tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91363777751024670282024-02-21T22:20:35.075-08:00Half-Filled AtticLemon Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340029101536146372noreply@blogger.comBlogger266125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9136377775102467028.post-51112815303720979242020-05-26T20:21:00.002-07:002020-05-26T20:21:57.420-07:00To Kill A Mockingbird: Imperfect World, Perfect Idealism (and Perfect Dad)<br />
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I decided to reread <i>To Kill a Mockingbird</i>, one of the earliest English books that I read. My friend gave it to me because I was learning to speak English, and she insisted that it's not so difficult. Well, for me, at that time, it was not that easy.<br />
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But the storytelling helps a lot. Racism, sexism, and class-difference from a 7-years old point of view? Who wouldn't love to read that? Oh, and a Dad in dazzling armour of justice is sure a plus point. Let's just get to the story.<br />
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***<br />
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Jem and Jean Louise (Scout) are the children of a lawyer called Atticus Finch. They live in a little town called Maycomb with their different neighbours. In Maycomb, people live with an awareness of their position or class in the society. Even the kids recognize this.<br />
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The thing about it is, our kind of folks don’t like the Cunninghams, the Cunninghams don’t like the Ewells, and the Ewells hate and despise the colored folks.</blockquote>
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Like in so many places in the United States at that time, the coloured people are deemed to be the lowest caste in society. However, Jem and Scout's father, Atticus, disagrees.<br />
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Atticus really cares about how his child will grow up in that neighbourhood. He wants his children to grow up as responsible, well-mannered, and at the same time kind people, who can get along with everybody without being false to their principles. In order to achieve that, Atticus takes the best, but not the easiest road - being a good example.<br />
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One of the reasons why he agrees to defend a black man with little chance to win the case is that he wants to be able to live peaceably with his conscience and to teach his children the right way to see and treat people.<br />
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The black man being discussed is Tom Robinson. He's a respectable (if so can be stated of a coloured man at that time) person, living quietly with his wife and children. He is charged with rape and violence of a young girl called Mayella Ewell. Her father is widely known as a drunkard and their family life is by no means a happy one.<br />
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Jem and Scout get a lot of trouble around the neighbourhood because of their father's stand. Defending a black person is not a popular action at the time, and both kids are ridiculed by neighbours, schoolmates, and even relatives. Nevertheless, Atticus keeps going.<br />
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In time, he is able to prove that Tom Robinson is not guilty, with a suggestion that Bob Ewell (Mayella's father) is the actual villain behind the beating. Even so, the jury comes to an unanimous decision: Tom Robinson is guilty. If the court's decision is devastating enough, it's not the worst. Not long after, a news comes that Tom Robinson was shot in his attempt to run away, and died.<br />
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***<br />
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I think To Kill A Mockingbird is worthy of being in many must-read lists of all time. The way it wraps the issues that still haunt us even today (the world is far from being rid of prejudice and racism) through the mind of a young, innocent, child is very endearing. It also shows how education and one's experiences can influence his view on people around him.<br />
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I'm aware of the 'sequel' of this book being out. No, I haven't read it. Will I? I don't know. There's mixed review about the book, and it gives me mixed feeling about reading it. Any idea what to expect?<br />
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***<br />
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I just realised that I've had this in my draft list for so so long, and I haven't updated for years. Revisiting this blog brings a lot of beautiful and endearing memories.Lemon Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340029101536146372noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9136377775102467028.post-61483410537793952662017-10-02T00:40:00.000-07:002017-10-02T00:46:01.431-07:00Pot of Poetry: ArtichokeIt has been months I guess since my last post. I hate it that I haven't been able to post articles more often. However, I would like to share with you one rather short poem that touches my heart the moment I read it. It is called "Artichoke" by Joseph Hutchinson.<br />
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O heart weighed down by so many wings!</blockquote>
That's it. Just one line, but it says much more than that to me.<br />
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An artichoke is but an artichoke. But put down like this, it reminds me of Wordsworth's sonnet which talks about poor souls "who have felt the weight of too much liberty", which argues that too much freedom doesn't do us good and certainly doesn't make us happier. Having rules up to some points gives a sense of security. Having none gives a sense of uncertainty. Well, too many "wings" can wear us down.<br />
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Also for me, it sounds like someone being too tired because he has so many things to do, and he has so many things to do because he can do it. Because he has the "wings" to do it. In fact, your talent, your skills, your knowledge, and your abilities can be a deadly trap that enslaves you.<br />
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The moment I read this poem, I don't even think about artichokes anymore.<br />
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<br />Lemon Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340029101536146372noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9136377775102467028.post-64891786505948884312017-02-22T21:55:00.000-08:002017-02-22T21:55:27.722-08:00Off the Shelves: Nirvana in Fire vs. The Count of Monte CristoFirstly, it has been a while. I know. Looking at my blog and noticing that my last post was February last year gave me a shudder. So sorry about this. Again, in my defense, it's not that I have stopped reading, it's just that I don't really have any time to write about them. Besides, unless no one will complain about it, I can't really fangirl about the same thing again and again on this blog, right?<br />
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Second, I actually want to insert this post under "Books on Screen" category. However, seeing that it is not actually and adaptation of <i>The Count of Monte Cristo</i> but rather an adaptation from a novel of the same name, I can't really do that, can I?<br />
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So here we go.<br />
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<i>Nirvana in Fire</i> is a Chinese drama based on a novel with (let's way) the same title. The story is about the only survival of a whole family who was convicted of treason and exterminated who carries out his plan to avenge the dead and restore the reputation of his family and friends. This drama is so full of intrigue and emotion, politic and friendship, and through this drama, we see people with amazing personality, that make us love them despite their flaws. It has been quite a while since last I watched anything as amazing plot-wise. But we're not talking about this. </div>
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When I started watching this drama episode by episode, it dawned on me that the story - even the character - seemed very familiar to me. It's exactly <i>The Count of Monte Cristo</i>, and it's not just the revenge part.<br />
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The Plot</h2>
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In <i>Monte Cristo</i>, the story started when Edmond Dantes was imprisoned for years for something he didn't do. In <i>Nirvana in Fire</i>, Lin Shu's whole family was accused of treason and killed while in fact, guess what, they had nothing to do with it. </div>
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Edmond Dantes then returned from what he described as hell as The Count of Monte Cristo, a wealthy nobleman whose origin is mysterious and intriguing. Just as Lin Shu who returned from a literal burning battlefield as Mei Changsu/Su Zhe, a powerful leader of Jiangzhou Alliance - the most powerful and resourceful Jianghu sect in the country. </div>
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Then, step by step, Edmond Dantes executed a well-prepared plan, using everything and every one around him taking revenge on the people who had made him suffer until his conscience couldn't handle it anymore. In almost the same manner, Lin Shu executed a well-prepared plan to help his childhood friend and an unfavoured Prince to ascend the throne while taking care of those who stood in his way to readdress the case that got his family and friends killed. </div>
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In the end, both Edmond Dantes and Lin Shu chose to disappear, though in a different way. In the end, they left people they loved after making sure that things would be fine for them. </div>
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Characters</h2>
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Let's get to the character. </div>
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Monte Cristo is always described as a cold, vampire-like human being. His calm, poised, and genteman-like manner is his charm and his best disguise. That is definitely not the cheerful, open, and warm Edmond Dantes when he was just about to marry and become a captain of a ship. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Edmond Dantes, Chinese Version</td></tr>
