Author: duane

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Which Country Loves Shakespeare Most?

~ duane ~ 11 Comments
It’s often pointed out that the works of Mr. Shakespeare have been translated into basically every language (including Esperanto and Klingon). I actually own an Esperanto Hamlet.

I’m wondering about something different. In what country/region, not counting the United States and Great Britain, is Shakespeare most beloved? That is, in what non-English language do they speak of him the most? I’m not asking about translations, since after all you translate him once and you’re essentially done. I mean how much stuff is written *about* Shakespeare in foreign languages? Could I for instance find the equivalent of a “No Fear Shakespeare” or a “Lamb’s Tales” in Chinese or Arabic? I’m not even sure how I’d go about finding something like that out.

Update : A strong vote for Germany!  I had no idea there were so many resources.

Romeo and Thisbe? Pyramus and Juliet?

~ duane ~ 2 Comments
Anybody that knows Midsummer Night’s Dream will recognize the parallels between the tragedy of Pyramus and Thisbe, as portrayed by Bottom and his fellow mechanicals, and Romeo and Juliet.  Two lovers who can not be together because their families hate each other. A misunderstanding about the death of one leads to the real death of the other, which in turn leads to the real death of both of them.  The families realize the error of their ways and the wall that parted them comes down, happily ever after.  There’s even a prologue to explain the story ahead of time.

I’ve always assumed that there was some sort of connection, but never knew what it was.  Apparently neither did Mr. Asimov
(who I am now trying read for research into my wedding project), who speculates that either Shakespeare was working on the comedy version and decided to try his hand at telling a more serious version … or that he’d written the serious version and now wanted to poke some fun at himself.  Once Mr. Asimov has answered a question (in this case as being unanswerable) I no longer have motivation to waste time trying to answer it myself :).

But it does offer up a place for opinion.  What do you think the relationship is between the two plays, in Shakespeare’s mind?  Was he working on them both at the same time? Which came first, and fed the other? Or are they really independent and the overlap has more to do with the common source material he drew from, nothing more?

Personally I like to think that he did R&J first and then satirized himself in Dream. But I have no evidence to back that up one way or the other.

Shakespeare Geek's Fifth Anniversary

~ duane ~ 2 Comments
Hey, you know what tomorrow is?  The fifth anniversary of this site!  I knew it was coming sometime in June, but that certainly snuck up on me fast.  I wish I could say I had something special planned, but real life’s been getting hectic lately – a frickin tornado nearly hit my house this weekend – so it looks like the day’s going to come and go with more whimper than bang.

Ah well, I’m not going anywhere.  We’ll do something special for the 10 year 😉

Anybody want to see some ancient history?  Check the links to my original posts:

Ah, memories. 🙂

Closing the book on Master of Verona…for now?

~ duane ~ Leave a comment
With a mixture of sadness and relieve, David Blixt has posted Liberation, where he informs us that the publishing rights to his second Shakespeare novel  Voice of the Falconer have returned to him after a long and arduous journey.

Two years ago I reviewed Blixt’s original Shakespeare novel, The Master of Verona. Looking at it now, I’ll snip a bit that seems most relevant:

But I can say that I enjoyed this book, very much.  I have reviewed books that I felt were a chore, and looked at the end with relief that I could move on.  With this one I anxiously returned to my reading each morning and evening (train to work, don’cha know), honestly curious about how it would end.  As it seems set up for a sequel, I can honestly
say that I’d like to read the sequel.  The politics and the prophecy don’t mean much to me, but I can appreciate well developed characters and want to see how their lives turn out.

Well it’s a few years later, and we never did get that sequel.  Now we know why.  Well, sort of.  David confirms for us that it’s not coming (at least, not any time soon), but even he really has no idea why the publisher just sat on it and never moved forward.  “Falconer will go into a drawer,” he tells us, to “remain my secret for years to come.”

Mr. Blixt’s next project (not counting the Michigan Shakespeare Festival) is apparently In The Shadow of Colossus, a “Roman novel.”  Since I know he’s a regular reader and contributor, maybe this post will catch his eye and he’ll give us a more detailed update on what to expect (and when)?

Mercutio Drew First! (Shakespeare Geek Merchandise has arrived.)

~ duane ~ 3 Comments
Mercutio Drew First! Romeo & Juliet Light T-Shirt shirtMercutio Drew First! Romeo & Juliet Light T-Shirt
by shakespearegeek

I put out a message on Twitter yesterday (so, sorry if you’re seeing this twice Twitter followers :)) that I was “Wearing my ‘Mercutio drew first’ t-shirt and looking for StarWars/Shakespeare geeks who get the joke.”  The response was quite overwhelming and I had a very large number of clicks through to the site.  I later wrote that “In the George Lucas Romeo+Juliet, rumor has it Tybalt draws first.”  That got an even better reaction 🙂

Since not everybody follows Twitter I figured I’d post here as well.  There really is such a t-shirt, I really did make it, and I really do have one.  Comes in a variety of colors (both dark-on-light as well as the reverse) and styles (men/women/kids).  Money made on sales goes back into supporting the site, buying stuff for reviews and giveaways, that sort of thing.  (There are other ideas on the store as well, bumper stickers and the like, but this particular one seems to be the hit.)

When I put up a poll a few weeks back about the methods that people would find least offensive for monetarily supporting the site, “merchandise” and “tip jar” were the winners.  So I am doing my best to fill a demand I was led to believe existed.  Was I right?

Mercutio Drew First! Romeo & Juliet Light T-Shirt
by shakespearegeek

P.S. – If you do buy one, could at least one person drop me a note and tell me so? I’ve newly created this storefront and quite frankly I’m not sure I’ve got it all wired up properly.  So actual independent proof of “I bought product X at time Y” would go a long way toward me knowing that I’m actually getting credit when my stuff sells.  Thanks!