# Reading Shakespeare **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 30, 2003, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-shakespeare/216033 "2003-11-30T07:29:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![fortytwo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f9ae1b/32.png) [@fortytwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fortytwo)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2003, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-shakespeare/216033/41 "2003-12-03T20:47:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cervaise \* > \*\*… > Of course, there are so many people here, and it’s such a diverse community, that you could probably post a thread about knocking down hot-air balloons with hairless wolverines launched from catapults and expect at least a few people to respond with advice and humorous anecdotes based on personal experience. 😉 \*\* What an extraordinary coincidence. My friends and I take part in a local hot-air balloon shoot down league. Only yesterday we shot down 4 -and recovered our wolverines intact! V ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2003, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-shakespeare/216033/42 "2003-12-03T22:28:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Iamb Fake \* > \*\*What prompted my original question was the sense I get from some of the people I know that Shakespeare is somehow dated and/or not worth the effort of experiencing. \*\* I think you’ll find a large segment of the population thinks reading is work, pointless, or a waste of time. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2003, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-shakespeare/216033/43 "2003-12-03T23:06:17Z")
**racinchikki** , I use[The Norton Shakespeare](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0393970876/qid=1070492663/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-8418748-5439868?v=glance&s=books) . ---
**Author:** ![Leechboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9fc348/32.png) [@Leechboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leechboy)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-shakespeare/216033/44 "2003-12-04T07:33:25Z")
> [@](#): > > A few nitpicks, 'cos I just can’t help myself: Hamlet is 30, not 33. Props to **Leechboy** for mentioning all the other great playwrights from this period, but I’m reliably informed that Ben Jonson turns over in his grave whenever anybody spells his name “Johnson.” \*\* I know, I know. Serves me right for replying in a late night stupor. ---
**Author:** ![Leechboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9fc348/32.png) [@Leechboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leechboy)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-shakespeare/216033/45 "2003-12-04T07:45:25Z")
Oh yeah, re: the Reading vs. Seeing debate. Some read better than they the can be played - Henry VIII is one of my favorites but I wouldn’t pay money to watch it performed Other’s play better than they read - Titus for one, but for mine the most surprising was Othello, which always struck me as a rather dull bit of business untill I took part in a performance in front of a live audience, a found out first hand what it’s like to have a live reaction to Iago. (The movie versions just don’t seem to bring out the lighter side of that story.) ---
**Author:** ![Leechboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9fc348/32.png) [@Leechboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leechboy)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-shakespeare/216033/46 "2003-12-04T08:05:28Z")
Oh yeah, re: the Reading vs. Seeing debate. Some read better than they the can be played - Henry VIII is one of my favorites but I wouldn’t pay money to watch it performed Other’s play better than they read - Titus for one, but for mine the most surprising was Othello, which always struck me as a rather dull bit of business untill I took part in a performance in front of a live audience, a found out first hand what it’s like to have a live reaction to Iago. (The movie versions just don’t seem to bring out the lighter side of that story.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-shakespeare/216033.md?page=2)