ROLE WAS RESTRICTED TO CHILD-BEARING AND MANAGING THE HOUSEHOLD. THIS IS THE NOVEL SOCIAL SITUATION UPON WHICH TAMING IS AN EXTENDED COMMENT. IT'S SHAKESPEARE'S BIRTHDAY TODAY, SO I WILL BREAK CONVENTION BY POSTING A DEFENSE OF THE PLAY, FROM GERMAINE GREER'S THE FEMALE EUNUCH, WHICH I THINK GETS TO THE HEART OF THIS SUBTLE COMEDY:
"Kate is a woman striving for her own existence in a world where she is a stale, a decoy to be bid for against her sister’s higher market value, so she opts out by becoming unmanageable, a scold. Bianca has found the women’s way of guile and feigned gentleness to pay better dividends: she woos for herself under false colours, manipulating her father and her suitors in a perilous game which could end in her ruin. Kate courts ruin in a different way, but she has the uncommon good fortune to find Petruchio, who is man enough to know what he wants and how to get it. He wants her spirit and her energy because he wants a wife worth keeping. He tames her like he might a hawk or a high-mettled horse, and she rewards him with strong sexual love and fierce loyalty. Lucentio finds himself saddled with a cold, disloyal woman, who has no objection to humiliating him in public. The submission of a woman like Kate is genuine and exciting because she has something to lay down, her virgin pride and individuality: Bianca is the soul of duplicity, married without earnestness or good will. Kate’s speech at the close of the play is the greatest defence of Christian monogamy ever written. It rests upon the role of a husband as protector and friend, and it is valid because Kate has a man who is capable of being both, for Petruchio is both gentle and strong (it is a vile distortion of the play to have him strike her ever). The message is probably twofold: only Kates make good wives, and then only to Petruchios; for the rest, their cake is dough."
"Other than this book being a pain, and a horrible old english text. This book was one of the best by Willian Shakespeare."
"i didnt like this book because it was so hard to read and so annoying and hurt to understand what was happening so i hope we dont read more sahakespare because its hurt."
"i hated this book because the words were to deficult to read and just to understanding the book was to hard for me."
"Every woman and wife should read this. The importance of being feminine, kind and gracious to our husbands."
"This book in the Lake Illustrated Classics series is like Shakespeare, without all the pesky Shakespeare."
"the moral of the story is to tame your wife so she does whatever you want her to do"
"If it weren't for the fact that the girl they are trying to 'tame' didn't have much dialogue in the play, and actually SHOWED more resentment/disrespect, etc. for men, I'd see why this 'taming' would be needed."
"i can't get over the blatant sexism of shakespeare in this play. his chauvinism is so great, and so ignorant, that i'm tempted to question his overall intelligence."
"When Shakespeare wrote this, it was obviously a very different time. (Heck, it was like 5 centuries ago, when women were probably traded for goats, so I guess maybe this was forward thinking, at the time...) While some parts of this play were somewhat amusing, I just hate all of the dressing up in disguises that always seems to happen in any of Shakespeare's plays. But maybe that's how people got their kicks back in the day.. Dressed up and pretended to be someone else until they got caught. 'You idiot, its me, Carl. I can't believe all I had to do was put on a dress and say I was Susy to get you to believe me!!' Or dress up random drunks when they're sleeping to try to get them to think they're someone else, like in this play. "Hmm... I'm pretty sure before I passed out drunk I was wearing a lot rattier clothes, and people called me Sly. Wait, you say I'm a Prince?? And I'm rich?? Are you sure? Well you're right, I AM wearing nice clothes now. That SETTLES it! I MUST be someone else!" How does everyone fall for all of these tricks?? It's like the 1500s were all just a bunch of Bosom Buddies episodes."
"It's not so much a romantic comedy as a guide on how to torture your wife to force her to submit to your every whim."
"it’s hard to believe that Shakespeare, penner of such sensational heroines as Juliet and Viola, could ever produce this sexist drivel."
IT IS HARD TO BELIEVE! WHICH IS WHY WE SHOULDN'T BELIEVE IT WITHOUT THINKING ABOUT IT CAREFULLY, PREFERABLY IN THE CONTEXT OF URBANIZATION AND THE CHANGING ROLE OF MARRIAGE IN 16TH-CENTURY ENGLAND. PUT VERY BRIEFLY AND OVER-SIMPLY, THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NUCLEAR FAMILY AND THE URBAN ECONOMY CHANGED THE PURPOSE OF MARRIAGE. AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 16TH CENTURY IN ENGLAND, MARRIAGE WAS AN INSTITUTION THAT HAD VERY LITTLE TO DO WITH ROMANTIC LOVE. FOR THE MIDDLE AND LOWER CLASSES, IT WAS ESSENTIALLY A PRACTICAL PARTNERSHIP IN THE AGRICULTURAL WORK OF THE LARGE CLAN-STYLE HOUSEHOLD OF THE MEDIEVAL PERIOD. BUT IN THE GROWING CITIES THERE WAS NO OPPORTUNITY FOR RESPECTABLE WOMEN TO WORK OUTSIDE THE HOME--THE WIFE, HAVING NO LABOUR TO OFFER HER HUSBAND, WAS TRANSFORMED INTO AN ACQUISITION AND STATUS SYMBOL. MARRIAGE, FOR MEN AND WOMEN, WAS A GAME OF SOCIAL CLIMBING, PLAYED WITH DOWRIES AND LAVISH DISPLAYS OF BORROWED WEALTH. ONCE MARRIED, THE WIFE'S ROLE WAS RESTRICTED TO CHILD-BEARING AND MANAGING THE HOUSEHOLD. THIS IS THE NOVEL SOCIAL SITUATION UPON WHICH TAMING IS AN EXTENDED COMMENT. IT'S SHAKESPEARE'S BIRTHDAY TODAY, SO I WILL BREAK CONVENTION BY POSTING A DEFENSE OF THE PLAY, FROM GERMAINE GREER'S THE FEMALE EUNUCH, WHICH I THINK GETS TO THE HEART OF THIS SUBTLE COMEDY:
"Kate is a woman striving for her own existence in a world where she is a stale, a decoy to be bid for against her sister’s higher market value, so she opts out by becoming unmanageable, a scold. Bianca has found the women’s way of guile and feigned gentleness to pay better dividends: she woos for herself under false colours, manipulating her father and her suitors in a perilous game which could end in her ruin. Kate courts ruin in a different way, but she has the uncommon good fortune to find Petruchio, who is man enough to know what he wants and how to get it. He wants her spirit and her energy because he wants a wife worth keeping. He tames her like he might a hawk or a high-mettled horse, and she rewards him with strong sexual love and fierce loyalty. Lucentio finds himself saddled with a cold, disloyal woman, who has no objection to humiliating him in public. The submission of a woman like Kate is genuine and exciting because she has something to lay down, her virgin pride and individuality: Bianca is the soul of duplicity, married without earnestness or good will. Kate’s speech at the close of the play is the greatest defence of Christian monogamy ever written. It rests upon the role of a husband as protector and friend, and it is valid because Kate has a man who is capable of being both, for Petruchio is both gentle and strong (it is a vile distortion of the play to have him strike her ever). The message is probably twofold: only Kates make good wives, and then only to Petruchios; for the rest, their cake is dough."
