Volpone
Zombie Hunter
OK. I've had a few reading projects. I'm working my way through the Holy Bible. And I'm reading "The General" by Forster. I'm also reading "The Complete Works of Shakespeare." You know, in Olden Dayes, when there were malls? And malls had bookstores? Waldenbooks and B. Dalton's? They'd have the big table at the front of the store where they'd have a bunch of open source material that they could print up cheap and sell for a nice profit. When I was 19, 20, I got a copy of "The Complete Works of Shakespeare." For years it has sat in my bookshelf and I'd read about as much of it as I had of the Bible. I did make it up through "Richard III" once before setting it aside for a decade or two. Since I've been decluttering and had some time, I decided to tackle it again.
I took a page from making it through the Bible: people say the New Testament is easier to read, so start there. I figured Shakespeare would get better the more he wrote, so I started at the back. Nope. You know how "1984" by Van Halen or "The Joshua Tree" by U2 is better than their later stuff? Shakespeare wrote some REALLY bad plays towards the end. For that matter he wrote some really bad plays in the beginning. I kind of expect he has his share of stinkers throughout the body of work.
One, weird, annoying thing: Sometimes the characters will start speaking in rhyme. I mean, that's what we think of when we maybe think Shakespeare, but no. Most of the time the dialog doesn't rhyme. But sometimes it does. It will just be going along and then BAM! 2-3 pages of the dialogue will rhyme. Then it goes back to normal with no reason to it.
And then there's the plots. You know how you need to suspend disbelief for some movies? Boy, howdy. I'm reading "A Comedy of Errors" right now. I saw it performed once and I don't remember it being this hokey but...here's the plot: There's a wealthy merchant. While he and his wife were traveling, she gave birth to identical twin brothers. Inexplicably they decided to name them the same thing. Antipholes or something, but we'll just say Daryl. Daryl and Daryl. Meanwhile, a poor woman gave birth to identical twins at the same time. And she decided to name them both Dromio. Say Larry. So the merchant gets the bright idea to hire Larry and Larry to be servants for Daryl and Daryl. Things are great. BUT! On the way home, there's a shipwreck. So Dad and Larry and Daryl make it home eventually, but Mom and Larry and Daryl wind up being rescued by someone else. It never occurs to them to go home, they just grow up in the other city. Meanwhile, Dad and Larry and Daryl all set out in search for Larry and Daryl. Dad gets arrested and just gets set aside for a bit to the big conclusion. But Larry and Daryl wind up in the city Larry and Daryl live in. So Daryl sends Larry back to the hotel with a big sum of money. So Daryl stands around for a bit, complaining about how impossible a task it will ever be to find his brother Daryl. Meanwhile, Larry (who happens to be dressed EXACTLY like Larry) runs into Daryl. Daryl wants to know if the money is safe and Larry says he doesn't know what Daryl is talking about but that Daryl's wife sent Larry to bring him back because he's late for dinner. This sort of thing happens all the time. Larry's wife and her sister run into Larry at the market and drag him and Daryl home for dinner. Meanwhile Larry and Daryl come home for dinner but Daryl won't let them in. They're outside the door so obviously they can't see each other. And even though they look exactly the same, no one recognizes each other's voices or thinks to open the door or look out a window. Larry and Larry, in addition to having the same name, wearing the same clothes, and looking the same, have identical birthmarks. You get the idea. Oh, and Larry doesn't love Larry's wife. Larry loves Larry's wife's sister.
I mean, he has to set it up this way for the whacky hi-jinks, but it is just too much of a suspension of disbelief. The fact that not one but two parents would give their twins the same name, that two sets of twins would be born at the same place at the same time, that the twins would be identical down to birthmarks, that they'd be wearing identical clothing--in spite of living their entire lives in different cities. And then, the whole purpose that the one set of twins is traveling for is to find their brothers. But when suddenly everyone recognizes them and knows their names they're just like "Huh. This is weird. Everyone in this town must be witches," not "OMG! We must have finally found our long lost twin brothers! This must be where they live!"
I took a page from making it through the Bible: people say the New Testament is easier to read, so start there. I figured Shakespeare would get better the more he wrote, so I started at the back. Nope. You know how "1984" by Van Halen or "The Joshua Tree" by U2 is better than their later stuff? Shakespeare wrote some REALLY bad plays towards the end. For that matter he wrote some really bad plays in the beginning. I kind of expect he has his share of stinkers throughout the body of work.
One, weird, annoying thing: Sometimes the characters will start speaking in rhyme. I mean, that's what we think of when we maybe think Shakespeare, but no. Most of the time the dialog doesn't rhyme. But sometimes it does. It will just be going along and then BAM! 2-3 pages of the dialogue will rhyme. Then it goes back to normal with no reason to it.
And then there's the plots. You know how you need to suspend disbelief for some movies? Boy, howdy. I'm reading "A Comedy of Errors" right now. I saw it performed once and I don't remember it being this hokey but...here's the plot: There's a wealthy merchant. While he and his wife were traveling, she gave birth to identical twin brothers. Inexplicably they decided to name them the same thing. Antipholes or something, but we'll just say Daryl. Daryl and Daryl. Meanwhile, a poor woman gave birth to identical twins at the same time. And she decided to name them both Dromio. Say Larry. So the merchant gets the bright idea to hire Larry and Larry to be servants for Daryl and Daryl. Things are great. BUT! On the way home, there's a shipwreck. So Dad and Larry and Daryl make it home eventually, but Mom and Larry and Daryl wind up being rescued by someone else. It never occurs to them to go home, they just grow up in the other city. Meanwhile, Dad and Larry and Daryl all set out in search for Larry and Daryl. Dad gets arrested and just gets set aside for a bit to the big conclusion. But Larry and Daryl wind up in the city Larry and Daryl live in. So Daryl sends Larry back to the hotel with a big sum of money. So Daryl stands around for a bit, complaining about how impossible a task it will ever be to find his brother Daryl. Meanwhile, Larry (who happens to be dressed EXACTLY like Larry) runs into Daryl. Daryl wants to know if the money is safe and Larry says he doesn't know what Daryl is talking about but that Daryl's wife sent Larry to bring him back because he's late for dinner. This sort of thing happens all the time. Larry's wife and her sister run into Larry at the market and drag him and Daryl home for dinner. Meanwhile Larry and Daryl come home for dinner but Daryl won't let them in. They're outside the door so obviously they can't see each other. And even though they look exactly the same, no one recognizes each other's voices or thinks to open the door or look out a window. Larry and Larry, in addition to having the same name, wearing the same clothes, and looking the same, have identical birthmarks. You get the idea. Oh, and Larry doesn't love Larry's wife. Larry loves Larry's wife's sister.
I mean, he has to set it up this way for the whacky hi-jinks, but it is just too much of a suspension of disbelief. The fact that not one but two parents would give their twins the same name, that two sets of twins would be born at the same place at the same time, that the twins would be identical down to birthmarks, that they'd be wearing identical clothing--in spite of living their entire lives in different cities. And then, the whole purpose that the one set of twins is traveling for is to find their brothers. But when suddenly everyone recognizes them and knows their names they're just like "Huh. This is weird. Everyone in this town must be witches," not "OMG! We must have finally found our long lost twin brothers! This must be where they live!"