Shakespear??

[mumraa]

I am desperate to read shakspear but would like to read it in modern english as i find the old english way very difficult and i lose my patient, how could i get any books that are in written in the modern way as no book shop sells them. Thank you

[DotH]

why don't you get the Brody note or similar guides fron WH Smith and read the text with the notes, there are some that actualy have the notes on the left hand page opposite the text and this is quite easy to follow. Also, if you do it this way, you will soon grasp the way the words work. It really is worth doing and reading the meanings and background.

[Kim A]

When I was studying Englsih Lit for my A levels(blimey, that dates me!), I found it very useful to go and see Shakespear plays performed live, taking with me a copy of the play to follow as the actors were speaking. Being able to follow the words and watch the action at the same time, I found it was quite easy after a while to get into the rhythms of the speech and understand quite clearly what was going on and being said in context. I agree that, with the archaic language, it's sometimes hard to follow if you're just reading it, but the language is so beautiful, I think you'll lose the nuances if you only read it in modern translation. there are some very good adaptations of Shakespear plays on video and DVD (mostly BBC). A good place to try and pick up a few cheaply is a charity shop - for some reason they always seem to have loads of them!

[spudqueen]

I have a copy of Lambs' Tales from Shakespeare, sixteen of the best loved plays retold by Charles and Mary Lamb' which looks as though it would suit you perfectly.

[BrainMonkeys]

The only trouble with the Lamb variations is that they were prudish Victorian religious zealots, so some of the more bawdy or less-than-high-brow references were replaced or skimmed over, and what remains is a diluted mongrel version of the original.

I'm very much thee and thy when it comes to my Shakespeare; sure, the language may be hard to see through every now and again, but it is beautiful prose and to replace it with anything else would demean the work. It would be like changing all the dialogue in Dickens to Cockney rhyming slang!

There are many many verssions of Shakespeare available. The ones I used to use when in school had a glossary and notes along the sides of the actual script so you didn't have to grab a dictionary every five minutes. I can't remember the actual publisher, but they're still being printed as I have seen them very recently.

[mycats]

Get the "No fear Shakespeare" or "Shakespear mad easy"
They are great, they have the original text on the left hand page and in modern english on the right.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Made-Easy-Guide-Twelfth- Night-Shakespeare_W0QQitemZ170022331034QQihZ00 7QQcategoryZ27325QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZ ViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/No-Fear-Shakespeare-The- Tempest_W0QQitemZ230021152544QQihZ013QQcategor yZ121638QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
It is so worth it, I love Shakespeare

[mycats]

lol *Shakespear made easy" even*

[Quizmonkey]

Agree totally with Mycats - the No Fear books are the best. As an actor I always invest in one whenever I do a Shakespeare - it's not cheating, but there are always little nuances in meaning that we modern English speakers are unaware of. They raise a smile too - you sometimes get familiar greetings rendered with 'dude' etc!

[Litchick]

mumraa, do try to get some "aid manuals" to help you with the language. Just my opinion, but I think a little something is lost when you read a "modern" version. Some of the pleasure in reading Shakespeare is precisely the little "insides" of that language that we don't hear anymore. It's funny -- some of the medieval "slang" is almost the same as ours!

[Peter Pedant]

As an old fogey, I think some things are worth the effort,

persist with Shakespeare - in fact rather than buying something to make it easy, buy a gloss - the original play with notes in the back, andkeep ploughing through it.....

[Hellion]

Hi Mumraa, I think people often forget that shakespeare wrote PLAYS. I always recommend to people who want to try Shakespeare that they get out a DVD of the play or better still go to a theatre and see it. That way you 'hear' it as it was meant to be heard. You can read it afterwards if you like but you'll appreciate much more if you've seen it

[drwhofan]

When I was younger I had a book which just told the stories without the play etc. I found it really useful to look at this again when I was studying Shakespeare because it helped me to understand what was going on without losing the Shakespearean language (which i LOVE!)

[luckyeight]

Agree that 'modern' versions just lose all the orginal beauty of the language - Shakespeare just tells more or less the same stories, so it's really not in the narrative; it's in the language. I always read Shakespeare out loud (to myself). Again, that was very much how it was conceived - made to be spoken, delivered, not mused on quietly. A bit of practise will soon get you into the 'style' and once you are familiar it will be second nature to read it.