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Mei Changsu is pretty much the same. Described as someone with "manners as cold as snow, like a dark fragrance fluttering on the river," he was no less a vampire than Monte Cristo. Being constantly sick, he had a pale and weakly complexion, but his mind was never sharper. Not even his closest friend could recognize him as the former Lin Shu, a smart, naughty General with amazing martial art and strategy. </div>
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Add to that the similarity in the way people treat them. As a count, Monte Cristo was served in a most satisfactory manner one could imagine. People came and did things he'd want them to do without even asking because "they knew his preference." Because of his charm, riches, and personality, even his enemies were forced to treat him with courtesy. Mei Changsu, being a sect leader, had people waiting on him to care for his every need. These people genuinely cared for him, and tried their best to make his life as comfortable as possible.</div>
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If Monte Cristo had Ali, the mute Nubian, Changsu had Fei Liu, a kid with extraordinary martial art skill. Monte Cristo's Bertuccio is pretty much Changsu's Li Gang and Zhen Ping. In place of sweet and exotic Haidee, there's Gong Yu, an accomplished songstress with one sided love for Changsu. </div>
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Let's move on to the villains. You won't believe me, even the villains are similar. </div>
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First there's Xie Yu, <i>Nirvana in Fire</i>'s version of Fernand Mondego (is it his name?) or Comte de Morcerf. Ambitious and cunning, with personal envy towards Lin Shu's father, he plotted to get rid of him and stationed himself as the king's trusted advisor. Not just that, his child Jingrui "accidentally" met Changsu and they became friends, just so that Changsu could use him to move his plans forward. Sounds familiar? Yes, I am thinking about you, Albert. </div>
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Then there's Xia Jiang, another trusted subject of the king. He was famous for being just, disciplinary, rigid in his obedience to the law, etc. His was the head of the king's private intelligence bureau and never once broke his trust. However, he was the main instigator of the "treason case" that led Lin Shu's family and friends to their death. So, in short, he is Villefort. Also, his conversation with Mei Changsu actually reminds me of the conversation that Villefort and Monte Cristo had in the book. </div>
<h2>
Difference?</h2>
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One big difference between the two is actually the ladies.</div>
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In the Count of Monte Cristo, the ladies don't give too much impression at all, right? Unless when they are, as Monte Cristo (actually Shakespeare) said, frail. Mercedes was reprimanded for being fickle in her affection, the Madames of the other two families didn't fare much better. If there are praiseworthy ladies in the book, they are only Haidee and Valentine - both young and sweet, with happy ending. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I waited 12 years for him, Mercedes</td></tr>
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In <i>Nirvana in Fire</i>, the ladies have strong presence and personalities. Some of them waited or mourned for they people they loved for more than a decade. The main female character is a general with an army of her own, able to physically and mentally support her beloved ones. Another is a mother and doctor, with wisdom to keep herself and her son out of danger. There's also a scary one, playing a strategist for the other party.</div>
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But the biggest and the most important difference for me lies in the motive of the main character. In <i>Monte Cristo</i>, the main purpose of the main character is to avenge himself and to bring justice to people who had made him suffer. In <i>Nirvana in Fire</i>, to my surprise, the motive is pretty far from that. The main character even let one of the perpetrators go because revenge is not his goal. In the end, what he wanted is just for his family and friends' name to be restored, and his country to return to its glory. </div>
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Heroic.</div>
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I am not saying that I love one more than the other. As I have said somewhere in this blog before, <i>Monte Cristo </i>is one of the books that changed me. I will always treasure it. Nevertheless, it's interesting to see the story told in another setting and another culture. </div>
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By the way, I highly recommend <i>Nirvana in Fire</i> for those who like <i>Monte Cristo</i>. If you can stand watching 54 episodes of Chinses drama, that is. </div>
Lemon Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340029101536146372noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9136377775102467028.post-62523615754574820102016-02-15T03:28:00.001-08:002016-02-15T03:28:36.176-08:00A Little Princess: What Makes a Real Princess?Long time no see. Let's not get there. *sob internally*<br />
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I have long wanted to review a book I read some months ago. It's another book by <a href="http://half-filledattic.blogspot.co.id/search/label/Frances%20Hodgson%20Burnett">Frances Hodgson Burnett</a>. After my experience with her other children book, I expected a lot from A Little Princess - and the author surely delivers.<br />
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<i>A Little Princess</i> is about a girl named Sara Crewe. She was left at the boarding school of Miss Minchin by her beloved father. Thanks to her father's riches, her clever mind and lovely personality, her life in the boarding school was amazing. She was allowed to have a personal luxurious room, a maid, and a horse. She befriended many people, among them Ermengarde, Lottie, and Becky. She was hailed as a Princess and school, which she accepted gladly.<br />
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But her father's sudden death and business failures turned her life upside down. The Headmistress, who had long envied her and resented her, abused her - turning her into an unpaid maid and teacher-assistant. She was often left half-starved and cold in the attic, now serving as her room. Being all poor and lonely now, could she still be a princess? What makes a princess?<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
It would be easy to be a princess if I were dressed in cloth of gold, but it is a great deal more of a triumph to be one all the time when no one knows it.</blockquote>
This book really brings me back to my childhood. I feel as if I were 7, and I can enjoy everything that Sara does and says in the book. Although written for kids, I am not ashamed to say that this book brought me to tears. Sara's struggle to stay strong, noble and kind under most trying circumstances really moves me. But do not think that she will be a Mary Sue - all kind and naive. On the contrary, Sara's personality is really believable.<br />
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The only downside that I can say of this book is its portrayal of foreigners. Some people may find it hard to let their kids read a book that describes people from India only as pagans and servants. But apart from that, I have nothing to complain.<br />
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Have you read <i>A Little Princess</i>? I would love to know your opinion on this book.Lemon Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340029101536146372noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9136377775102467028.post-61274894449374034592015-05-21T20:35:00.003-07:002015-05-21T20:35:39.938-07:00Literature and Translation - What would the world be without it?What is the most translated book in the world? This far, I've never heard any dispute concerning The Bible as the most translated book ever in human history. Reaching a staggering number of more than 2800 languages in whole or in part, the Bible has no competitor in this regard. In fact, no book even get close to half of that number when it comes to translation.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fragment of Septuagint, translation of Hebrew <br />Old Testament into Greek</td></tr>
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Translating books is not something new. Take the Bible again. Even before A.D., the first portion of it had been translated into Greek for the sake of those who spoke the language better than Hebrew. The practice continued to our age. <a href="http://7brands.com/news/blog/language-news/worlds-most-translated-books/">Here's an infographic by 7Brands containing 50 World's Most Translated Books.</a><br />
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But why? Why does it matter?<br />
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A very good reason is that not everybody speaks every language. Not everybody speaks good enough Russian to read <i>Anna Karenina</i> or enough French to enjoy <i><a href="http://half-filledattic.blogspot.com/2012/12/les-miserables-final-review-what-does.html">Les Miserables</a></i>. (To be honest, nobody enjoys Les Mis, it's too sad.) Even if someone speaks a language good enough to understand what it says, mother tongue usually speaks better to the heart.<br />
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Some people say, "I don't read translations." I'd like to say, I'm one of them. As long as I understand a language good enough to understand, I'd be happier reading it in its original language than in translation. Bad news is, I only speak my mother tongue and English good enough to read. So, when reading some of my favourite authors, I need to rely on translation. None of us can enjoy the rich variety of literature world without accepting translation.<br />
