A Midsummer Night's Dream, William Shakespeare
Project Gutenberg e-book, 53 pages, 1590-1596
I've always rolled my eyes at people who say they can't enjoy books because school ruined reading for them (I mean, seriously? Just grow up and own the fact that you're functionally illiterate), but it wasn't until I read my first unassigned Shakespeare play that I realized I still have the ghost of my 11th-grade English teacher looking over my shoulder and scolding, "Don't read for plot!!" And I mean, if we're talking about ghosts of teachers past then Mrs. Hillesland is probably better to have around than Mrs. Johnson from the 5th grade making me write "I will not read in class" 100 times and chucking staplers at my head, but this has put me off reading Shakespeare for years--I keep thinking I'll do it when I have time to properly absorb it, whatever that means. Anyway, I've come to realize that reading for plot, if you're not sitting the AP English Literature test, is not a bad thing. It'd be good if you could get some understanding of theme at the same time, and get into some of the wordplay, but there's nothing wrong with getting familiar with our literary heritage, even at a basic level. And besides, if you look at Shakespeare as part of that heritage, the play itself is only the beginning--then there are adaptations, movie versions, and all the other works of art that the plays have inspired. Which is why I decided to read A Midsummer Night's Dream in the first place--as a jumping-off point for reading Chris Adrian's The Great Night, which re-imagines A Midsummer Night's Dream in Buena Vista Park in modern-day San Francisco. I'll admit to being a bit underwhelmed by the play itself, but The Great Night (which I'm currently reading) is fantastic, and more so because I understand the source material.
Next up: The Great Night by Chris Adrian
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