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juushikaTitle: The Merry Wives of Windsor
Author: William Shakespeare
Published: 1602
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 100
Total Page Count: 263,435
Text Number: 853
Read Because: co-read with my mother
Review: Honestly, I didn't think this was that bad—which may say more about my general expectations from the comedies than it does about this play in particular. Falstaff certainly doesn't sparkle here as he does elsewhere; Hal provides necessary contrast, in tone, in scope, and Falstaff here never rouses the competing emotions, the sympathetic distaste, that makes him so memorable in Henry IV. Here, he is only a laughingstock. The images of laundrybasket, etc. are memorable ones; I'm also engaged by the final tableau, and how the faux-fairies mirror the transformative function of forests in many of Shakespeare plays. Also interesting to me is the women—it's not an unproblematic approach to gender and relationships, but their agency and control is still a breath of fresh air. But the connective tissue, the individual lines and characters, are unremarkable.
Title: Much Ado About Nothing
Author: William Shakespeare
Published: 1600
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 100
Total Page Count: 263,535
Text Number: 854
Read Because: co-read with my mother
Review: I have less luck with the comedies, so I'm surprised by how well I enjoyed this. Beatrice and Benedick absolutely steal the show; their repartee is vivid and sharp, and the loving mockery at their change of heart is charming. I'm less invested in the Hero plot, but the interplay between the two plots enables the reiteration and alteration that I love so much in Shakespeare's thematic focus; it's playful and complex. This lacks the atmosphere that marks my more favorite of Shakespeare's plays, and I don't know yet if this makes my best of list, but what a pleasure to finally read and I would love to see it performed.
Title: The Night Watch
Author: Sarah Waters
Narrator: Juanita McMahon
Published: Recorded Books, 2006
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 500
Total Page Count: 264,035
Text Number: 855
Read Because: fan of the author, audiobook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: A story of the intertwined lives of four individuals in London during World War II. Had I realized ahead of time that this were the setting, I wouldn't have read it; it's a historical period I prefer to avoid in fiction. That reservation made it difficult for me to immerse myself, which is something that Waters's work requires. (Audio was also a mistake. The narration is strong, but it's just so long.) This is a melodrama, heightened and lengthened; the living diversity of the queer characters adds depth to the tone, and Waters has a phenomenal grasp of lengthy, intimate scenes, both mundane and dramatic, which stylize the human condition. But I found this laborious. The reverse chronological narration is a gimmick—an intentional, even lampshaded one; it's occasionally effective, but it made me wish for something like the suspense in The Handmaiden. And so: a fine book but the wrong reader; I found it fairly unremarkable.
Author: William Shakespeare
Published: 1602
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 100
Total Page Count: 263,435
Text Number: 853
Read Because: co-read with my mother
Review: Honestly, I didn't think this was that bad—which may say more about my general expectations from the comedies than it does about this play in particular. Falstaff certainly doesn't sparkle here as he does elsewhere; Hal provides necessary contrast, in tone, in scope, and Falstaff here never rouses the competing emotions, the sympathetic distaste, that makes him so memorable in Henry IV. Here, he is only a laughingstock. The images of laundrybasket, etc. are memorable ones; I'm also engaged by the final tableau, and how the faux-fairies mirror the transformative function of forests in many of Shakespeare plays. Also interesting to me is the women—it's not an unproblematic approach to gender and relationships, but their agency and control is still a breath of fresh air. But the connective tissue, the individual lines and characters, are unremarkable.
Title: Much Ado About Nothing
Author: William Shakespeare
Published: 1600
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 100
Total Page Count: 263,535
Text Number: 854
Read Because: co-read with my mother
Review: I have less luck with the comedies, so I'm surprised by how well I enjoyed this. Beatrice and Benedick absolutely steal the show; their repartee is vivid and sharp, and the loving mockery at their change of heart is charming. I'm less invested in the Hero plot, but the interplay between the two plots enables the reiteration and alteration that I love so much in Shakespeare's thematic focus; it's playful and complex. This lacks the atmosphere that marks my more favorite of Shakespeare's plays, and I don't know yet if this makes my best of list, but what a pleasure to finally read and I would love to see it performed.
Title: The Night Watch
Author: Sarah Waters
Narrator: Juanita McMahon
Published: Recorded Books, 2006
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 500
Total Page Count: 264,035
Text Number: 855
Read Because: fan of the author, audiobook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: A story of the intertwined lives of four individuals in London during World War II. Had I realized ahead of time that this were the setting, I wouldn't have read it; it's a historical period I prefer to avoid in fiction. That reservation made it difficult for me to immerse myself, which is something that Waters's work requires. (Audio was also a mistake. The narration is strong, but it's just so long.) This is a melodrama, heightened and lengthened; the living diversity of the queer characters adds depth to the tone, and Waters has a phenomenal grasp of lengthy, intimate scenes, both mundane and dramatic, which stylize the human condition. But I found this laborious. The reverse chronological narration is a gimmick—an intentional, even lampshaded one; it's occasionally effective, but it made me wish for something like the suspense in The Handmaiden. And so: a fine book but the wrong reader; I found it fairly unremarkable.
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Date: 2018-07-21 11:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-07-23 02:58 pm (UTC)