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The second reason is that we are the same species all over the world no matter what language we speak. We experience the same feelings of happiness, joy, sadness, disappointment, and pain. Sad to say, but we suffer the same problems: diseases, economical hardships, injustice, and so on. As much as language is no barrier to our being human, it shouldn't be a barrier to our literature that authentically portrays these things. As Victor Hugo said in his letter regarding <i>Les Miserables </i>translation to Italian: "books must cease to be exclusively French, Italian, German, Spanish, or English, and become European, I say more, human, if they are to correspond to the enlargement of civilization." Of course he gave his permission for the translation.<br />
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The world was glad he did. Can we even imagine what the world would be without translation of some of the best literature in human history?<br />
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For one, we wouldn't have <i>Julius Caesar</i>, <i>Antony and Cleopatra</i>, and <i>Coriolanus</i> by William Shakespeare, because, although he had Latin education, he loved English so much he almost wouldn't touch anything but translation. Thanks to Thomas North's translation of Plutarch's <i>Lives</i>, we have them now. What would the world be without it? I wouldn't be able to insult people who 'speak Greek', and we wouldn't have a Japanese manga called "Salad Days".<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigkyrmo4GTElHsxLhRlrN06x_D_5fm_3IVxQtLQ6FoBZRDnY43Z0GCh3xaM281earuF_vU3YWQUGUzNubkGl-VtuxEdC-cbyoRBupLt7bL2YgpHA_gWFAUvF5hcdOkjipl_fVlJn81EX5c/s1600/odysseus7608.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigkyrmo4GTElHsxLhRlrN06x_D_5fm_3IVxQtLQ6FoBZRDnY43Z0GCh3xaM281earuF_vU3YWQUGUzNubkGl-VtuxEdC-cbyoRBupLt7bL2YgpHA_gWFAUvF5hcdOkjipl_fVlJn81EX5c/s320/odysseus7608.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Odysseus and the Sirens from Homer's <i>Odyssey</i>,<br />has been an inspiration for many other great works</td></tr>
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Without translation of Homer's <i>Odyssey</i>, no man would imagine his ordinary life as a parallel of Odysseus's adventures as in James Joyce's <i>Ulysses</i>, nor can Tennyson motivate the elderly to try doing something great instead of wasting their time in their comfort zone. Besides, who would we call that submarine captain in Verne's <i>20000 Leagues under the Sea</i>? Captain Nemo sounds a lot better than Captain Nobody.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
If nobody translated Ovid and Homer, Shaw wouldn't write <i>Pygmalion</i>, and we won't have Audrey Hepburn singing My Fair Lady on the big screen. It's even possible that we'd lost some of the best films in the world. I mean, Disney's Hercules and its cute Hades, Troy with Brad Pitt and Orlando Bloom in it, and of course, Percy Jackson.<br />
<br />
Can we even think about a world without Grimm's Fairy Tales and Hans Christian Andersen's Stories? Half of Disney animations would be gone.<br />
<br />
The world won't be the same place without literature translation. And I'm pretty sure, it won't be a better place without it.<br />
<br />Lemon Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340029101536146372noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9136377775102467028.post-53803474640743336472015-05-05T23:09:00.001-07:002015-05-05T23:09:11.691-07:00Just a short noticeHi, everybody. I feel so sad that I've not been able to blog as much as I used to. Right now I'm working on a post, but it's not yet ready. Also, I'll post roundup for Play On Challenge real soon and check all entries for the challenge. Please bear with me.<br />
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Still happy and still reading. :DLemon Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340029101536146372noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9136377775102467028.post-62919502386556451282015-04-05T21:46:00.001-07:002015-04-05T21:46:14.591-07:00PLAY ON! April - Freebie Month (Yay!)How do you like your plays this far? We have some exciting posts during the last months. I hope by now everybody has had his/her own favourite type of play.<br />
<br />
So this month is the perfect time to show them off! There's no limit, nor boundary whatsoever for the play you want to read - as long as it is a play.<br />
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So, without further ado, let's begin!<br />
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<!-- end InLinkz script -->Lemon Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340029101536146372noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9136377775102467028.post-41392165724805988852015-03-27T03:24:00.000-07:002015-03-27T03:24:22.963-07:00Life is A Dream: When to Do What's Right?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Post-Renaissance. I didn't cheat. Haha.<br />
<br />
But instead of taking Wilde or Shaw, I chose a new author: Pedro Calderón de la Barca. He is one of the most influential Spanish playwrights (which I didn't know before), and among his many plays, ths time I chose to read <i>Life is A Dream</i> - one of his finest works.<br />
<br />
It's such a shame that I don't speak Spanish, so I was forced to choose a translation. At last, after considering whether I want to read in prose or poetry, I chose Denis Florence Mac-Carthy's translation, because that particular translation tries to use the original metre of the play. The result is a kind of play I've never read before.<br />
<br />
Let's look at the plot first.<br />
<br />
***<br />
<br />
This play is about a man named Sigismund. He had been imprisoned and chained his whole life for the crime of "being born". No one knew that he was there, nobody visited him but a caretaker, Clotaldo, servant to the King of Poland.<br />
<br />
However, one day, Rosaura, a lady dressed as man, and Clarin incidentally found the tower where he was kept. Rosaura was in search of a man who took her honour to avenge herself. Her mother gave her a sword, saying that someone among the nobles of Poland would prove to be her friend. Upon seeing the sword, Clotaldo recognised her as his son (he didn't know she was a woman), and took both Rosaura and Clarin to Court.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile in court, Astolfo, Duke of Muscovy, was discussing with his cousin Estrella the prospect of ruling Poland together. Estrella didn't reject the idea of marriage with him altogether, but she was doubtful as to his fidelity, since she once saw him wearing a locket with a woman's picture inside. The King called them, and revealed that he in fact, had a son, locked and chained in a tower, because of a prophecy that he would kill his father and become a tyrant. The King felt guilty for trusting the prophecy too much, and decided to try his son's disposition, whether he would indeed be a good king or not.<br />
<br />
Their plan was to sedate Sigismund and brought him into the palace. When he woke up, he was confused. Clotaldo revealed that he was actually a Prince and that the King wished to reinstate him. Sigismund was furious. He couldn't forgive his father and everyone involved (including Clotaldo) for his suffering. When Astolfo, Estrella, and other Rosaura entered, he ended up offending almost everyone (except Rosaura I suppose). The king sedated him and he fell asleep.<br />
<br />
Sigismund woke up in his prison again. Clotaldo convinced him that he was but dreaming, but added that even though it had been a dream, he should have done the right thing.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"For 'twere well, whoe'er we be,<br />Even in dreams to do what's right."</blockquote>
<br />
But then it turned out that the people didn't like the idea of being ruled by a foreigner (Astolfo). So they liberated Sigismund from prison, and made him their king. Rosaura, disappointed that her father didn't want to defend her honour, supported Sigismund. The army of the king, Estrella, and Astolfo was lost to the army of Sigismund. Instead of killing his father as prophesied, Sigismund forgave him and spared his life, along with Clotaldo's. The attractive Rosaura was reunited with her lover, Astolfo, who, although reluctant at first to marry a lowly girl, relented when Clotaldo revealed that she was her daughter. Sigismund himself married Estrella, and ruled as king, with the blessing of his father.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
*****</div>
<br />
For me, the play is really interesting. Plot-wise, like most plays, it's a bit complicated, but dialogue-wise, it's a gem. Sigismund is described as a philosophical character, who likes to know the meaning of his existence.<br />
<br />
"Since man's greatest crime on earth<br />
Is the fatal fact of birth - "<br />
<br />
Another thing discussed in this play is the never-ending-problem of fate vs. free will. Can one break his destiny? Or rather, does fate exist?<br />
<br />
But the thing that I love the most about this play is how it likens our lives to dreams.<br />
<br />
"What is life? A thing that seems,<br />
A mirage that falsely gleams,<br />
Phantom joy, delusive rest,<br />
Since is life a dream at best,<br />
And even dreams themselves are dreams"<br />
<br />
And most importantly, that it doesn't matter whether we dream or not, because either way, we need to do what's right. It's interestingly timely, because just a few months ago I was having a discussion with my father as to whether a man, doing a wrong thing in his dream, is still guilty of his wrongdoing, although it's not "real". I am glad I'm not the only one who thinks that he's guilty.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
*****</div>
<br />
This is becoming too personal. So, how's your reading? Don't forget to share the link. Happy reading.Lemon Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340029101536146372noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9136377775102467028.post-29115155896052899052015-03-13T03:14:00.000-07:002015-03-13T03:14:26.482-07:00Pot of Poetry: When You're about to Die (Tichborne's Elegy)What would you say if you know that you're about to die, tragically? What kind of farewell would you choose to say to those who love you, or, more importantly, to those whom you love?<br />
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There's a rather <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NJqUN9TClM">nice country music about that</a> inspired by Tennyson's <i>Lady of Shallott</i>. But today we'll go further back to those times when everybody spoke poetry - Elizabethan/Jacobean England.<br />