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Shakespeare - Richard II
"This was stupid. Just plain dumb. Avoid at all costs. If I get a chance later, I'll come back and tell you why. If not, just don't waste your time."
"It annoyed me that I couldn't decide whose side I should be on."
"Did they pronounce words back in Elizabethan England very differently than they do now? Nowadays, Shakespeare's stuff just doesn't sound like poetry. And what's the deal with 'art', 'thou', etc. ? It's still understandable, but very annoying. Couldn't they translate it into modern English? There is no rhythm to be broken anyhow.
I actually think Shakespeare worship is perpetuated much like the myth about Emperor's clothes.
Don't you think it's a bit symtomatic that the earliest English author of any significance also happens, by pure accident, no else, to be the greatest author and poet of all times and languages? Huh?"
"It's Shakespeare. I'm an English Lit major."
IF IT'S NOT CLEAR, THIS WAS A ONE-STAR REVIEW
"The purchase of this book was merely for bragging right i.e. pompous display of high literature to impress the clueless, visiting proletariats. I did not get pass the first page and the one star rating is a reflection of that"
"What can I say? It's Shakespeare, therefore it's diffcult to read at best and thoroughly unenjoyable."
"It annoyed me that I couldn't decide whose side I should be on."
"Did they pronounce words back in Elizabethan England very differently than they do now? Nowadays, Shakespeare's stuff just doesn't sound like poetry. And what's the deal with 'art', 'thou', etc. ? It's still understandable, but very annoying. Couldn't they translate it into modern English? There is no rhythm to be broken anyhow.
I actually think Shakespeare worship is perpetuated much like the myth about Emperor's clothes.
Don't you think it's a bit symtomatic that the earliest English author of any significance also happens, by pure accident, no else, to be the greatest author and poet of all times and languages? Huh?"
"It's Shakespeare. I'm an English Lit major."
IF IT'S NOT CLEAR, THIS WAS A ONE-STAR REVIEW
"The purchase of this book was merely for bragging right i.e. pompous display of high literature to impress the clueless, visiting proletariats. I did not get pass the first page and the one star rating is a reflection of that"
"What can I say? It's Shakespeare, therefore it's diffcult to read at best and thoroughly unenjoyable."
Saturday, February 9, 2013
Shakespeare - Othello II
"Well, So far (and I only started this like 4 days ago) I love Iago and Othello. The 'close' relationship between Desdemona and Cassio is probably going to bug me through the entire play though."
"Typical Shakespeare misunderstanding causing multiple people to die."
"Another cliche, typical plot by Shakespeare.
Why do teachers keep making their students read Shakespeare, its the 21st century we should finally realize that his works are unimaginative and that he wasn't a genious. There are so many better classic writers out there that people just ignore."
"I belong in the horde that don't like Shakespeare but for different reasons than most. I think the books are predictable because they are cliche. Granted, they are probably cliche to me because American literature is basically a Shakespeare baby, but in the end they are cliche, even they are 'the original'. So anyways when Shakespeare isn't being predictable or spoiled as this play was not entirely it is often boring or illogical. Much Ado About Nothing is not a comedy. As for more opinions and onions on Othello itself I hate Desdemona (we are all shocked). She is not unlucky, she is just stupid. I disagree completely with motiveless malignity and beleive that it only exists in literature (and such), and often bad literature at that."
"What I have learned about Shakespeare since high school.
I have learned that Shakespeare is a hard cookie to crack. He either depicted his own cultural sentiments, or captured the cultural sentiments and dynamics in a commentary for how those racial and gender roles were unfair and were in much need of review. If it were the later, he was not a little ahead of his time, but centuries ahead of his time. This can be seen here with the discrimination against both Othello and his wife through the interactions with others as well as the domestic abuse that ends with tragic consequences. Other plays discuss legal rights of Jews and women, politcal intergue, family and social dynamics, religion, as well as having the typical stuff of love and action. Learning how to sit and read in the social aspect allows me to have much more fun than before with just reading the story itself. Unraveling the cultural norms of yesterday and seeing how much has changed (or not) since then. It makes wading through this junk almost worth trying to breakdown how many ways Shakespeare can have someone describe love, hate, and all of those emotions inbetween."
"My complaint is having Shakespeare on your shelf, as if one day you'll sit down in your chair and read Othello start to finish.
That's wrong, and I refuse to read Shakespeare by myself, in my head. It's a play, meant to be heard and felt and seen."
"cartoonish and silly. not in a good way. even shakespeare (which, i mean, let's be honest, the guy has a bit of a reputation, and linguistically at least he always delivers) couldn't save this one"
"Typical Shakespeare misunderstanding causing multiple people to die."
"Another cliche, typical plot by Shakespeare.
Why do teachers keep making their students read Shakespeare, its the 21st century we should finally realize that his works are unimaginative and that he wasn't a genious. There are so many better classic writers out there that people just ignore."
"I belong in the horde that don't like Shakespeare but for different reasons than most. I think the books are predictable because they are cliche. Granted, they are probably cliche to me because American literature is basically a Shakespeare baby, but in the end they are cliche, even they are 'the original'. So anyways when Shakespeare isn't being predictable or spoiled as this play was not entirely it is often boring or illogical. Much Ado About Nothing is not a comedy. As for more opinions and onions on Othello itself I hate Desdemona (we are all shocked). She is not unlucky, she is just stupid. I disagree completely with motiveless malignity and beleive that it only exists in literature (and such), and often bad literature at that."
