autumn of books

Shakespeare it is we talk about now.

Why is he still one of the writers I recommend to read, no matter what you have read and what you use to read? Why is he one of those we need to read to understand ourself, our culture and language?

We know mostly Shakespeare these days from the movies which are made from the books and we know there are plays in the theatre. But a young generation may ask why follow an old guys stories?

You may be right but that fella is not something else and he is not just something commercial.

Yes, he was already famous in his lifetime. But he was good and smart and did not just write some plays to entertain.

You may now say it is only dramas you'll watch but that's not true. He also wrote a lot of comedy- kind of. Yes, it can be fun to read his books.

So what is the most famous book of him, as he did wrote quite a lot?

Seems the most popular is the book of "Romeo and Julia". Many take it just as a story of two families who fight each other and two people falling in a forbidden love (which has been covert by many). 

Mostly we have read the book in school and found it kind of boring, or painful, dull or could not even take it. 

Schools like to take this book as they believe it is the most easy book to understand, but that is not really true as you are mostly to understand the love play as a young man but not the bigger picture. Shakespeare was by no mean just writing a love story, a tragic one, but it was much more. The fight was the main story actually, but it was a synonym for a political situation home in England and the fight between class systems and believes.  Yet, the play takes part in Italy which was meant to be a trick to avoid to not be able to show the play back home. Thought people did quite understood the message.

But let's look on the other books like those around from 1606.

They show the mood of the time and those plays addressed very powerful the political situation and social upheavals. They reflected the fraught cultural moment. Shakespeare wanted to show a mirror and  the pressure which was to live with. He also shows the religious terror and the beginning of the modern time clashing with the old standards.

The dramas and also tragedies of "King Lear", "Macbeth" and "Antony and Cleopatra" have been written in this theme and they use for example dark element as witches, grimly regicide and the obvious mad minded man and also goth elements. 

But it is horror you can't stop reading as the language of Shakespeare is such as rhythmic and beautiful and you are astonished buy the amount of different words and words you never heard but you still understand the saying and writing and situation you are stuck with in the book. You can also see the comedy, the laughter and feel the cry and craziness. 

You may then remember the light of Shakespeare "Romeo and Julia" and how funny the play is or "A midsummer nights dream" fantasy and laughter. Yes, the comedy has a lighter language, but is in no way easier to understand. Just in the first moment you may think so. But all books have in common that the language is kind of a song you sing while reading. 

Shakespeare language is to the point, no waste and always rhythmic and has a melody you can't miss if you read it aloud, nor even in silence. 

Thought sadly these days kids have problems reading even "Romeo and "Julia". Which is truly a sad thing and something we should think about. It is not only that language has gone forward and changed in the way we use it and words have also changed, it is that the understanding of long sentences have been lost and I wonder how we will get young people to learn to understand the old books if they only can understand twitter long terms. Teachers should work hard I guess and in a way movies maybe can help to want to read the books again and talk about them, but can the movies show the meaning of the books? Will the new "Macbeth" in cinema stand this test or just be a spectacle? 

Thanks to the language actors still love to perform Shakespeare as it is a wonderful language to use, and it is like a spell on you when you start it buy yourself to say those words loud out.

That is why I recommend to read this book and give it to anyone and press them in a way to read them, to learn from them and to understand history and the time now and also where we come from, how old some problems are and to touch our hearts to do the right thing. 

Give it a try, please. 

But do me a favor, avoid those modern translation and versions who put the plays in our days language. It destroys all the fun. And if your language is not english in first, try the english and your countries language versions, as it is a difference sometimes. Shakespeare is all but easy to translate.

Love & Light