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Picture yourself in the scariest jail in the country, The Tower, waiting for execution. You know it will come, you just don't know for sure when. Every sun that sets might be your last, every thought you think might perish with your body an hour from now, every memory of you might be forgotten before the year changes, everything that you have done might mean nothing at all. What would you say to your family, to fate, or to God?<br />
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It's difficult to picture myself saying anything worthy at all under that kind of situation. At least, fear doesn't help when you're trying to rhyme. What would? Resignation? Acceptance of your fate?<br />
<br />
In 1586, Chidiock Tichborne was going to face Death. His crime? Treason. As a Catholic, he was persecuted for his religion during the later years of his life, and, maybe because of that, he agreed to take part in Babington Plot to murder Elizabeth and put Mary of Scot on the throne. The method of execution was too gruesome to be told, but it's enough to make anybody sane sick to his stomach. Instead of writing, I would picture myself weeping on the floor begging somebody to spare me the pain and humiliation.<br />
<br />
No, not Tichborne. He spent his time writing to his wife one of the most touching Elegies I've ever read.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
My prime of youth is but a frost of cares,<br />My feast of joy is but a dish of pain,<br />My crop of corn is but a field of tares,<br />And all my good is but vain hope of gain.<br />The day is gone and yet I saw no sun,<br />And now I live, and now my life is done. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The spring is past, and yet it hath not sprung,<br />The fruit is dead, and yet the leaves are green,<br />My youth is gone, and yet I am but young,<br />I saw the world, and yet I was not seen,<br />My thread is cut, and yet it was not spun,<br />And now I live, and now my life is done. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I sought my death and found it in my womb,<br />I lookt for life and saw it was a shade,<br />I trode the earth and knew it was my tomb,<br />And now I die, and now I am but made.<br />The glass is full, and now the glass is run,<br />And now I live, and now my life is done.</blockquote>
Poor, unfortunate 23-years-old. He was executed the day after.<br />
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Tichborne was not the only one who stared at death with a pen in his hand. There's another one, who has been one of my favourites: Sir Walter Raleigh.<br />
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Unlike Queen Elizabeth I, King James didn't share my sentiments for him. Raleigh was convicted and tried for treason, released 13 years later, only to be jailed again - and this time, executed. Before he died, he wrote <a href="http://half-filledattic.blogspot.com/2013/06/raleighs-epitaph.html">this poem</a>. For a man who had been so bitter in his other poems, this kind of calm resignation makes me tremble. I mean, he was the one who wrote <i>The Lie</i>, telling people and abstract things to shut up while he publicly accuse them of lying.<br />
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But maybe in the end, when everything is about to dissolve, when we feel worthless, unimportant, and hopeless, our only hope is to be alive again. "My God shall rise me up, I trust."<br />
<br />
I hope he will.<br />
<br />
-----------------------<br />
<br />
Any poetical last words you want to share?Lemon Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340029101536146372noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9136377775102467028.post-31963925753182617342015-03-02T21:05:00.002-08:002015-03-02T21:05:40.644-08:00Time Traveler's Guide to Elizabethan England: Ready for Time Travel?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJeLIimA9zfbuQPPOZZ-UYO3rqw3KcaTIGMx23iH_H6gAnki81VoI_ZpE38BR_SpHHbCs1xwIuA2DSn_X4sDT2piP9HWVp-oaWO3YoLKr3cBwgeFr0N0MaV3XbeJxzDrW4SWKWEE6yfzrG/s1600/10372167.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJeLIimA9zfbuQPPOZZ-UYO3rqw3KcaTIGMx23iH_H6gAnki81VoI_ZpE38BR_SpHHbCs1xwIuA2DSn_X4sDT2piP9HWVp-oaWO3YoLKr3cBwgeFr0N0MaV3XbeJxzDrW4SWKWEE6yfzrG/s1600/10372167.jpg" height="320" width="216" /></a></div>
Thanks to Fanda, I finally have my own copy of this wonderful book. At first, I was dying for this book because I needed some references about Elizabethan England - not the political situation or religious views, because Google knows it all. What I really needed was the way people lived, the way they saw themselves, the way they dressed, the cost of their livings, etc. I am so glad I came to the right place.<br />
<br />
The first time I knew Ian Mortimer's name, it was from my Historical Fiction Writing class on Coursera. The second I knew about his Time Traveler's Guide, I was ecstatic.<br />
<br />
I really love the way the book is organised. It's divided into 12 chapters, each covers different aspect of people's lives - houses, clothing, food, drink, entertainment, etc. Each chapter is then divided into smaller parts for details.<br />
<br />
In case you wonder how Elizabethan England looked like, this book provides some full-coloured pictures of Elizabethan paintings. They reveal the way the Queen and other people dressed, the way they danced, and more importantly, the way they saw themselves.<br />
<br />
In this book you will read about Raleigh and his failed colonization of the New World, and about Drake and his successful journey as a (legal) pirate. You will also find the persecution of any religion other than the Anglican Protestant for political reason, about people who were imprisoned and died for what they believed in. You will also see the broad division of the rich and the poor, those who glittered in jewels and those who could barely cover their bodies. Through this book you can also visit London, THE city. It was where everything happened.<br />
<br />
Because the book is written in present tense, you even more feel like being part of that world. Just leave the world you live in with all its internet access, cars and airplanes, Facebook and Twitter, and fly through time and space into the world of Queen Elizabeth, of intrigues between Catholic and Protestant, of treason and wars, of plays and poems, of Marlowe and Shakespeare, of Raleigh and Drake, a world where everything changes for good and bad.<br />
<br />
I will read this book again and again in the future, I think. And for everybody who plays to write a historical fiction set in Elizabethan England, this book is certainly a must-have.<br />
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Having read the book, the only thing I need now is...<br />
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<br />Lemon Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340029101536146372noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9136377775102467028.post-28528994734394166052015-03-02T20:31:00.001-08:002015-03-02T20:31:51.403-08:00PLAY ON! March - Post-Renaissance PlaysGreat to see a lot of entries last month. It's actually lovely to see Marlowe and Lyly on the list as well. It seems like Macbeth won the vote for most-read Renaissance in this challenge.<br />
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March is more modern. You are free to choose anything after the English Renaissance. So <a href="http://half-filledattic.blogspot.com/search/label/Richard%20Sheridan">Sheridan</a>, <a href="http://half-filledattic.blogspot.com/search/label/Oscar%20Wilde">Wilde</a>, Shaw, and many others are very welcome. Don't be afraid to read outside of England. Beaumarchais, Hugo, <a href="http://half-filledattic.blogspot.com/search/label/Edmond%20Rostand">Rostand</a>, and the rest would be welcome as well.<br />
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Don't forget to share in the linky below.<br />
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<!-- end InLinkz script -->Lemon Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340029101536146372noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9136377775102467028.post-78751665841884106412015-01-29T18:36:00.000-08:002015-01-29T18:36:26.147-08:00 PLAY ON! February - Renaissance PlaysOur entries for January theme is somewhat scarce. However, I hope this month is a bit merrier, because instead of reading translations of old Greek and Latin, we (at least most of us) will be reading English plays in English without the distorting veil of translation.<br />
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Renaissance was a big movement that influenced all Europe, almost in every aspect of its culture. In England, however, when we talk of Renaissance, we talk about literature. Renaissance England was the time when people were in love with poetry, and poetry and plays flourished like flowers in spring. Spencer, Bacon, Thomas Wyatt, just to name the few. Just lovely.<br />
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But we're going to focus on plays.<br />
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<a href="http://half-filledattic.blogspot.com/2013/04/shakespeare-and-me-challenge.html">William Shakespeare</a>. No other playwright of the period - or of all periods - can match him in fame and glory. I expect many of us to find joy and pleasure in reading his plays. But he's not the only one. Just a few steps behind him is Marlowe. He doesn't get as much attention, not because the quality of his plays is somewhat lower than Shakespeare, but just because he died too fast. We only have the privilege to read some of his plays, such as <i><a href="http://half-filledattic.blogspot.com/2013/07/dido-queen-of-carthage-my-first.html">Dido and Aeneas</a></i> and <a href="http://half-filledattic.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-jew-of-malta-jew-demonized.html"><i>The Jew of Malta</i></a>. Other playwrights to consider are Ben Johnson, George Chapman, etc.<br />
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Although I mention mainly the English playwrights, it would be amazing to have other plays from all around the world. Don't be afraid to improvise.<br />