"What I have learned about Shakespeare since high school.
I have learned that Shakespeare is a hard cookie to crack. He either depicted his own cultural sentiments, or captured the cultural sentiments and dynamics in a commentary for how those racial and gender roles were unfair and were in much need of review. If it were the later, he was not a little ahead of his time, but centuries ahead of his time. This can be seen here with the discrimination against both Othello and his wife through the interactions with others as well as the domestic abuse that ends with tragic consequences. Other plays discuss legal rights of Jews and women, politcal intergue, family and social dynamics, religion, as well as having the typical stuff of love and action. Learning how to sit and read in the social aspect allows me to have much more fun than before with just reading the story itself. Unraveling the cultural norms of yesterday and seeing how much has changed (or not) since then. It makes wading through this junk almost worth trying to breakdown how many ways Shakespeare can have someone describe love, hate, and all of those emotions inbetween."
"My complaint is having Shakespeare on your shelf, as if one day you'll sit down in your chair and read Othello start to finish.
That's wrong, and I refuse to read Shakespeare by myself, in my head. It's a play, meant to be heard and felt and seen."
"cartoonish and silly. not in a good way. even shakespeare (which, i mean, let's be honest, the guy has a bit of a reputation, and linguistically at least he always delivers) couldn't save this one"
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Shakespeare - Much Ado About Nothing
"Much Ado About Nothing is just another well written 19th century play by William Shakespeare."
"I did not like this book very much. There was a lot of conflict between characters."
"I really didn't get what they were saying (I doubt people actually said stuff like that)"
"Shakespeare wrote some amazing tragedies, but his comedies are basically twee, glorified rom-coms, written for the 'You've Got Mail' and 'Must Love Dogs' demographic as it existed in the 17th century. Absoultely nauseating."
"Let's face it, there aren't too many of Shakespeare's females who kick ass. Yes, we all can name the four or five that don't quite suck (Kat, Portia, Viola, Emilia, etc) but good strong feminine characters were not, it seems, the bard's strong suit. So as you wade through the whiny, conniving, helpless throngs of man worshipping wenches that appear in nearly all Shakespeare plays, it can be tempting to just give up looking for redemption."
"This is the first Shakespearean play I've read outside of an English class and its the first time I've realized why we read Shakespearean plays in English class - they're so damn obvious once you get past the frilly olde English.
Shakespeare's characters explicitly tell the reader the themes of the play in the first act or so. There's little complexity to be unraveled.
Sure there are story twists and surprise encounters, but nothing that challenges your expectations or introduces new ideas. The twists and turns are shallow at best and more akin to those of a soap opera than a great novel.
...
American schools should not rely on Shakespeare as much as they do. Sure its nice to introduce students to his creative use of language but how much will they really learn from the stories?
American students would be much better prepared for college and life were they exposed to books on great ideas. I'm talking about Plato, Ayn Rand, Asimov, Frank Herbert, and all the other great authors who base their books in ideas."
"I did not like this book very much. There was a lot of conflict between characters."
"I really didn't get what they were saying (I doubt people actually said stuff like that)"
"Shakespeare wrote some amazing tragedies, but his comedies are basically twee, glorified rom-coms, written for the 'You've Got Mail' and 'Must Love Dogs' demographic as it existed in the 17th century. Absoultely nauseating."
"Let's face it, there aren't too many of Shakespeare's females who kick ass. Yes, we all can name the four or five that don't quite suck (Kat, Portia, Viola, Emilia, etc) but good strong feminine characters were not, it seems, the bard's strong suit. So as you wade through the whiny, conniving, helpless throngs of man worshipping wenches that appear in nearly all Shakespeare plays, it can be tempting to just give up looking for redemption."
"This is the first Shakespearean play I've read outside of an English class and its the first time I've realized why we read Shakespearean plays in English class - they're so damn obvious once you get past the frilly olde English.
Shakespeare's characters explicitly tell the reader the themes of the play in the first act or so. There's little complexity to be unraveled.
Sure there are story twists and surprise encounters, but nothing that challenges your expectations or introduces new ideas. The twists and turns are shallow at best and more akin to those of a soap opera than a great novel.
...
American schools should not rely on Shakespeare as much as they do. Sure its nice to introduce students to his creative use of language but how much will they really learn from the stories?
American students would be much better prepared for college and life were they exposed to books on great ideas. I'm talking about Plato, Ayn Rand, Asimov, Frank Herbert, and all the other great authors who base their books in ideas."
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Shakespeare - Henry V
"I do not recommend this book for a book club because there was not a whole lot to discuss and my group actually ran out of things to discuss. I recommend the movie by Oliver Stone because it follows the play very closely. In fact if you watch this, you should be fine with just skimming the play for review."
"This play is not numbered among Shakespeare's heavy-hitters. For one thing, King Harry is not a very interesting character."
"Stick to the comedy Willy Shakes."
"What a disgusting piece of propaganda this is! We're supposed to get all misty-eyed and patriotic over Henry's ambition to annex French lands? We're supposed to seriously believe that he cares about his troops?"
"Less a play than a propaganda piece trumpeting the virtues of benevolent royalty."
"This play is a piece of propaganda. It depicts Henry V as a hero."
"There is no cynical commentary in Henry V."
HA HA HA
"This play is not numbered among Shakespeare's heavy-hitters. For one thing, King Harry is not a very interesting character."
"Stick to the comedy Willy Shakes."
"What a disgusting piece of propaganda this is! We're supposed to get all misty-eyed and patriotic over Henry's ambition to annex French lands? We're supposed to seriously believe that he cares about his troops?"
"Less a play than a propaganda piece trumpeting the virtues of benevolent royalty."
"This play is a piece of propaganda. It depicts Henry V as a hero."
"There is no cynical commentary in Henry V."
HA HA HA
Friday, July 20, 2012
Shakespeare - Troilus and Cressida II
"I'm relatively okay with reading Shakespeare's works, I know their classics and the famous screen writer was very talented"
"Yes, I can think of many reasons why Cressida was not the total whore she might look like, but I'll somehow feel like a dupe who tries to justify Bill while he clearly messed up"
"Bill has another clunker here. Much like The Two Gentlemen of Verona the characters (and there are buckets of them) inexplicably change their minds for now apparent reason. Cressida, though not necessarily a slut, sees another boy at the sock hop and immediately seems to forget that she was just making out with Troilus underneath the bleachers.
