The Bard and Me

I usually write about novels, but today I have decided to write about plays, Shakespeare's plays! I personally think his plays are great but I feel that he is widely misunderstood. A lot of people are terrified of reading Shakespeare. They find his plays difficult to understand and interpret. They feel that the plays are not necessary to read because the language is so different and so old fashioned. I disagree wholeheartedly. Even though the language can be difficult to understand at times, Shakespeare is so applicable to today; his stories are timeless! They discuss themes such as love, family feuds and friendship. They even reappear in popular culture. I bet you didn't know that the movie 10 Things I Hate About You is actually based on Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew!

                                                      

My mum enjoys watching Shakespeare's plays but she finds them difficult to read. I can totally understand that, especially since English is not even her first language. She thinks that part of the reason why I enjoy reading the plays as much as I enjoy watching them, is because I've been 'taught' to read them. Coming from the UK, we pretty much study Shakespeare religiously. The first play I remember reading was Romeo and Juliet. My English teacher was incredible. He would give us all a part to read and we would even be allowed to act scenes out in class. He also encouraged us to analyse the plays in terms of their context and their significance to us, as modern students. I think that this is when I fell in love with Shakespeare. I realised how clever Shakespeare was, how he embedded sonnets into certain scenes (in particular the ones about love, since sonnets are regarded as romantic poetry), how he used humour and wit and how he invented many new words.

My favourite play is King Lear. I love the character of Edmund so much! He's a Machiavellian villain and he's so evil! This is what makes him interesting (I'm really not a fan of soppy, romantic, wet characters) and he has to be one of my favourite characters of all time. Interestingly, in terms of Shakespeare's characters, I also like Tybalt from Romeo and Juliet and Iago from Othello, who are both also Machiavellian villains. I think there's something attractive about a selfish and ambitious character, maybe because their behaviour is rather removed from anyone I know in real life. And I think I must have a masochistic streak in me because I much prefer tragedies to comedies. I think King Lear is my favourite Shakespeare play because I found it so devastating. In the beginning of the play, King Lear decides to divide his kingdom among his three daughters. He declares that he'll offer the largest share to the daughter who loves him best. However, his youngest, and favourite, daughter Cordelia refuses to play her father's game because she says that there are no proper words that could possibly express the love she has for him. She speaks bluntly, but honestly, to her father. Because of this, Lear  becomes angry and banishes Cordelia from the kingdom. Lear's need for his daughters' affections become his downfall as things turn from bad to worse, and by the end of the play, most of the characters are dead. As well as this, there is a sub plot with Edmund and his half brother Edgar. Edmund is a bastard son (his parents were not married when he was born) and so when his father dies, Edgar is the only one who will inherit (due to the ancient law of primogeniture). This makes Edmund understandably angry and he comes up with a clever, but evil, plan to get his fair share. However, by the end of the play, he too meets a sticky end.
I think this play is so exciting. So much goes on and the character interaction is great. There are several points when we, as the audience, know things that the characters do not which adds to my appreciation of the play. If you haven't really read many Shakespeare plays before, then maybe you should leave this one till a bit later because I did find it a bit difficult to get into. I think that Shakespeare's comedies are much easier to read than his tragedies, even though I do prefer the latter.

Hopefully this post has made you think about picking up a Shakespeare play soon. Even if you're not a fan of reading plays in general (I understand that's it's quite hard because plays are meant to be watched, not read) maybe you can try watching a play either on stage or on the screen. There are many great movie adaptations. The Hollow Crown series for instance covers Shakespeare's second tetrology (which contains: Richard II, Henry IV Part 1 and 2 and Henry V.) This series has amazing reviews and brilliant actors, so definitely look into it if you can. 

You haven't read a book by Ray Bradbury? Well, what are you waiting for?!