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Please share your reading moment with us in the inlinkz below. Enjoy the play(s).<br />
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<!-- end InLinkz script -->Lemon Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340029101536146372noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9136377775102467028.post-83387585969028502212015-01-28T03:43:00.000-08:002015-01-28T23:36:30.951-08:00Thesmophoriazusae: Introduction to Greek Sense of HumourEuripides made me read this.<br />
<br />
Having read some really gruesome Greek tragedies, I decided that I had to acquaintance myself with Greek comedy, so I browsed Wikipedia for advice. <i>Lysisastra </i>was my first option (a friend recommended it for me), however, upon reading the synopsis, I decided that I wouldn't like it. Then I read the plot of <i>Thesmophoriazusae, </i>in which it makes a parody of Euripides. That definitely made me read.<br />
<br />
****<br />
<br />
<i>Thesmophoriazusae</i> starts with Euripides and his friend (in-law, actually), Mnesilochus, discussed the chance of Euripides being killed by women. The women were offended by Euripides' portrayal of their sex in his plays. So in Thesmophoria, a fertility festival for Demeter, they plan to discuss how to revenge him.<br />
<br />
At first, Euripides sought the help of Agathon, a fellow playwright who cross-dresses as a woman. However, he refused. So Euripides dressed Mnesilochus instead as a woman and sent him to Thesmophorion to save his life.<br />
<br />
In Thesmophorion, the women had a sort-of democratic debate about Euripides. Mnesilochus tried to defend Euripides by asserting that Euripides had justly portrayed women as such, as he himself (dressed as a woman) had done acts even more terrible than what Euripides told in his plays.<br />
<br />
But his disguise was discovered. He was captured and he awaited his punishment. Euripides panicked. In some foolish attempts to save Mnesilochus he played Perseus/Andromeda and Menelaus/Helen (Mnesilochus always played the girl, by the way).<br />
<br />
At last, Euripides plead to the women, promising them he wouldn't portray them the way he had before in his plays. They didn't agree to save Mnesilochus, but he let him tried to do so.<br />
<br />
With a trick, he freed Mnesilochus from a Scythian Archer who was ordered to kill him.<br />
<br />
***<br />
<br />
All in all, it's so Greek to me. As I said before, it's my first Greek Comedy.<br />
<br />
The comic elements of the play - crossdressing, homosexuality and jokes about homosexuality, parody of well-known plays - remind me that humanity hasn't really change since Aristophanes' time.<br />
<br />
Although I was not really amused by this particular play, I put some Greek plays on my to-read list. One of them is Ipheginea at Tauris, which I will read when I have time. Or in April. Depends.<br />
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How was your first month in PLAY ON!? Have you been enjoying your play? Please share <a href="http://half-filledattic.blogspot.com/2014/12/play-on-january-ancient-plays.html">here</a>.<br />
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<br />Lemon Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340029101536146372noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9136377775102467028.post-52516945318975901862014-12-31T00:00:00.000-08:002014-12-31T22:48:58.906-08:00PLAY ON! January - Ancient PlaysJanuary is approaching. It's time to start our play reading challenge. The challenge for January is Ancient Plays.<br />
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When we say Ancient, it means anything before the printing press begun. So, Old Greeks and Romans are very welcome. Apart from those two obvious categories, if you happen to know Ancient plays from other parts of the world (Chinese or Japanese, for instance) they are welcome as well, provided they are written for plays, not epic or narrative poems.<br />
<br />
The Greek loved to write trilogies. It was long before <i>The Lord of the Rings </i>or <i>Hunger Games</i>, but they just knew how to make a good show. So if you happen to challenge yourself with the whole 3 plays in <i>Oresteia</i> or <i>Oedipus </i>cycle, that would be awesome. Unfortunately, we don't have many nowadays, most have been lost through age and time.<br />
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I have posted a linky below for us to share with others our reviews of the plays that we read. Please insert the play author, play title, your name, and the title of your blog, with a link to your review. (e.g.: Sophocles - Oedipus Rex (Listra@Half-Filled Attic))<br />
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And, don't be shy to share your reading experience in social media, using the #PlayOn hashtag.<br />
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Let's Play!
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<!-- end InLinkz script -->Lemon Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340029101536146372noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9136377775102467028.post-34028660665728786832014-12-28T05:51:00.002-08:002014-12-28T05:51:34.142-08:00Henry V: The Sun Unclouded<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8PRTGjE71jSVcdIAWJkx3W7qHUKLaWF6ahshfIK-nO4lVDGG1SjXIc72b7qauTrWOSn2VMPNJL1nqm5GpTz3xlaybshA1Do0EZeUVOskLbV8fhkMkLEr-S-cdpyGOIpGFzvL5OH97Xlox/s1600/hv.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8PRTGjE71jSVcdIAWJkx3W7qHUKLaWF6ahshfIK-nO4lVDGG1SjXIc72b7qauTrWOSn2VMPNJL1nqm5GpTz3xlaybshA1Do0EZeUVOskLbV8fhkMkLEr-S-cdpyGOIpGFzvL5OH97Xlox/s1600/hv.jpg" height="320" width="195" /></a></div>
Prince Hal had become a new king when we left him in <i><a href="http://half-filledattic.blogspot.com/2014/12/henry-iv-part-ii-boy-grew-up.html">Henry IV, part II</a></i>. Now it seemed that the new king gained popularity (in a good sense, not the old Shakespearean one) among his subjects. Remember when he said he'd 'throw off his loose behaviour' and 'falsify men's hope'? He did it. Everybody wondered how the king, who had been well-known as a good-for-nothing brat, could change into such a good and wise king in so short a time. But His Majesty's wisdom is about to be put to the test.<br />
<br />
The clergy and the nobles were pushing him to "reclaim" his title in France. Henry actually had a (weak) claim over the Kingdom of France, which was explained through a long genealogical tree. Assured that he was rightful in his claim, Henry decided to take over France.<br />
<br />
The ambassador of France came into the court, with a mock gift from the Dauphin - heir apparent of France. This gesture was definitely meant to start a war. Henry told his people to get ready for France.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, Falstaff died. That's it. End of story. His friends, including Pistol and Bardolph, joined the army. They didn't really mean to fight for the king, of course, they tried to get some extras along the way, stealing from people in an already difficult situation.<br />
<br />
The king caught 3 of his "best friends" red-handed, trying to kill him for "foreign gold". Henry was so shocked that the men he trusted could do such a thing to him. (Maybe he was never really wise in choosing friends.) The traitors executed, he departed shortly to France.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_-gBCF1XMF5pYPYVDR7U7JzuoZ4WZW6Ax0dVAjoEN5pKuI8fJ0EPikCDJvEsIlvwdKJoCM12pkfYSDLfvQKOo4t7Y47B1W2OUAmriP1xk-P36WpV1mkziUd-pxuxbtyg9-8sjW8tn8CGq/s1600/pic_20140214142018_jsft86vfce9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_-gBCF1XMF5pYPYVDR7U7JzuoZ4WZW6Ax0dVAjoEN5pKuI8fJ0EPikCDJvEsIlvwdKJoCM12pkfYSDLfvQKOo4t7Y47B1W2OUAmriP1xk-P36WpV1mkziUd-pxuxbtyg9-8sjW8tn8CGq/s1600/pic_20140214142018_jsft86vfce9.jpg" height="241" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jamie Parker as Henry. Have I told you that he's my favourite<br />
actor to play the part?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
He won the Battle of Harfleur, and march on towards Calais. France began to consider Henry as a real threat. However, the Dauphin still felt that Harry was just a petty king who loved to have fun. France sent a messenger to Harry asking about his ransom. (It's an old practice, that when you are held a prisoner you must pay a ransom for your release, much like a kidnapped kid. Seriously.)<br />
<br />
In the night, while the French bet on the numbers of Englishmen they would kill, and debate upon horses and armours, Harry disguised himself in the night, and went around the camp to see his soldiers. He also meditated upon the nature of being king, and as the morning approached, he prayed that God might help his soldiers to be brave.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
After a motivating lengthy speech (video above), and again, refusing to discuss his ransom with the herald of France, Henry and his army marched to battle. Surprisingly, they won. Henry refused any celebration, for he believed it was God who fought for him, and the credit must come to Him and Him alone.<br />
<br />
France agreed to discuss the claim. Henry was about to be next in line for the throne of France, and he was to marry the king's daughter, Katharine. Interestingly, although Katharine was promised to him, Harry still tried to woo her all the same. It seemed that he really liked her, after all. Well, apart fromt he comedy, the scene pretty much showed that Harry was an awkward lover, which is cute, by the way.<br />
<br />
Happy ending.<br />
<br />
****<br />
<br />
It doesn't sound exciting, is it? Well, the exciting parts are hardly in the main plot. The funny ones are Fluellen and Pistol, the heroic one is Henry, not in a big gesture, but in small small things that he does or says.<br />
<br />