The love story seems secondary the posturing of Hector, the Trojan warrior, and the various Greek challengers. I was not able to form an alliance with any of these soldiers. For all I care they could all kill each other willy-nilly.
Give this one a pass."
"Am I dumb because I didn't pick up on the nihilistic/relativistic thing? I keep hearing that's what this is about, but I frankly don't see any textual evidence of this (or any evidence of the relativity of values outside of the text)."
"Yes, I can think of many reasons why Cressida was not the total whore she might look like, but I'll somehow feel like a dupe who tries to justify Bill while he clearly messed up"
"Bill has another clunker here. Much like The Two Gentlemen of Verona the characters (and there are buckets of them) inexplicably change their minds for now apparent reason. Cressida, though not necessarily a slut, sees another boy at the sock hop and immediately seems to forget that she was just making out with Troilus underneath the bleachers.
The love story seems secondary the posturing of Hector, the Trojan warrior, and the various Greek challengers. I was not able to form an alliance with any of these soldiers. For all I care they could all kill each other willy-nilly.
Give this one a pass."
"Am I dumb because I didn't pick up on the nihilistic/relativistic thing? I keep hearing that's what this is about, but I frankly don't see any textual evidence of this (or any evidence of the relativity of values outside of the text)."
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Shakespeare - Macbeth II
"Very tedious...
What else can you possibly say about Shakespeare's work?"
"Just your average Shakespeare."
"Regretfully, I have read this play."
"In the theatre community we call this one 'The Scottish Play'."
"It was old and stupid. :("
"Read for English class. Not my cup of tea, I prefer the more modern novels with sexy guys in them, tehee :)"
"...so bad."
"I think the writing in its time was difficult four ours"
"I found the way Macbeth finished a bit ironic because the whole purpose of Macbeths irrational killings were so that he could become King, yet the play ends with Macduff as king."
"It was not exactly my type of literature piece. I tend to prefer books where the main character stays true and noble throughout the story."
"The character development is unmatched in any of his other work (which isn't saying too much)."
"I think it would of been more interesting if it was writen in the english we speak now."
What else can you possibly say about Shakespeare's work?"
"Just your average Shakespeare."
"Regretfully, I have read this play."
"In the theatre community we call this one 'The Scottish Play'."
"It was old and stupid. :("
"Read for English class. Not my cup of tea, I prefer the more modern novels with sexy guys in them, tehee :)"
"...so bad."
"I think the writing in its time was difficult four ours"
"I found the way Macbeth finished a bit ironic because the whole purpose of Macbeths irrational killings were so that he could become King, yet the play ends with Macduff as king."
"It was not exactly my type of literature piece. I tend to prefer books where the main character stays true and noble throughout the story."
"The character development is unmatched in any of his other work (which isn't saying too much)."
"I think it would of been more interesting if it was writen in the english we speak now."
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Shakespeare - A Midsummer Night's Dream II
"You know what? I didn't like this all that much. at all, really."
"fucking stupid"
"For: escapists"
"Magical suckism."
"A lot of irony, which helped me understand what irony is."
"The book was very hard to follow, and I am also not a fan of Shakespeare. The only reason I give this two stars instead of one is that Stephanie Meyer said in an interview that this book will be one of the boks that is mentioned in her next book Breaking Dawn!"
"I read this in my 10th grade English class. Thankfully my teacher just had us go to spark notes"
"I hate that extra play in a play thing at the end. You think the darn thing is over but then you have to sit through another 10 minutes."
"This is just too difficult to follow for me. I have a very hard time getting into a book that I cannot understand. The words are big and outdated. The writing style is long winded and over-worded. I just don't like it."
"Comedy?
Comedy schmodedy. If Shakespeare had meant it to be funny he would have put a joke in it. Me, I'm a fan of the Farrelly brothers. Like that bit in Dumb and Dumber when he's, like, laying this monster crap in the ski chalet. Classic. Now that's comedy."
"Uh... uh... I don't get it? It contained no real substance. I found my attention drifting far away from the text during the 15 minutes I devoted myself to it each day (I couldn't take any more than 15 minutes! I just couldn't!)."
"This book sucks.
Say, this fictional and capricious play by Shakespear (not an original printing, you should know)is a capital reading choice. I commend you for taking the time to read and admire the Immortal Bard's wonderful work. Alliteration, huh? pretty neat."
"i thought this book was stupid and kinda confusing... its a play and they do a play within a play, um no its just not gonna work out. its a stupid book because there are 3 worlds, none that would ever really be around, and faries are just no longer popular. so if shakesphere was actually a good writer then sure, but this book is just weird."
"fucking stupid"
"For: escapists"
"Magical suckism."
"A lot of irony, which helped me understand what irony is."
"The book was very hard to follow, and I am also not a fan of Shakespeare. The only reason I give this two stars instead of one is that Stephanie Meyer said in an interview that this book will be one of the boks that is mentioned in her next book Breaking Dawn!"
"I read this in my 10th grade English class. Thankfully my teacher just had us go to spark notes"
"I hate that extra play in a play thing at the end. You think the darn thing is over but then you have to sit through another 10 minutes."
"This is just too difficult to follow for me. I have a very hard time getting into a book that I cannot understand. The words are big and outdated. The writing style is long winded and over-worded. I just don't like it."
"Comedy?
Comedy schmodedy. If Shakespeare had meant it to be funny he would have put a joke in it. Me, I'm a fan of the Farrelly brothers. Like that bit in Dumb and Dumber when he's, like, laying this monster crap in the ski chalet. Classic. Now that's comedy."
"Uh... uh... I don't get it? It contained no real substance. I found my attention drifting far away from the text during the 15 minutes I devoted myself to it each day (I couldn't take any more than 15 minutes! I just couldn't!)."
"This book sucks.
Say, this fictional and capricious play by Shakespear (not an original printing, you should know)is a capital reading choice. I commend you for taking the time to read and admire the Immortal Bard's wonderful work. Alliteration, huh? pretty neat."
"i thought this book was stupid and kinda confusing... its a play and they do a play within a play, um no its just not gonna work out. its a stupid book because there are 3 worlds, none that would ever really be around, and faries are just no longer popular. so if shakesphere was actually a good writer then sure, but this book is just weird."
