Review
This was my first ever classical read. As English is not my first language, this one was very difficult to get through. Luckily there was a notes section at the back of the book explaining most of the old language.
I was surprised when the reading of it became easier as it went on. Don't get me wrong, it was still a big exercise for my brain to do, but you do fall into a certain rhythm. At certain times I could actually envision the actors on stage performing these lines. Which is, after all, the magic of Shakespeare. Because the material was so difficult for me to get through, I was afraid I was missing a lot of the actual content of the book. I was pleasantly surprised when, after some research, I was actually spot on about a lot of the book.
As you can see, I decided not to rate this book. I mentioned that English is not my first language, nor am I an English student. So I'm afraid a lot of the actual history behind the writing and the deeper meaning of things is sadly lost on me.
What I can talk about, is the experience of reading a play this old. I was lucky enough to find an actual physical English copy of the play at my local library. Something I didn't think would be possible. I live in Belgium and English publications of books are often hard to find. But, this is a classic, so it stands to reason that it should be a staple in any library. Just opening the book alone, you could smell the smell of old books. The reason why I love reading library books if I'm being honest with you. You can almost smell the history come of the pages. But then the story actually starts. The writing, however difficult to get into at the start, made it perfectly clear that I was reading something that was written a long time ago. And even though the play might be centuries old, the themes in it are still what people write about today. Revenge, corruption, love,... all of these things are still at the center of a lot of great works. So, even though the bigger meaning of it might have gotten lost on me, what was not lost, was the realization that I was reading a play written by one of the greatest minds in literature. Someone who, to this day, is still seen as brilliant and mandatory reading for anyone with an appreciation for the English Language and it's literature.
I'm very happy that this was the first story that was picked out of my fall reading list. It opened me up to reading more classics, to how intricate language really is and to how universal and timeless emotions really are. And how, even though it's been centuries, we really at the base of things, haven't changed much at all. If that's a good or bad thing, I'll let you decide.
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