<i>Henry V </i>is a comedy, but it never ceases to make me sad. Firstly the character of Henry. He was never the stern, calm king that he tried to act throughout the play. There are moments when the "real" Henry came out, and those moments are priceless. But he was almost never alone, and when there were people, there's this feeling that he staged himself to fit into their expectation of a good king.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPbVYjsHiiR0J6PCOlVgu2VTDjmrH7E0K0WphZd5t6NNEijriR5pt4PxUCxRbHSx58FRnCmtk1U-HqXoXRIN38KwDqGhuudLtKkajAtWswvi0_fRmhJRaDYOGDNY61bP_7rP8xy185j24a/s1600/henryV_2283080b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPbVYjsHiiR0J6PCOlVgu2VTDjmrH7E0K0WphZd5t6NNEijriR5pt4PxUCxRbHSx58FRnCmtk1U-HqXoXRIN38KwDqGhuudLtKkajAtWswvi0_fRmhJRaDYOGDNY61bP_7rP8xy185j24a/s1600/henryV_2283080b.jpg" height="200" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The king in all his glory before the Battle of Agincourt played by <br />(the more popular) Tom Hiddleston, which I also love.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Secondly, the Chorus. The function of the Chorus in <i>Henry V </i>is to build our expectation, and then destroy it. It really feels like history, you know, like when you read a history school book, and you read all these heroes that fought for your motherland, and they are praised so high that you start to wonder whether they were as blameless as their pictures in the books. The Chorus is that history book, the play is the reality.<br />
<br />
****<br />
<br />
<i>Henry V </i>is a lot of things. For one, it is an ending to a brilliant story about a boy's journey to maturity. It's also a great example of man's struggle to fulfill a role destined for him. It's about being human.<br />
<br />
Read it, or at least, watch it. No review can do it justice. No doubt your reaction to it will very much depend upon your own life experiences, and your interpretation.Lemon Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340029101536146372noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9136377775102467028.post-63581787163451215342014-12-27T00:51:00.001-08:002014-12-27T00:53:02.774-08:00Henry IV Part II: The Boy Grew Up<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It took me so log to write a review on <i>Henry IV, part II</i>, partly because I was lazy, partly because I was busy, and partly because it is the one I like the least in Shakespeare's first tetralogy. But the strongest reason why I haven't reviewed it for a long time is because I really don't know what to say about it.<br />
<br />
Prince Hal, whom we left in <i><a href="http://half-filledattic.blogspot.com/2014/08/henry-iv-part-i-father-and-son-and-fat.html">Henry IV part I</a></i> as a favourable son in the eyes of his father, came back to his former life of jests and fun and revelries. Falstaff, on the other hand, remained the same - old fat drunkard enjoying every bit of his life with jokes and petty crimes. However, something changed. Hal didn't have the same closeness he had once with Falstaff. In fact, they were rarely together. Another thing, he became somewhat more aware of his reputation as a prince - or let's say, more aware of what expected from his as a prince.<br />
<br />
There was also an interesting character - Chief Justice. He was an embodiment of rigid law, and he was unafraid to confront both Falstaff and Prince Hal. He disliked Falstaff and attributed Hal's bad conduct to his influence (which is right to some degree).<br />
<br />
It happened that one day Falstaff was busy having fun with a prostitute named Doll Tearsheet. Unbeknownst to him, Hal and Pointz was there within, listening when he began to speak abusively about them. When confronted, Falstaff again tried to make excuses, but Hal wasn't convinced.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, the king was sick, and now nearing his death, became more and more worried by his son's questionable conducts. When another rebellion arose, the King ordered his other son Prince John, to handle it. He succeeded with an unfair political stratagem, showing that (at least for me), he was no king material either.<br />
<br />
Hal came before the king, only to find that he was terribly sick in his bed. Believing that his father was already dead, Hal too his crown and put it on his head. The king woke up, and scolded his son severely. Yet when Hal explained his reason for taking the crown, the king relaxed. He gave his son some advice, and finally, his blessing, shortly before he died in peace.<br />
<br />
Falstaff, hearing that the king was dead, rushed to London. He believed that his friendship with Hal would earn him a safe haven in the new king's court. However, Hal, now King Henry V, rejected him and all his former friends. He gave Falstaff a small allowance, but threatened him with death punishment if he dared to come near him. Hal was determined to be a worthy king and to throw away his "former self".<br />
<br />
***<br />
<br />
Compared to the first part, Part 2 is rather dull, flat, and boring. I doesn't have enough Hal and Falstaff together. But in a way, it is necessary. Part two is the time when Hal starts to find himself. Maybe he distances himself from Falstaff, to be able to at last rejects him entirely.<br />
<br />
I love the Chief Justice for his integrity and loyalty to what he knew was right. He didn't refrain from punishing Hal just because he was a prince. Later, when he became king, he didn't lose even one bit of that legal integrity.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I am assured, if I be measured rightly,<br />
Your majesty hath no just cause to hate me.</blockquote>
Indeed he didn't. He challenged the new king to envision himself having a son like himself and imagining a person like the Chief Justice, bold enough to give the son a proper discipline. Hal was reasonable enough to see this, and ordered the man to keep his status and his responsibility.<br />
<br />
I believe another person to talk about is Henry IV. Oh, he just loved his country. After reigning for a long time he didn't lose even one small part of that love he had for England when he decided to take the throne.<br />
<br />
The sad thing about him is, he was still haunted by his past deeds.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
God knows, my son,<br />
By what by-paths and indirect crook'd ways<br />
I met this crown; and I myself know well<br />
How troublesome it sat upon my head.</blockquote>
But he assured Henry that the crown would sit surer on his head.<br />
<br />
Well, what now, England?<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Yet weep that Harry's dead; and so will I;<br />
But Harry lives, that shall convert those tears<br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="62" style="background-color: white;">By number into hours of happiness.</a></blockquote>
Shall he? See you in Henry V.Lemon Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340029101536146372noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9136377775102467028.post-90338400013925765922014-12-25T23:57:00.001-08:002014-12-25T23:57:25.273-08:00Jane Eyre: Being Independent vs. Being Needed?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1UajEOIcXejgFebyFcbHjJDlmITviu2d5XOdFa59Sbooy5inUjQdyvxzV2_EoSgHb5Gu5paJppkFgHOvOJHanYTwoLaqo4y-eVCcV0I3bJM1H5vupPt3-ugGWHoU841cP3kAMLYfXz9a9/s1600/jane-eyre.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1UajEOIcXejgFebyFcbHjJDlmITviu2d5XOdFa59Sbooy5inUjQdyvxzV2_EoSgHb5Gu5paJppkFgHOvOJHanYTwoLaqo4y-eVCcV0I3bJM1H5vupPt3-ugGWHoU841cP3kAMLYfXz9a9/s1600/jane-eyre.jpg" height="320" width="193" /></a></div>
<i>Jane Eyre</i> is a re-read. I remember I have read it some years ago, I don't remember exactly when. When I was in high school I read a Japanese <i>manga</i> with references to it, so I think maybe around that time I decided to read the book.<br />
<br />
Sadly, I forgot almost everything, except the ending. Upon watching the film, my memories were refreshed, but the film missed some scenes I knew was there. Then last month, I agreed to read it with Fanda.<br />
<br />
And I failed to finish it before the end of the month.<br />
<br />
(I believe I have forgotten how to write a book review. I don't know what to write at all.)<br />
<br />
Being an unwanted orphan in her aunt's house, Jane suffered a lot as a child. She wasn't taught how to be pleasant, and even when she tried to please, her effort was never regarded. Maybe Nature and Nurture had both conspired to make her a frank, straight-forward, plain-speaking girl.<br />
<br />
She was sent, at her aunt's request, to a school for girls, where her situation gradually got better. She was trained well to be a teacher, and after she taught there for some years, she left for "freedom". She advertised to be a governess, and she ended up in Thorfield, with a little French pupil called Adele, and a stern, somewhat harsh man called Edward Rochester.<br />
<br />
The man was the owner of the house, and Jane's master. Both soon found that they were very much alike, and that they liked each other. They were both strange, alienated from the world around them. They both spoke in woven code of tales and gazes and smiles that others wouldn't be able to perceive. And so they claim from one another some sort of special bond of friendship, and before long, of love.<br />
<br />
Not that fast.<br />
<br />
Later it turns out that Mr. Rochester was not a bachelor after all, but a man married to a poor lunatic - as good as gone. However, lunacy doesn't absolve or cancel marriage bond, and as soon as Jane found this out, she went away from Thorfield, her job, her pupil, and her love.<br />
<br />
Jane found settlements in the house of a clergyman, John Rivers, and his sisters, under a false name. However, he later found out Jane's true identity, with even more information that Jane's uncle had died, and left her a considerable sum of money. John Rivers and his sisters were actually Jane's cousins. Overjoyed, she shared her new-found riches with them equally.<br />
<br />
After rejecting Rivers' marriage proposal, Jane mysteriously heard Rochester calling her name. She went back to Thorfield, but it was terribly burnt. Mr. Rochester's wife had set the house on fire, and then committed suicide. Mr. Rochester himself lost his hand and his sight in the incident, and now was plunged in despair.<br />
<br />
However, Jane comforted him, and he proposed again. This time, there was no single bar to their marriage, and Jane accepted. The happy couple found delight in one another, and lived happily together.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
****</div>
<br />
<i>Jane Eyre</i> is a strange story. All along the novel, I found myself thinking, "What does this girl want anyway?" For one thing, she wanted independence. Being raised an orphan, she never had anything to decide for herself. She was always ordered around, she always had tasks, she always had prisons. When she left the school that had taught her so much, she said that she wanted to be free.<br />