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Shakespeare - A Midsummer Night's Dream
"Shakespeare sucks and this book is no different. I have also seen the play and it sucks just as much."
"Far below the quality and enjoyability of the shakespeare works."
"I appreciate Shakespeare because it's expected for me to do so, but I don't enjoy reading his work."
"Each of his plays tends to offer nothing more than a decent fantasy tale and/or an uninventive guide to using basic flowery prosody."
"I sadly have to say that I didn't like this at all. Maybe because I have read too many Greek dramas and novels in the past and so the comical approach to this seemed completely disturbing to me. It was plain silly."
"What a horrible plot. The ending is just terrible - a play within a play? Sounds interesting, but it's not even remotely so."
"I think people make way too much out of Shakespeare. He was the creator of the trashy Hollywood movies of his day. Maybe in a couple of hundred years, people will obsess over the dramatic mastery of movies like 'High School Musical,' too."
"Sometiems the king of this story reminds me of my father... he is always chooseing thigs for me thinking is the best but in the end we always turn to arguments."
"I just don't have the time or the patience to plod through outdated language. And I don't feel any more intelligent or educated for having read it."
"While I was reading through it, I was quizzical about the fact that this was a comedy. The plot seemed tragic for me, especially the short play about Phyramus and Thisbe"
"For all intensive purposes, the commercials for the 1999 movie told me all I needed to know."
"I prefer post modern literature, didn't he get flunkies to write half his stuff? hmm"
"Far below the quality and enjoyability of the shakespeare works."
"I appreciate Shakespeare because it's expected for me to do so, but I don't enjoy reading his work."
"Each of his plays tends to offer nothing more than a decent fantasy tale and/or an uninventive guide to using basic flowery prosody."
"I sadly have to say that I didn't like this at all. Maybe because I have read too many Greek dramas and novels in the past and so the comical approach to this seemed completely disturbing to me. It was plain silly."
"What a horrible plot. The ending is just terrible - a play within a play? Sounds interesting, but it's not even remotely so."
"I think people make way too much out of Shakespeare. He was the creator of the trashy Hollywood movies of his day. Maybe in a couple of hundred years, people will obsess over the dramatic mastery of movies like 'High School Musical,' too."
"Sometiems the king of this story reminds me of my father... he is always chooseing thigs for me thinking is the best but in the end we always turn to arguments."
"I just don't have the time or the patience to plod through outdated language. And I don't feel any more intelligent or educated for having read it."
"While I was reading through it, I was quizzical about the fact that this was a comedy. The plot seemed tragic for me, especially the short play about Phyramus and Thisbe"
"For all intensive purposes, the commercials for the 1999 movie told me all I needed to know."
"I prefer post modern literature, didn't he get flunkies to write half his stuff? hmm"
Friday, February 10, 2012
Shakespeare - Hamlet III
"The most overrated work of art in the history of hummanity."
"All and all this play is atrocious. Though it is acclaimed as the greatest work of drama ever, it is hardly that. People who say such things, have absolutely no credibility. Hamlet's only purpose is to confuse the reader. Any intelligent person can see through his character and realize that he is little more than a feeble mind with a large vocabulary. He is almost the mirror image of Lennie in OF MICE AND MEN, Barnaby Rudge in the Dickens' book of the same name, Benjy in THE SOUND AND THE FURY, or Dogberry in Shakespeare's own MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING. The rest of the main characters (Claudius, Gerturde, Polonius, Ophelia, Laertes, The Ghost, Horatio, Rosencrantz, Guildensern, The Player King, Fortinbras, The First Gravedigger, Barnardo, Reynaldo, and Osric) are ridiculous and annoying caricatures. HAMLET would have been a much better play had these characters been eliminated entirely. Their only contribution lies in the fustian and obfuscating nature of a horrid play. Take my advice: if you want some real entertainment, read Shakespeare's TITUS ANDRONICUS with the great intellect Aaron the Moor, the forerunner of Iago, or THE SPANISH TRAGEDY, containing the sublime Hieronimo, the forerunner of Jane Austen's Anne Elliot. You will find these plays far superior to the 'aesthetic failure,' as T.S. Eliot commented, otherwise known as HAMLET."
THIS ALMOST MAKES ME WANT TO QUOTE ELIOT'S ESSAY ON HAMLET IN FULL, BECAUSE OF ALL THE EGREGIOUSLY RETARDED LITERARY AND CULTURAL CRITICISM THE MAN WROTE, NOTHING, NOT EVEN THE ESSAY ON BLAKE, TRUMPS THAT. BUT THEN AGAIN IT'S STILL NOT AS DUMB AS PREFERRING TITUS ANDRONICUS TO HAMLET
"It's dull, monotinous, boring. The only way you can get anything out of it is if you over-analyse to such a level that you change the plot of the play completely! I apologise to all Hamlet fans out there, but i really dont see why this play demonstrates Shakespeare as a great British writer.
The soliloquies are perhaps why the play is most famous, and i had to write a 3000 word essay on how they connect Hamlet to the audience. But they don't. Apart from one, 'tis now the very witching time of night...' they are all bland and show nothing but Hamlet's idiocy, stupidity, and cowardice.
So there you go, read it if you will. Who knows, it may be a question in a pub quiz, but i just want to warn you that compared to a lot of Shakespeare's other work, this just isnt up to scratch. sorry xxx"
"Hamlet sucks. Like really shakespeare? You cant just talk like a normal person...?"
"The play Hamlet sucks cock."
"In my opinion all of Shakespeare's writings are long winded, drawn out words with no possibility of ever coming close to being remotly interesting. Hamlet was actually one of the most terribly boring, predictable, useless book ever written. The plot had no vital juices. The charachters were devoid of all emotion and energy. Even more devastating to the book is how it all ended. I actually got to say once Hamlet,Gertrude, and Claudius died I was leaping with joy, it was impossible to contain my excitment. Why? Because it meant that if every one is dead, well, IT IS FINALLY OVER! Finally, this book not only is long, boring, and an embaressment to the whole romantic time period. It has no long lasting effect on anyone. So, what I'm trying to say is that any poor, unfortunate soul that has to read this book will never even understand let alone remember what actually went on through the course of the play."
"Why do we have to analyze all of Hamlet's problems? We have our own problems to take care of!"
"Be or not be , thats the question - Hamlet SUCKS"
"im so tired of hamlet and ophelias stupid ass just kill the fucking uncle so i wont have to read this book no more"
"Seriously, if it's Shakespeare you want, go buy a different play than this."
