James Mustich's 1000 Books to Read Before You Die discussion

Please discuss the play here...

In the list December has A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Are we doing Macbeth as well?

Buddy Reads are optional. I will add a selection to the Buddy Reads section when there is a close vote in the polls. But our official Group Read for December is A Midsummer Night's Dream.

I have this queued up for December. I read A Midsummer's Night's Dream earlier this year, though I still have it on my tablet--I may skim through it again when that discussion starts.

Macbeth is the last major tragedy of Shakespeare's that I have to read, so I'm happy to get the nudge. After that, I'll have to start on the histories, I guess.

Double, double, toil and trouble ..... Macbeth is one of my favorites. I'm looking forward to it.

I love Shakespeare but it's been awhile since I've read either of these, so I plan to join in both discussions!

I love Macbeth! I've read it at least twice but I don't mind doing another reread.

I read Macbeth and listened to the Arkangel's full cast dramatization of it while I read along. It really brings the play alive.
This is my first time reading Macbeth.
I found it very interesting that Lady Macbeth who was so eager to have Duncan killed then couldn't deal with it and had nightmares and sleep-walked trying to get the blood off her hands.

Bryan wrote: "I have this queued up for December. I read A Midsummer's Night's Dream earlier this year, though I still have it on my tablet--I may skim through it again when that discussion starts.

Macbeth is the last major tragedy of Shakespeare's that I have to read, so I'm happy to get the nudge. After that, I'll have to start on the histories, I guess.

I still have to read Othello and King Lear before starting the histories.

I wanted to see the recent movie of MacBeth--the clips I saw from it looked great, but it didn't do well at the box office. Reviews were generally good though. Anyway--I've been wanting to actually read the play before seeing the film. I did see Kurosawa's Throne of Blood, which is excellent, though some might not care for the stylization.

Here's a link to the Wikipedia article on the recent Fassbender and Cotillard film:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macbeth...

Bryan wrote: "I wanted to see the recent movie of MacBeth--the clips I saw from it looked great, but it didn't do well at the box office. Reviews were generally good though. Anyway--I've been wanting to actually..."

Thanks for the heads up on the 2015 Macbeth DVD with Fassbender. I didn't know about that one.

I fiinsihed reading Macbeth and am requesting both "Throne of Blood" and "Macbeth" from the library.

One of the libraries in my lending circle has the 2015 version, so I'm pretty happy about that.

My dad was really impressed with the Orson Welles version as well, so I may hunt that down. His Othello would have been good if he hadn't felt the need to play Othello.

Bryan wrote: "One of the libraries in my lending circle has the 2015 version, so I'm pretty happy about that.

My dad was really impressed with the Orson Welles version as well, so I may hunt that down. His Oth..."

The best cinematic version of Macbeth, in my opinion, is Kurosawa's Throne of Blood. (And Welles's best Shakespeare film is Chimes at Midnight -- see that if you can find it.)

Bryan wrote: "I wanted to see the recent movie of MacBeth--the clips I saw from it looked great, but it didn't do well at the box office. Reviews were generally good though. Anyway--I've been wanting to actually..."

Glad you saw the Kurosawa -- what a wonderful movie that is.

Bryan wrote: "One of the libraries in my lending circle has the 2015 version, so I'm pretty happy about that.

My dad was really impressed with the Orson Welles version as well, so I may hunt that down. His Oth..."

The actor who played Iago in Welles's Othello, Micheál Mac Liammóir, wrote a very entertaining book about the experience of making that movie called Put Money in Thy Purse.

James wrote: "And Welles's best Shakespeare film is Chimes at Midnight -- see that if you can find it..."


I will keep an eye out--thanks!

I forgot to mention that I did finish reading the play the other day. It's difficult for me to read them after having seen an adaptation--that's always what's in my mind. I find that, in general, reading the plays are a little bit of a let down--they often feel anticlimactic to me, though staged and filmed versions don't...I guess that's why they are plays and not novels.

Anyway--I'm very glad to have finally read this--I've been circling it for years. This was the last of S's major tragedies that I had left to read.

I did watch the 2015 Macbeth--I think it's worth watching, though I might have had too high of expectations. It was very stylized--maybe too much so, and there were a few scenes that surprised me in the way the director chose to shoot them. Otherwise, it was pretty faithful, and most of the dialogue was taken directly from the play. I didn't compare it to the book, but it did seem there were additional lines, but they didn't sound glaringly different.

I first read Othello in my Shakespeare class in high school and it remains a favorite. I love the Lawrence Fishburne version of Othello (from the 90's), Kenneth Branaugh plays Iago.

Now to start Macbeth...

I wondered how that Lawrence Fishburne version was--since you've recommended it, I'll have to give it a try. It'll be different seeing Branagh play that role

I think they were both excellent, I used to own a copy but can't find it. I will likely rent it to watch it again after I finish my next re-read of it. Let me know what you think Brian.

Bryan wrote: "I did watch the 2015 Macbeth--I think it's worth watching, though I might have had too high of expectations. It was very stylized--maybe too much so, and there were a few scenes that surprised me i..."

I watched it too and agree that though it wasn't exactly as Shakespeare wrote it, it wasn't glaringly different either. I think anyone watching it would get the true gist of the play.

Finished Macbeth and it is my last completed reading of the year. I enjoyed it although not as much as Midsummer Night's Dream.

I've found this year that I like reading some good insults...

"Go, prick thy face and over-red thy fear,
Thou lily-livered boy. What soldiers, patch?
Death of thy soul! Those linen cheeks of thine
Are counselors to fear. What soldiers, whey-face?"

Must find opportunities in my life to use these. Lol

Happy New Year everyone!