Ray Bradbury has to be one of my favourite authors. I discovered him purely by accident before I realised that he is a really popular author, particularly in America. A lot of American High School reading lists include Bradbury's books, but, having grown up in the UK, I had never heard of him! I first heard about it when I was watching an episode of Criminal Minds (I can't remember which episode exactly.) In the episode, a dead man was found, covered in tattoos. One of the main characters (Dr Spencer Reid to be precise- if you watch CM then you'll know who I'm talking about, and if you don't it doesn't really matter for the purpose of this blog post) then talked about how the victim reminded him of Ray Bradbury's The Illustrated Man. The book was about a man with tattoos which become animated and tell stories.This sparked my interest and before I knew it I was on Amazon and had purchased the book! It didn't disappoint! The book itself consists of short stories which are tied together by the frame device of the illustrated man. The stories all have a science fiction theme (which I absolutely loved because I'm quite the sci-fi fan) and are rather frightening in places, but that's what appealed to me the most. I'm usually not a big fan of 'scary' things, but I really enjoyed this book. I think that Bradbury has a real talent of making things 'not as they seem' as each story really interrogates the issues of technology and the psychology of individuals. Several of the stories focus on the relationship people have with technology and how this relationship has changed and shaped them. I found this so very interesting because even though the book was written in 1951, so much of it is applicable today as we live in such a technology dependent world! I think that this book was the perfect start to my Bradbury obsession...

Since I enjoyed The Illustrated Man so much, I was eager to read more from Bradbury. Then I found Fahrenheit 451. This book has often been regarded as Bradbury's best novel and it's part of the dystopian genre so I knew that I would love it! However, I initially found it a bit difficult to get into. I felt that the beginning was a little confusing and disjointed and I wasn't so sure of where the story was going. That quickly changed though and I fell in love with the book! The novel is about a time in the future when books are banned. Instead of putting out fires, firemen have become book burners and it is their job to ensure all books are destroyed. The novel centers around one of the firemen who becomes curious about all the books that he has to burn. He decides to read a few (illegally of course) and his life is never the same again. Once I had finished the book, it was very easy to see why this is seen as Bradbury's best work. It's such an amazing read! The novel acts as a warning against censorship and highlights the importance of being an individual. It explores the evil that is mass media and how mass media can influence and suppress societies. These kind of messages, I feel, are very important, particularly now as we live in an era that is dominated by the media. Therefore, I would recommend this book to everyone as both the prose, and their morals, are too good to pass up.

Fun fact: the title of the novel refers to the temperature in which paper will spontaneously ignite (for all you non Americans out there, that's about 233 Celsius.)

The last book I want to talk about is called Something Wicked This Way Comes. This book was equally as exciting, equally as beautiful and equally as frightening as the other two. It's about two boys, Jim and Will, who experience a travelling carnival. But the carnival is not what it seems. It is hellish and holds many secrets! The boys discover these secrets, at a price of course, and their friendship is put to the test. There is an air of mystery that surrounds this novel, and that's what makes it so exciting! Again, there were some scenes which I did find a little scary but I still really enjoyed the book. I found the relationship between Jim and Will to be very touching because it is their friendship which saves them in the end (saves them from what? I'm not going to tell you, you'll have to read the book.) Here's one of the quotes that stuck with me: "That’s friendship, each playing the potter to see what shapes we can make of the other." I really like this quote because it's so true! It's such a lovely image to think that friends shape each other into the people that they are. Which brings me on to my next point: the book is so beautifully written with such poetic imagery. This is something that I really enjoyed. And so, with its lovely literary style and its Gothic plot line, this novel is a must read!

I hope this blog post has inspired you to go out and read some Bradbury novels. Trust me, you won't regret it! They will/might (depending on the type of person you are) make you scared, they will keep you entertained and, above all, they will make you think!

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It's not just for kids you know!

One of my favourite books in the whole wide world is Road Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory! I've read it more than 100 times (when I was quite young I used to get to the end of the book and then start it all over again) and it still never fails to make me laugh out loud.