"All and all this play is atrocious. Though it is acclaimed as the greatest work of drama ever, it is hardly that. People who say such things, have absolutely no credibility. Hamlet's only purpose is to confuse the reader. Any intelligent person can see through his character and realize that he is little more than a feeble mind with a large vocabulary. He is almost the mirror image of Lennie in OF MICE AND MEN, Barnaby Rudge in the Dickens' book of the same name, Benjy in THE SOUND AND THE FURY, or Dogberry in Shakespeare's own MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING. The rest of the main characters (Claudius, Gerturde, Polonius, Ophelia, Laertes, The Ghost, Horatio, Rosencrantz, Guildensern, The Player King, Fortinbras, The First Gravedigger, Barnardo, Reynaldo, and Osric) are ridiculous and annoying caricatures. HAMLET would have been a much better play had these characters been eliminated entirely. Their only contribution lies in the fustian and obfuscating nature of a horrid play. Take my advice: if you want some real entertainment, read Shakespeare's TITUS ANDRONICUS with the great intellect Aaron the Moor, the forerunner of Iago, or THE SPANISH TRAGEDY, containing the sublime Hieronimo, the forerunner of Jane Austen's Anne Elliot. You will find these plays far superior to the 'aesthetic failure,' as T.S. Eliot commented, otherwise known as HAMLET."
THIS ALMOST MAKES ME WANT TO QUOTE ELIOT'S ESSAY ON HAMLET IN FULL, BECAUSE OF ALL THE EGREGIOUSLY RETARDED LITERARY AND CULTURAL CRITICISM THE MAN WROTE, NOTHING, NOT EVEN THE ESSAY ON BLAKE, TRUMPS THAT. BUT THEN AGAIN IT'S STILL NOT AS DUMB AS PREFERRING TITUS ANDRONICUS TO HAMLET
"It's dull, monotinous, boring. The only way you can get anything out of it is if you over-analyse to such a level that you change the plot of the play completely! I apologise to all Hamlet fans out there, but i really dont see why this play demonstrates Shakespeare as a great British writer.
The soliloquies are perhaps why the play is most famous, and i had to write a 3000 word essay on how they connect Hamlet to the audience. But they don't. Apart from one, 'tis now the very witching time of night...' they are all bland and show nothing but Hamlet's idiocy, stupidity, and cowardice.
So there you go, read it if you will. Who knows, it may be a question in a pub quiz, but i just want to warn you that compared to a lot of Shakespeare's other work, this just isnt up to scratch. sorry xxx"
"Hamlet sucks. Like really shakespeare? You cant just talk like a normal person...?"
"The play Hamlet sucks cock."
"In my opinion all of Shakespeare's writings are long winded, drawn out words with no possibility of ever coming close to being remotly interesting. Hamlet was actually one of the most terribly boring, predictable, useless book ever written. The plot had no vital juices. The charachters were devoid of all emotion and energy. Even more devastating to the book is how it all ended. I actually got to say once Hamlet,Gertrude, and Claudius died I was leaping with joy, it was impossible to contain my excitment. Why? Because it meant that if every one is dead, well, IT IS FINALLY OVER! Finally, this book not only is long, boring, and an embaressment to the whole romantic time period. It has no long lasting effect on anyone. So, what I'm trying to say is that any poor, unfortunate soul that has to read this book will never even understand let alone remember what actually went on through the course of the play."
"Why do we have to analyze all of Hamlet's problems? We have our own problems to take care of!"
"Be or not be , thats the question - Hamlet SUCKS"
"im so tired of hamlet and ophelias stupid ass just kill the fucking uncle so i wont have to read this book no more"
"Seriously, if it's Shakespeare you want, go buy a different play than this."
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Shakespeare - Hamlet II
"Two words...
Over. Rated.
Put them together and you've got my feelings on what is supposedly the greatest work of Western Literature."
"Well, for starters, I don't consider this his greatest work. Yes, it is incredible writing and one can not servive in the literary world without knowing this play. However, I hate Hamlet. Not just the play, the man himself. He's so whinny and wishy washy. Everything he does boils down to one thing... He is avoiding avenging his father's death. He is to much of a pansy to just kill his father's killer and just be done with the whole thing.
Am I the only one that wants to slap him during his 'To be or Not to be' speach?"
"Not a fan of ole Willie! Movie version: yes! Reading the book: No!"
"This one is no except for me. It just didn't descripe things like a novel does."
"If Shakespeare were alive today he would be writing soap operas."
"The world would be a prison if everyday dialogues were as lengthy and florid as these in 'Hamlet'."
"It's still just as fun to read as it is to stare at a blank wall for a few hours.
I didn't see the point. I'm just happy the way he taught it wasn't filled with 'symbolism' and other shit. I don't believe in any of that. They wrote the book to entertain, not to hide secret messages."
"I feel asleep, it was so boring!
This book is very boring and doesn't say much for the man who wrote it! Ofcourse Willy is acclaimed as the best writer of all time, but this is only because of British Media hyping the man, after 400 years."
"cheap cop-out ending."
"I'd rather watch Mel Gibson than read Shakespeare anyday"
"I really dont get it.Why is he famous?"
"To be a pussy or not to be a pussy..."
"There is really no point and it's really long."
"This has to be one of the worst plays ever written, Shakespeare or no Shakespeare. While the Bard was the master of English drama, he really slipped up here. The plot makes no sense, the characters motivations are contrived, and the jokes fall flat. I have read this play hundreds of times, seen umpteen productions and films, and am astonished at the plaudits universally accorded to it. The modern English translation by Daniel Nystedt, however, corrects many of these flaws (by eliminating the ghost and such unneccesary characters as Claudius, etc.) and overall is much more worthwhile."
"Some parts were creepy. I was literally creeping out when Hamlet started making out with his mom. Of course I realized that that was hundreds of years ago and maybe back then that was OK. This story provded us with a look at what literature used to be. I think this a good story to read in class."
Over. Rated.
Put them together and you've got my feelings on what is supposedly the greatest work of Western Literature."
"Well, for starters, I don't consider this his greatest work. Yes, it is incredible writing and one can not servive in the literary world without knowing this play. However, I hate Hamlet. Not just the play, the man himself. He's so whinny and wishy washy. Everything he does boils down to one thing... He is avoiding avenging his father's death. He is to much of a pansy to just kill his father's killer and just be done with the whole thing.
