Climbing Steep Literary Hills, at a Slow Pace

Shakespeare. Classic literature. What image does your mind conjure up in response to those daunting words? Quaking fear? Hives? Crushing boredom? Do you harken back to musty, cobweb-adorned memories of high school AP English? Are you recalling your panic days of college, trying to find a way to finish that essential, impossible paper, thinking, "This professor really HAS TO give me an extension"? A friend recently told me that he never read classic literature, even in the times when he was required to read classic literature. The venerable William F. Buckley defined classic literature as something that everyone wished to have read, but that no one wanted to read. Oh my!
My response to classic literature is different. I find that reading classics is enjoyable, and I want folks to share my enjoyment of Shakespeare. How? The summaries and plays within this book comprise fifteen of the best works of the greatest author - Shakespeare. I have rewritten and constructed them, however, in such a way that they might be seen as understandable, not overly time-consuming, mostly contemporary, and yes, dare I say it - fun. Classic literature can be fun. Shakespeare? Fun? Contemplate THAT for a moment, will you?