<br />
On the other side, she also wanted to be needed. She was always attracted to people who <i>needed </i>her. Adele, who was an orphan herself, who didn't have anybody else to taught her but Jane, the melancholy Mr Rochester, with all his secrets and peculiarities, without anybody else to understood him but Jane, and Mr. Rivers, who needed somebody to accompany him on his journey to India.<br />
<br />
At first I thought it was rather a paradox. You can;t be free if you are attached to something, right? But then in Jane's case, her independence allowed her to choose her attachment. And that's the most important thing. Being free is not about being able to fly incessantly in the air, but to choose a place to rest.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Lemon Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340029101536146372noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9136377775102467028.post-15778336398732692632014-11-19T02:00:00.000-08:002014-11-19T02:00:34.653-08:00Off the Shelves: I Puritani, Lovelace, and AthosI know I should be reading <i>Jane Eyre</i>. I will. I promise. In fact, my ebook reader told me that I'm 2.7% through it. But something beautiful stands between me and <i>Jane Eyre</i>.<br />
<br />
It is an opera: <i>I Puritani</i>. <i>I Puritani</i> is an Italian opera composed by Bellini, and it's a particular favourite of Queen Victoria. I heard she even watched it with her beloved Prince Albert. Opera sounds like a perfect date to me. Especially if it's as sweet as <i>I Puritani</i>.<br />
<br />
Well, the opera is set during a tumultuous time in England's history. You can read the story of the end of the reign of Charles I. At that time, there were two sides in politics - the Royalists and the Puritans. The Royalists, as the name suggests, sided with the king. The Puritans were led by Cromwell. (To say that I know more about it would be a lie.)<br />
<br />
So there's this young lady, Elvira, a daughter of a Puritan, who fell madly in love with Lord Arturo Talbot, a chevalier, and a Royalist. After all the difficulties in their relationship, her father finally agreed to marry her to Arturo despite the differences in their political preferences. Everybody's happy. Arturo sang a beautiful love song, saying how much he loved her, and how happy he was that they could be together. The feeling was mutual.<br />
<br />
The path of true love, you know, wouldn't be that smooth. Right there, while preparing their wedding, Arturo met a woman who turned out to be Queen Henrietta of England. After her husband's execution, it seemed that she was next on the death row. Arturo, being a loyal subject, couldn't leave her to that fate. He vowed to save her.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Do not speak of her whom I adore; do not take away my courage. You shall be saved, oh unhappy woman, or I myself shall die. And my beloved maiden I shall invoke as I die. </blockquote>
<br />
So away he went with the queen wearing the veil of Elvira. What can I say? Elvira, left at the altar, became mad. (If being mad makes you sing that beautifully, I don't think people would mind so much.)<br />
<br />
Three months later, Arturo came home, still a fugitive. In the woods, he heard Elvira singing their love song, and he called her. No response. So he sang their song - the same tune, only different lyrics. The trick worked. She found him, confronted him, and the two were united.<br />
<br />
After a threat of death and another singing episode, the opera ends joyfully.<br />
<br />
See, I didn't plan to tell you the summary. You can watch full opera on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r6td1jRvyo">YouTube</a> and read the summary on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_puritani#Synopsis">Wikipedia</a>. That's not the point of this post.<br />
<br />
Puritans. Charles I. Chevaliers. Cromwell. Sad Queen. Those things bring only 2 names to my mind: Athos and Lovelace.<br />
<br />
<i><a href="http://half-filledattic.blogspot.com/2012/08/classics-club-project-twenty-years-after.html">Twenty Years After</a></i>, where the four musketeers went to England and witnessed the execution of the king, is set exactly during the same period. The same Queen, the same King. The character of Athos is pretty much the same with Arturo - a loyal Royalist who believes in aristocracy. Except, of course, Athos lacks the love story.<br />
<br />
That's why we have <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Lovelace">Richard Lovelace</a>. This time, it is a real person.<br />
<br />
I fell in love with Lovelace for the first time when I read two lines of his poem in Sabatini's <i><a href="http://half-filledattic.blogspot.com/2013/07/captain-blood-slavery-vs-piracy-which.html">Captain Blood</a></i>.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Stone walls do not a prison make<br />Nor Iron bars a cage.</blockquote>
<br />
But that's not all.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/RichardLovelace.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/RichardLovelace.jpg" height="320" width="267" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Richard Lovelace</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Lovelace was a real Royalist who was imprisoned twice for his political views. During those imprisonment, he wrote the poems that would later be published after his death, among them <a href="http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173923">"To Althea, from Prison"</a> and <a href="http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173924">"To Lucasta, Going to the Wars"</a>. Those poems have the same tone with the songs that Arturo sings.<br />
<br />
The similarity between the two is their devotion to their country - to a cause greater than themselves. They devote their life to something grand, something important, and that's why their love stories are more interesting than <i>Romeo and Juliet</i>. In his poems, Lovelace expresses all his longing for his beloved, all his undying love and fidelity, but at the same time, confesses that what he is doing is more important than his own feelings towards her. Arturo is pretty much the same. And that's why he's amazing.<br />
<br />
Thanks to <i>I Puritani</i>, I can't think about Lovelace without picturing the good-looking Juan Diego Florez who sings Arturo's aria, "A te, o cara" in the video below.<br />
<br />
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<br />Lemon Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340029101536146372noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9136377775102467028.post-66184590442844370632014-10-19T06:12:00.000-07:002014-10-19T06:12:27.277-07:00Pot of Poetry: Favourite PoetsThis month, Classics Club poses an interesting topic.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Let’s talk about classic poetry! Have you got a favorite classic poem? Do you read poetry? Why or why not? // You could also feature a poet or a book of poetry, rather than a poem.</blockquote>
I have to say that I'm in love with poetry. When I was little, I wrote my own poems, a hobby I can't let go of when I grow up. Why? Maybe I will never know.<br />
<br />
When it comes to poets, "two loves I have" - Shakespeare and Keats. The two are very very different both in style and sense. Keats, as a Romantic poet, loves the melancholy of Nature. His poems flow like springs of water, or fall like leaves in autumn, or whisper like breeze before rain. The other is completely different. Shakespeare uses a lot of different rhetorical techniques to convey his thoughts. He's a drama king, and he knows how to get people's attention. His poems talk about so man different things, delivers huge variety of emotions and thoughts, and resonates with the deepest, most secret desires in human beings.<br />
<br />
Shakespeare wrote mostly plays. Never mind they're poetic, they're still plays. It's quite a different thing. When using poetry for plays, Shakespeare pays attention to the dramatic nuance that poems have. That's why he wrote in metrical lines of iambic pentameter. But he also wrote poetry. They are not much, compared to his plays, but they are still worthily famous. If you are in love and don't know how to express your feeling, read his sonnets out loud. It helps.<br />
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Lately I sometimes find myself reciting this particular sonnet.<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
O! never say that I was false of heart,<br />Though absence seemed my flame to qualify,<br />As easy might I from my self depart<br />As from my soul which in thy breast doth lie:<br />That is my home of love: if I have ranged,<br />Like him that travels, I return again;<br />Just to the time, not with the time exchanged,<br />So that myself bring water for my stain.<br />Never believe though in my nature reigned,<br />All frailties that besiege all kinds of blood,<br />That it could so preposterously be stained,<br />To leave for nothing all thy sum of good;<br /> For nothing this wide universe I call,<br /> Save thou, my rose, in it thou art my all.</blockquote>
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It sounds like a lame excuse, but that depends on what you are talking about. I am a fangirl, so when I fall in love with something, I let myself fall hard. However, there are several things I can't entirely leave. "That is my home of love." If I get distracted, if I fall in love with something entirely different, if it seems like I have a new obsession, in short, "if I have ranged/Like him that travels," I will return.<br />
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Oh, but the poem above is hardly my favourite sonnet of Shakespeare. In fact, I cannot choose my favourite. It so much depends upon my moods and feelings at a given moment.<br />
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Now let's talk about Keats. I don't remember the first time I read his poems. I remember though, long before I actually read his works, I read a quote in a Japanese manga, saying, "Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard, are sweeter." The manga attributed it to Keats. Sadly, it was a translation, and believe me, it took me some time to finally get the authentic English version of that sentence.<br />