Am I the only one that wants to slap him during his 'To be or Not to be' speach?"
"Not a fan of ole Willie! Movie version: yes! Reading the book: No!"
"This one is no except for me. It just didn't descripe things like a novel does."
"If Shakespeare were alive today he would be writing soap operas."
"The world would be a prison if everyday dialogues were as lengthy and florid as these in 'Hamlet'."
"It's still just as fun to read as it is to stare at a blank wall for a few hours.
I didn't see the point. I'm just happy the way he taught it wasn't filled with 'symbolism' and other shit. I don't believe in any of that. They wrote the book to entertain, not to hide secret messages."
"I feel asleep, it was so boring!
This book is very boring and doesn't say much for the man who wrote it! Ofcourse Willy is acclaimed as the best writer of all time, but this is only because of British Media hyping the man, after 400 years."
"cheap cop-out ending."
"I'd rather watch Mel Gibson than read Shakespeare anyday"
"I really dont get it.Why is he famous?"
"To be a pussy or not to be a pussy..."
"There is really no point and it's really long."
"This has to be one of the worst plays ever written, Shakespeare or no Shakespeare. While the Bard was the master of English drama, he really slipped up here. The plot makes no sense, the characters motivations are contrived, and the jokes fall flat. I have read this play hundreds of times, seen umpteen productions and films, and am astonished at the plaudits universally accorded to it. The modern English translation by Daniel Nystedt, however, corrects many of these flaws (by eliminating the ghost and such unneccesary characters as Claudius, etc.) and overall is much more worthwhile."
"Some parts were creepy. I was literally creeping out when Hamlet started making out with his mom. Of course I realized that that was hundreds of years ago and maybe back then that was OK. This story provded us with a look at what literature used to be. I think this a good story to read in class."
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Shakespeare - Hamlet
"Hamlet is one of Shakespeare’s worst plays."
"Kill me now. I'd pretend to act interested but I won't even try."
"Puleeze!!!"
"not a better play of his."
"Can you say dumb and boring?!!!!"
"I hate hamlet. The sniveling little brat prince should have just off'd himself in the first act and saved us all the hassle of suffering through his inability to cope with his father's death."
WHAT A LOSER, CAN'T COPE WITH HIS FATHER'S DEATH
"some of the most epically inspiring quotes are found in this single piece of writing, some of which being, 'To be or not to be...' 'There is method to his madness,' and my personal favorite, 'This above all: To thine own self be true.'"
"DONT LIKE IT BECAUSE I WISH HE WOULD SPEEK NORMAL ENGLISH"
"INSECT what are the school thinking?"
"Would've been a good book if the play was revolved around Laertes instead of Hamlet. It would've been based on the same timeline but just from Laertes's point of view. Think about it."
"The plain truth is that there are plenty of non-fictional people who have dealt with more difficult things with much less complaining."
"I also detest his motives for killing Claudius. Is he concerned that his uncle is evil and needs to be stopped? No, all Hamlet cares about is revenge for his father's death."
"It mainly rewards it's dignified and true readers who push through and read it in it's entirety ... I'm a fan of atmosphere in books and setting, and the setting in Italy and Greece and Eastern Europe really intrigues me. I love knowing more about those places and their history. So this is a nice way to get a sweet taste of that"
"It sucked because I couldn't identify with Hamlet. I didn't identify with him when he was telling his mother who she cannot have sex with, and I didn't identify with him when he was ruining Ophelia's life, and I don't identify with him now ... I will refer to this play as Hamlet: the Suck-fest. Why is it a classic (and why does Hamlet hate women)?"
"I did not care for the fact that two men see the ghost in the beginning but are never seen or heard from again."
"To be honest, I find Shakespeare too difficult to wade through. If I must be subjected to the bard, I prefer to see it live, or even in a movie. I find I'm able to understand it more. Or I could watch the Lion King, and then I get to sing along! ;)"
"I don't know what Willy Shakespeare was thinking when he wrote this one play tragedy, but I thought this sure was boring! Hamlet does too much talking and not enough stuff. He needs to shape up and show them who's boss. Maybe Shakespeare fans of Hamlet should take a rest on the book tragedy! Ha ha!"
"Kill me now. I'd pretend to act interested but I won't even try."
"Puleeze!!!"
"not a better play of his."
"Can you say dumb and boring?!!!!"
"I hate hamlet. The sniveling little brat prince should have just off'd himself in the first act and saved us all the hassle of suffering through his inability to cope with his father's death."
WHAT A LOSER, CAN'T COPE WITH HIS FATHER'S DEATH
"some of the most epically inspiring quotes are found in this single piece of writing, some of which being, 'To be or not to be...' 'There is method to his madness,' and my personal favorite, 'This above all: To thine own self be true.'"
"DONT LIKE IT BECAUSE I WISH HE WOULD SPEEK NORMAL ENGLISH"
"INSECT what are the school thinking?"
"Would've been a good book if the play was revolved around Laertes instead of Hamlet. It would've been based on the same timeline but just from Laertes's point of view. Think about it."
"The plain truth is that there are plenty of non-fictional people who have dealt with more difficult things with much less complaining."
"I also detest his motives for killing Claudius. Is he concerned that his uncle is evil and needs to be stopped? No, all Hamlet cares about is revenge for his father's death."
"It mainly rewards it's dignified and true readers who push through and read it in it's entirety ... I'm a fan of atmosphere in books and setting, and the setting in Italy and Greece and Eastern Europe really intrigues me. I love knowing more about those places and their history. So this is a nice way to get a sweet taste of that"
"It sucked because I couldn't identify with Hamlet. I didn't identify with him when he was telling his mother who she cannot have sex with, and I didn't identify with him when he was ruining Ophelia's life, and I don't identify with him now ... I will refer to this play as Hamlet: the Suck-fest. Why is it a classic (and why does Hamlet hate women)?"
"I did not care for the fact that two men see the ghost in the beginning but are never seen or heard from again."
"To be honest, I find Shakespeare too difficult to wade through. If I must be subjected to the bard, I prefer to see it live, or even in a movie. I find I'm able to understand it more. Or I could watch the Lion King, and then I get to sing along! ;)"
"I don't know what Willy Shakespeare was thinking when he wrote this one play tragedy, but I thought this sure was boring! Hamlet does too much talking and not enough stuff. He needs to shape up and show them who's boss. Maybe Shakespeare fans of Hamlet should take a rest on the book tragedy! Ha ha!"
