The Shakespeare Project: King Lear is making me broody (Part 1)

I've been reading and watching King Lear tonight, and I've decided two things.

1) Watching someone go mad really isn't a lot of fun, and
2) The world would be a much easier place if people would just communicate with each other.  And I include myself in that admonishment!

Also, a few years ago I listened to the audiobook of a Christopher Moore story, Fool, which is his comedic take on Lear, told from the perspective of his fool, Pocket.  That is by far one of the best audiobooks I've ever listened to.  The story was hilarious, the narrator was perfect, and the whole thing made me laugh until my belly hurt.  I much prefer it to the actual Lear.  But I'm reading and watching it, nonetheless.

If watching someone's descent into madness is this difficult, I wonder what it was like to write it.  Shakespeare wrote it nearly a decade after his son Hamnet died, and some of it seems to speak so clearly to grief, to questioning the purpose of it all, questioning faith, etc.  I wonder how much he got caught up in the stories he told, or whether he could look down on it all, like an omniscient narrator, and just tell the story without being caught up in the emotions.

Anyway, I've decided that Lear is a two-day project, at least.  It's disconcerting and depressing being around that for more than an hour or two at a time - how did the crowd at the Globe manage without all leaving in a mass depression.  Maybe the pubs around Southwark made extra money after Lear showings because everyone needed to get seriously drunk.  Fortunately I have a three day rental on Amazon Instant Video.  I need something upbeat next.  The Taming of the Shrew, maybe.  Lear has made me broody.

Project Shakespeare: Much Ado About Nothing

You know where I get lots of Deep Thoughts?  On long drives through the Central Valley coming home from my office in San Mateo.  On such a recent drive I was listening to Will in the World: How Shakespeare became Shakespeare by Stephen Greenblatt.  I consider myself pretty literate.  I read lots of books, both purely fun and also the challenging ones.  I use my library card a lot.  My kindle overfloweth.

But I haven't read any Shakespeare since college.

Seriously.  And that was in the 90's.

I feel shamed.  I have read books about Shakespeare, I read histories, I know quotes, but I haven't read any actual complete Shakespeare plays since around 1997.  The first Melrose Place was still on tv.

This train of thought winds up reminding me how very stuck I have become in life.  You know how when you're a teenager you're trying all kinds of new stuff, trying to figure out what you like and who you are?  You listen to Miles Davis just because, to see if you're a Jazz Person.  Somewhere along the line I made up my mind about the Kind of Person I am; what kind of music I like, what kinds of books I read, what kind of stuff I'm into - and I rarely deviate from that steady diet.

So it's time to broaden my horizons. 

I decided to start by reading Shakespeare.  Each week I'm going to immerse myself in one play.   After googling "what order should Shakespeare be read in," and seeing the passionate discussions, I decided there was no right answer, and randomly chose Much Ado About Nothing this week, because I heard that the movie with Kenneth Branagh was really good. 

After reading these awesome Shakespeare reading tips, I decided to start out this week by watching the movie, so I get a feel of what the story is about.  I have the play itself downloaded on my kindle, and the audiobook marked on Librivox.  I'm thinking that this is a good start to get to know this play.

I watched the movie today and am going to start listening while reading along tonight.  I think, after watching the movie, I'm going to enjoy this play a lot.  It seems quite clever.  Something I remembered from reading Shakespeare before is that, sadly, it takes me until practically the play is over until I start to become comfortable with the language.  So I think that having watched the movie to start with will serve me well.  

One thing I need to say to start with - after watching the movie, and having read a bit of the play, I'm really not a fan of Claudio.  That guy can't be trusted.  He freaks out over everything.  He says he loves Hero, but at the first test (and the second) he gets all stroppy and publicly humiliates her.  If I were her, I'd have slapped him and not taken him back.  Other than my disdain for Claudio, I'm a fan so far.

Much Ado About Nothing Links:
Wikipedia article with overview: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Much_Ado_About_Nothing
Librivox audiobook: http://librivox.org/much-ado-about-nothing-by-william-shakespeare/
Info about the 1993 film: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Much_Ado_About_Nothing_(1993_film)
Spark Notes studyguide: http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/muchado/
Cliff's Notes: http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/literature/much-ado-about-nothing/play-summary.html