Most overhyped classic masterpiece? - Page 5

HarryT · 09-21-2009, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ned

How about Salman Rushdie?
I waded through a few pages of Midnight's Children and all that came across was Rushdie shouting "Look at me, how clever I am" - I couldn't get past that to what he was actually on about.

I think "Midnight's Children" is a wonderful book. Can't get on with "Satanic Verses", though.

ahi · 09-21-2009, 01:45 PM

Shakespeare.

- Ahi

HarryT · 09-21-2009, 01:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ahi

Shakespeare.

- Ahi

To read? To a certain extent I agree with you. Shakespeare really only comes to life in a good performance.

ahi · 09-21-2009, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

To read? To a certain extent I agree with you. Shakespeare really only comes to life in a good performance.

I suspect even very poorly written and/or fairly dull stories could be made quite wonderful on stage with sufficiently good actors and inspired directorial interpretation.

By which I mean to say that I don't necessarily agree that good performances in and of themselves necessarily redeem Shakespeare.

- Ahi

ahi · 09-21-2009, 01:52 PM

Also, Lord of the Flies.

- Ahi

Ned · 09-21-2009, 02:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

To read? To a certain extent I agree with you. Shakespeare really only comes to life in a good performance.

yes, that's true. problem is there are far more poor performances than good ones. In most of them I've seen you could actually tell that the actors don't understand the words they're saying.

HarryT · 09-21-2009, 02:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ned

yes, that's true. problem is there are far more poor performances than good ones. In most of them I've seen you could actually tell that the actors don't understand the words they're saying.

I'm fortunate in living only an hour's drive away from the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-on-Avon, so I've seen a lot of really good performances. Saw David Tennant in "Hamlet" earlier in the year; that was just superb.

BenG · 09-21-2009, 02:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ahi

Shakespeare.

- Ahi

But at least I've been able to finish everyone of Shakespeare's plays that I've started. Which is more than I can say for Tolstoy.

HarryT · 09-21-2009, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ahi

By which I mean to say that I don't necessarily agree that good performances in and of themselves necessarily redeem Shakespeare.

- Ahi

You don't think Shakespeare was a good writer? Many people would disagree, I suspect

.

FlorenceArt · 09-21-2009, 02:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mtravellerh

I love Classics. Moby Dick's one of my all time favorites.

I will probably load a lot of enmity on my humble self, but I just can't stomach Jane Austen on the whole and Pride and Prejudice more specifically. It's just so hard to get into and so dry ...

Dry????!!! The first time I read Pride and Prejudice, the first chapter had me laughing to tears.

But then, I couldn't be bothered to finish Moby Dick. I guess we don't have the same tastes in books

ahi · 09-21-2009, 02:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BenG

But at least I've been able to finish everyone of Shakespeare's plays that I've started. Which is more than I can say for Tolstoy.

Ah, well then! Clearly Tolstoy is a talentless hack then in comparison to the immortal bard!

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

You don't think Shakespeare was a good writer? Many people would disagree, I suspect

.

Really? In that case my post might just be an appropriate answer to the original poster's question.

- Ahi

bill_mchale · 09-21-2009, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ahi

I suspect even very poorly written and/or fairly dull stories could be made quite wonderful on stage with sufficiently good actors and inspired directorial interpretation.

I don't think I agree with that. While actors and directors can rise above the material they are performing, its hard to get an entire company to do so night after night if there is nothing there for them to sink their teeth into. Many great actors and directors have hurt their careers by becoming involved in clunkers.

Quote:

By which I mean to say that I don't necessarily agree that good performances in and of themselves necessarily redeem Shakespeare.

- Ahi

I think there are so many good performances of many of Shakespeare's plays, that it is hard to argue that it is simply a few good performances that makes his work look good.

There were many other playwrites in the same era as Shakespeare, none of them are nearly as well remembered.

--

Bill

FlorenceArt · 09-21-2009, 02:54 PM

The problem with classics, is that there seems to be a conspiracy of the whole educational system to make every child hate them. I was good at school and I liked it on the whole, but it still did a good job of ruining some authors for me.

I had to study a play by Molière every single year for 6 years. And then one day, I saw a performance (a good one for a change). It was a revelation. I had no idea Molière could actually be enjoyable!!! Years of forced admiration for the "comique de répétition" in "mais qu'allait-il donc faire dans cette galère" will do that to you.

(Note for the non-French speakers: don't ask, it's just too painful to relive those old memories

)

HarryT · 09-21-2009, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlorenceArt

The problem with classics, is that there seems to be a conspiracy of the whole educational system to make every child hate them. I was good at school and I liked it on the whole, but it still did a good job of ruining some authors for me.

I had to study a play by Molière every single year for 6 years. And then one day, I saw a performance (a good one for a change). It was a revelation. I had no idea Molière could actually be enjoyable!!! Years of forced admiration for the "comique de répétition" in "mais qu'allait-il donc faire dans cette galère" will do that to you.

(Note for the non-French speakers: don't ask, it's just too painful to relive those all memories

)

Exactly the same is true for a large percentage of English school-children with Shakespeare; being "force-fed" him at far too young an age at school puts them off him for life. Shakespeare did NOT write for children.

BenG · 09-21-2009, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ahi

Ah, well then! Clearly Tolstoy is a talentless hack then in comparison to the immortal bard!
- Ahi

Clearly.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Masterpiece Airing Classics on PBS	Elsi	Reading Recommendations	2	01-28-2009 12:42 PM
Zola, Emile: His Masterpiece, vers.01 06 December '07	Starfish	BBeB/LRF Books	0	12-06-2007 06:02 PM
Short Fiction Balzac, Honoré de: The Hidden Masterpiece, v1, 11 Sept 2007.	Patricia	Kindle Books	0	09-11-2007 06:18 PM
Short Fiction Balzac, Honoré de: The Hidden Masterpiece, v1, 11 Sept 2007.	Patricia	BBeB/LRF Books	0	09-11-2007 06:16 PM

09-21-2009, 01:45 PM	#62
ahi Wizard Posts: 1,790 Karma: 507333 Join Date: May 2009 Device: none	Shakespeare. - Ahi

09-21-2009, 01:52 PM	#65
ahi Wizard Posts: 1,790 Karma: 507333 Join Date: May 2009 Device: none	Also, Lord of the Flies. - Ahi

09-21-2009, 02:54 PM	#73
FlorenceArt High Priestess Posts: 5,761 Karma: 5042529 Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Montreuil sous bois, France Device: iPad Pro 9.7, iPhone 6 Plus	The problem with classics, is that there seems to be a conspiracy of the whole educational system to make every child hate them. I was good at school and I liked it on the whole, but it still did a good job of ruining some authors for me. I had to study a play by Molière every single year for 6 years. And then one day, I saw a performance (a good one for a change). It was a revelation. I had no idea Molière could actually be enjoyable!!! Years of forced admiration for the "comique de répétition" in "mais qu'allait-il donc faire dans cette galère" will do that to you. (Note for the non-French speakers: don't ask, it's just too painful to relive those old memories )