Monday, January 16, 2012
Shakespeare - The Merchant of Venice
"Shakespeare's Worst Play
This is one of the worst plays ever published. I thought Shakespeare was a fool after reading this complely pointless play. Do not wase your money on this book because it is completly worthless. A total waste of time to even read any of this play."
"the worst book
hit had the worst plot and it was poorly written and it should not even be published"
"2 words. I. Love. Willy."
"This was one of the most complicated books that I have ever read in my life. This book is written in old style english when people talked weird."
"the excerpts of Mein Kampf I read were less enraging than this."
"The characters in this play are some of the worst I have ever read. Almost all of them lack intelligence and depth. I mean, the part with the caskets, come on. Absolutely pathetic."
"I'm just really annoyed that the characters (I assume) Shakespeare wanted us to like are so arrogant and entitled and intolerant."
"You are complaining about racial humor? People still tell jokes about Jewish people today, among many other things, and I defy you to claim that you have never laughed at a racist/offensive joke in your life."
"Well done on this play, Billy. Very well done. It actually contained some very relatable characters and good commentary on Jewish/Christian relations of the period. Portia is my girl. Love her. (I say this because generally, Shakespeare’s plays are usually overly doted upon and contain nothing other than some puns, made up words, and psychopaths.)"
"although we are fans of Shakespeare and his other works, we have found this play to be below usual Shakespeare standards. Billy Shakes did a poor job of combining three unoriginal story lines the result being something may have served as shallow entertainment for Elizabethian audience of peasants, but compared to other works it fails in containing any moral or intellectual value. Try MacBeth or even Romeo and Juliet.... We seriously believe, even though it has been emphasized that Billy has mocked the place of women in society though they seem triumphant. We resent the fact the switching of the roles, which looks as if Billy were jesting them. As stated before, other plays of Billy Shakes were better and we recommend those."
"I remember back in year 10 I think it was the drama teacher came into our english class and started going on about the nundertones of shakespeare's work, how emotions and feelings are universal and so on. I don't remember it that well because I didn't give a toss about Shakespeare, and that remains the same today. That same year we had to read the Merchant of Venice. The ending has always pissed me off it just feels like such a cop out. I don't exaclty know when this term is used, but I am pretty sure the ending suffers from Deus Ex Machina.
So no, I am not a fan of dear William's work. He can BURN IN HELL!!!!!"
This is one of the worst plays ever published. I thought Shakespeare was a fool after reading this complely pointless play. Do not wase your money on this book because it is completly worthless. A total waste of time to even read any of this play."
"the worst book
hit had the worst plot and it was poorly written and it should not even be published"
"2 words. I. Love. Willy."
"This was one of the most complicated books that I have ever read in my life. This book is written in old style english when people talked weird."
"the excerpts of Mein Kampf I read were less enraging than this."
"The characters in this play are some of the worst I have ever read. Almost all of them lack intelligence and depth. I mean, the part with the caskets, come on. Absolutely pathetic."
"I'm just really annoyed that the characters (I assume) Shakespeare wanted us to like are so arrogant and entitled and intolerant."
"You are complaining about racial humor? People still tell jokes about Jewish people today, among many other things, and I defy you to claim that you have never laughed at a racist/offensive joke in your life."
"Well done on this play, Billy. Very well done. It actually contained some very relatable characters and good commentary on Jewish/Christian relations of the period. Portia is my girl. Love her. (I say this because generally, Shakespeare’s plays are usually overly doted upon and contain nothing other than some puns, made up words, and psychopaths.)"
"although we are fans of Shakespeare and his other works, we have found this play to be below usual Shakespeare standards. Billy Shakes did a poor job of combining three unoriginal story lines the result being something may have served as shallow entertainment for Elizabethian audience of peasants, but compared to other works it fails in containing any moral or intellectual value. Try MacBeth or even Romeo and Juliet.... We seriously believe, even though it has been emphasized that Billy has mocked the place of women in society though they seem triumphant. We resent the fact the switching of the roles, which looks as if Billy were jesting them. As stated before, other plays of Billy Shakes were better and we recommend those."
"I remember back in year 10 I think it was the drama teacher came into our english class and started going on about the nundertones of shakespeare's work, how emotions and feelings are universal and so on. I don't remember it that well because I didn't give a toss about Shakespeare, and that remains the same today. That same year we had to read the Merchant of Venice. The ending has always pissed me off it just feels like such a cop out. I don't exaclty know when this term is used, but I am pretty sure the ending suffers from Deus Ex Machina.
So no, I am not a fan of dear William's work. He can BURN IN HELL!!!!!"
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Shakespeare - Antony and Cleopatra
"Ugh. Boring. Slow. Maybe it's really cool to watch, but it's really tedious to read fifteen scenes in Acts III and IV, especially when we know (from history) how it ends ... Shakespeare seemed like he was trying too hard to be accurate"
"As much as Shakespeare is an acclaimed writer, I found little to enjoy about this play mostly because I found Cleopatra and Antony contrived and ridiculously without common sense for the historical icons they are."
"Am asked what I think of this play. Slightly feverish, eating oatmeal, I mutter: 'I thought they were all stupid.'"
"The only thing that I learned By reading Antony and Cleopatra,was that History should be ashamed of having recorded the lives of these two people!"
"HBO's 'Rome' tells the story much, much better in Season 2. So, for that matter, does Colleen McCulloch (author of 'The Thorn Birds') in her novel by the same title. Kind of feel like I wasted my time with this one."
YEAH, YOU REALLY DID
"As much as Shakespeare is an acclaimed writer, I found little to enjoy about this play mostly because I found Cleopatra and Antony contrived and ridiculously without common sense for the historical icons they are."
"Am asked what I think of this play. Slightly feverish, eating oatmeal, I mutter: 'I thought they were all stupid.'"
"The only thing that I learned By reading Antony and Cleopatra,was that History should be ashamed of having recorded the lives of these two people!"
"HBO's 'Rome' tells the story much, much better in Season 2. So, for that matter, does Colleen McCulloch (author of 'The Thorn Birds') in her novel by the same title. Kind of feel like I wasted my time with this one."
YEAH, YOU REALLY DID
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