Author: William Shakespeare
Size: 66 KB (copy used on Goodreads had 256 pages)
Published: 2009 (First published 1595)
Challenges: Reading Shakespeare: a play a month in 2012
Genre: Drama, Classics, Shakespeare
Edition: ebook
Source: Free download
Rating: 3/5
Shakespeare's intertwined love polygons begin to get complicated from the start--Demetrius and Lysander both want Hermia but she only has eyes for Lysander. Bad news is, Hermia's father wants Demetrius for a son-in-law. On the outside is Helena, whose unreturned love burns hot for Demetrius. Hermia and Lysander plan to flee from the city under cover of darkness but are pursued by an enraged Demetrius (who is himself pursued by an enraptured Helena). In the forest, unbeknownst to the mortals, Oberon and Titania (King and Queen of the faeries) are having a spat over a servant boy. The plot twists up when Oberon's head mischief-maker, Puck, runs loose with a flower which causes people to fall in love with the first thing they see upon waking. Throw in a group of labourers preparing a play for the Duke's wedding (one of whom is given a donkey's head and Titania for a lover by Puck) and the complications become fantastically funny. (via Goodreads)
Thoughts: Its been a couple of days since I last read the play, as I read it in one sitting, but overall I felt that the book flew me by pretty quick to form a complete opinion. Certainly not one of my favourite plays by Shakespeare, but even then the play is pretty good. Reading a play by Shakespeare does not do it justice and one really has to see the play in order to get a better sense of the play and quite honestly I can see why. The language, especially in regards to this particular play, is action oriented. What I basically mean is that the language indicates the action and is predicated on somebody on seeing what is going on, not somebody just hearing the action or reading it on a page.
Bottom line: Not one of my favourites, but definitely worth the read. I will have more to say on the play in the next couple of weeks.
Page total for 2012: 608
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