It was one of the first books I packed when I moved to university. Whenever I feel like I'm having a bad day I just re-read and it cheers me up immensely. I've even started to recommend it to some of my closest friends (I've actually been forcing them to read it, but you know, potato, poh-tato). And I suggest that if you haven't read it yet, you should definitely get your hands on a copy and read it soon! You won't regret it, trust me :)

I'm such a big fan it's unreal. I've seen both movies multiple times (I grew up with the Gene Wilder version but the Johnny Depp one is a closer adaptation of the book, so I still haven't decided which one I like better.) I've even been to see it on stage at the theater. I also quote from the book during conversations with friends. You'd be surprised about the number of conversations we have about chocolate...

I think that I keep going back to it because I love the characters so much. Charlie's the best! He's pure of heart and innocent, and his home life is so crappy that you can't help but feel ecstatic when he finds that golden ticket. The other children are hilarious. Augustus, Violet, Veruca and Mike are all completely beastly and totally horrid and so it's extremely funny when they all meet a sticky end. The Oompa Loompa songs help too. Each one is absolute genius! I have a habit of reading the songs aloud to myself (this gets a bit awkward when I'm in a public place), which adds to the whole reading experience if you ask me. 

I also feel that Charlie and the Chocolate Factory also has the potential to teach children a lot, and maybe this is why it appealed to me when I was a kid. There is a clear divide between good and evil in the book. Charlie is good. He suffers in the beginning but because he is a good child, he is rewarded in the end. The other children are bad. They are bad all the way through and are punished by Willy Wonka. And after their punishments, you get a sense of forgiveness and that they have repented their bad behaviour. There is also the issue of poverty. This is explored in the book through Charlie's character, because he is so dismally poor, and also the other children. But in particular, Veruca, because she is so ridiculously rich. Yet Charlie triumphs, even though he is so poor, because being a kind and honest child is the most important thing of all! And so, not only is the book absurd and extremely funny (cows that give chocolate milk! edible pillows! square sweets that look round! a chewing gum meal!), but it also has some pretty important take home messages as well. Also, I recently found out that the book has it's own Sparknotes entry and it made me so happy! If you want to find out some more about the intricacies of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory then look it up :)

Here's one of my favourite quotes from the book:

"So please, oh please, we beg, we pray,

Go throw your TV set away.

And in it's place you can install,

A lovely bookshelf on the wall."

It's from Mike Teevee's Oompa Loompa song. This is my favourite song in the book because it highlights the importance of reading, and encourages people to read in a very humorous way. 

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is the only book that I've read over and over again, and I will continue to read it forever!

Insurgent and Allegiant (part of the Divergent series)

So I've finished the Divergent trilogy... *WARNING* SPOILERS UP AHEAD!

The second book, Insurgent, was rather good. It was exciting and compelling and I just had to keep reading. But, as I predicted, it contained a lot more 'lovey-dovey' scenes between Beatrice and Tobias. However, they didn't annoy me as much as I thought because I was too preoccupied with the story as a whole. There were some really good surprises within the plot and the story line itself was a good progression from what happens in the first book. At the end of Insurgent there was an even bigger cliffhanger than in Divergent (well in my opinion anyway) and I was even more eager to start reading the last in the series...

The last book, Allegiant, was also brilliant but extremely emotional.
The book answered a lot of questions that were left hanging in the first and second books. But the ending took a lot out of me because (and this is where you need to stop reading if you don't want to spoil the ending)....Beatrice dies!

After reading some reviews of Allegiant online, I realised that Beatrice's death was written in a  very plausible way and that it fit well within the whole plot of the series. I think that because she is one of my favourite female characters (see previous Divergent blog entry) I took her death rather hard and it angered me. But at the same time, with the amount of risks that she took and the danger that she got herself into, it was just a matter of time before she ended up getting killed. The end of the book was written in a way that allowed both the characters and the reader to gain some closure over the events and deaths that had occurred, so even though I was sad, I smiled a little when I finally finished the book.

All in all, I have to say that even though I thoroughly enjoyed these books they did disappoint me a little. I thought that Divergent was amazing and so I had high expectations for the rest of the series, and after completing the series I feel like these expectations were not met. But having said that, I did really enjoy reading these books and I think that they contain a wonderful and exciting plot.