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View Full Version : Australian interested in Shakespeare, poetry, classics



fajfall
03-31-2016, 08:35 AM
I've been a non-fiction reader until recently. I didn't understand why so many hours should be spent reading novels, plays etc. when those hours could be used learning facts to increase one's knowledge of the world, eg. a history book of World War 2. I gamed English at school by just reading many study guides without reading the actual text and I did quite well.

I became interested in theology and Christopher Hitchens' writings fascinated me. He brought fictional characters and novelists into all of his debates and arguments, which was a new and interesting way to make an statement. That kindled my interest in the use of literature.

I read Macbeth one day, long after graduating, and was fascinated by Shakespeare's use of language. I've wanted to understand Shakespeare since then. I rushed through a few of Shakespeare's plays but got nothing out of them, so now I'm trying to read the plays slower and reading study guides BEFOREHAND so that I actually know what's going on in the difficult texts.

Recently I became interested in poetry and am trying to memorise them before moving on to another one. I've memorised 100 lines from Rime of the Ancient Mariner and hoping that within half a year I'll memorise the rest!

spikepipsqueak
04-01-2016, 12:36 AM
Heh. :) our approaches are almost diametrically opposed.

I can barely memorise my PINs, and see no point in committing to memory pieces that I can take down from the shelf and reread any time I want.

I read novels and poetry (and Shakespeare) for the meaty goodness, the insights into humanity that they convey, and pretty much forget the actual words as soon as they are past my eyeballs. That's not counting some few passages that are so exquisite as to to be practically burned into my psyche.

Isn't it great? Differing approaches?

fajfall
04-01-2016, 03:25 AM
I've watched so many Seinfeld and Simpsons repeats that I can relate most events and issues in life to a quote or instance from them. But it does feel a little moe awesome to relate the same event to King Lear or a quote from Julius Caesar. Hehe

I find that memorisation allows you to basically experience the text any moment you wish, and ponder it more often. Of. Course Shakespeare has so many wonderful quotes it's impossible to memorise all of them.