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My current favourite from Keats is some lines from his "<a href="http://half-filledattic.blogspot.com/2014/09/pot-of-poetry-from-lines-to-fanny-by.html">Lines to Fanny</a>." But that's not it. The pain and beauty of reading Keats is reading death in every line. You can't forget that he's dying when he wrote those. I can't read "Bright Star" or "Ode to Grecian Urn" without thinking of the poet's desire to stay still, to be "still steadfast, still unchangeable", to happily "forever piping songs forever new," to stop the clock and enjoy that one perfect moment forever. Whether it's "Ode to a Nightingale" or "To Autumn" or anything else that he wrote, it always gives me some sort of melancholic sadness. The worst part is, of course, I love him nonetheless.<br />
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So, Keats and Shakespeare - my two big loves. Do you have any?Lemon Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340029101536146372noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9136377775102467028.post-48423133921156795782014-09-24T23:16:00.000-07:002014-09-24T23:21:14.573-07:00Pot of Poetry: Poe's "To My Mother"Edgar Allan Poe was a renowned poet and short-story writer. His expertise is frightening people out. I can only imagine the things that he's been through both physically and mentally.<br />
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This is true for most of his poems. However, some of his poems remind me that he's just a proper human being as the rest of us, a person with ordinary feelings, ordinary affections, ordinary capacity to love. I think the poem "To My Mother" is a perfect example of that.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Because I feel that, in the Heavens above,<br />
The angels, whispering to one another,<br />
Can find, among their burning terms of love,<br />
None so devotional as that of “Mother,”<br />
Therefore by that dear name I long have called you—<br />
You who are more than mother unto me,<br />
And fill my heart of hearts, where Death installed you<br />
In setting my Virginia's spirit free.<br />
My mother—my own mother, who died early,<br />
Was but the mother of myself; but you<br />
Are mother to the one I loved so dearly,<br />
And thus are dearer than the mother I knew<br />
By that infinity with which my wife<br />
Was dearer to my soul than its soul-life.</blockquote>
The first four lines is filial obligation. A child is expected to be "devotional" to their mothers, to treat them with love and respect. But Poe is not talking about <i>his </i>mother here. He's talking about his wife's mother. His deceased wife's mother.<br />
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He says that "death installed [the mother]/In setting [his wife's] spirit free." And that's the reason why that mother is "more than a mother" to him. Because he loved his wife so much, he extended that love to the people that his wife loved and the people that loved his wife.<br />
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He even has a reason to love his wife's mother more than his own mother because he his wife "was dearer to [his] soul than its soul-life." The fact that he loves her mother more than his mother is in parallel with the fact that he loves her more than he loves himself.<br />
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But it doesn't mean that the mother is just a representative of is wife, or replacement of his mother. He calls her <i>My</i> Mother. It's his own mother. His relationship with her is also personal, not just an in-law relationship.<br />
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The most touching part is that it's true. Poe was so close to his mother-in-law. He sent letters to her as much as one would to a mother. He might be the master of psychopathic stories but, a man is but a man.Lemon Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340029101536146372noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9136377775102467028.post-91680523307176063912014-09-22T03:01:00.000-07:002014-09-22T03:01:40.578-07:00Pot of Poetry: From Lines to Fanny, by John KeatsIt's Romantic month in Classics Club. When I first heard it, I instantly thought of him - Keats. For me, he is the definition of Romantic Poetry. His poems give some sort of peace and serenity to its reader.<br />
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Some months ago I believe, I stumbled upon his lines to Fanny. The first three lines were okay, but the fourth..<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Touch has a memory. O say, love, say,<br />What can I do to kill it and be free<br />In my old liberty?</blockquote>
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The idea that you can remember a touch, that not your brain, but your skin, your muscles, can remember a touch, is lovely. It's not only your brain that refuses to forget, but all parts if you, all parts that have experienced love.<br />
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But the next few lines are even more lovely.<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
When every fair one that I saw was fair<br />Enough to catch me in but half a snare,<br />Not keep me there:</blockquote>
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The 'half a snare' part is brilliant. There are those times when you see people and you are physically or mentally or in some other way attracted to them. But because you have someone else that you love, they don't 'keep you there'. You don't fall for those people because you can't forget the one that truly has your heart entrapped. <br />
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What I really love about this poem, or just Keats in general, is the simplicity of the language, of the wording. It makes it sound so sincere, so innocent. You don't smell deception. In some Renaissance poems, sometimes you smell flattery in the air, maybe because the words are complicated, or because the poet forces the rhyme. Sometimes (not always, but sometimes) the poems don't 'flow' naturally, and you think that the poet is trying to deceive you. But this poem doesn't feel that way.<br />
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I am not good at explaining poetry. I think I can never do Keats justice whenever I talk about him. I must stop now before I talk more nonsense.<br />
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If I can find the time before the end of the month, I'd like to share something from Poe, another poet that I like.<br />
<br />Lemon Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340029101536146372noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9136377775102467028.post-9186899317541179762014-08-31T23:33:00.001-07:002014-08-31T23:33:30.290-07:00PLAY ON: Play Challenge in 2015Those who frequently visit my little blog can no doubt observe my passion for plays. Plays are interesting in so many ways. So in the first quarter of next year, I'd like to invite everybody to join with me in this play event/challenge.<br />
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So here are the rules:</div>
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<ul>
<li>The challenge will run for four months, beginning from January 2015.</li>
<li>Each month, there will be a monthly theme. </li>
<li>A master post will be published shortly before the challenge begins.</li>
<li>Participants are expected to read and post a review each month, and post it in the upcoming Master Post.</li>
</ul>
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We want to keep the theme wide enough in order to allow everybody huge options. So I'll just split plays into four categories based on the period when they were written and assign each period to each month.<br />
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<b>January: Ancient Plays</b>, including Greek and Roman plays<br />
<b>February: Renaissance Plays</b>, including Shakespeare and his contemporaries<br />
<b>March: Post-Renaissance Plays</b>, anything post Renaissance is allowed. Wilde and Shaw are very welcome<br />
<b>April: Freebie Plays</b>, if you find any particular playwright interesting during the 3 months, feel free to read another of his/her plays. Or if you want to experiment with other genre or other playwright, you are in.<br />
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So, please sign in using the linky below with your name and the name of your blog (e.g. Listra - Half-Filled Attic). I'd be thrilled by your participation.<br />
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<link href="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/styles/default.css" media="all" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"></link><script src="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/loc_en.js"></script><script src="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/opt_defaults.js"></script><script src="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/misterlinky.js"></script><script src="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/autolink.php?mode=standard&owner=museforsaken&postid=01Sep2014" type="text/javascript"></script>Lemon Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340029101536146372noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9136377775102467028.post-81770210795728212322014-08-31T22:38:00.000-07:002014-08-31T22:38:14.386-07:001599 - A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare: Lovely Peek into the Bard's Creative Process<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I have to admit it was not easy to pick up this book, sit down, and actually read. I ended up reading this book in several sittings, and even skimmed some of its tedious bits. Nevertheless, it is an interesting book, and interesting attempt to reconstruct Shakespeare's life.<br />
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"What had influenced Shakespeare in the most primal year of his creativity?" The book tries hard to answer that question, analyzing Shakespeare's own life and the restless England around him. Instead of going through all of Shakespeare's life, the author decided to focus on one particular year - the year when Shakespeare penned down <i>Henry V, Julius Caesar, As You Like It, </i>and <i>Hamlet</i>.<br />
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What I like about the book is its neatness in compiling facts into probable conclusion. Through the book, we go from the intrigue in Elizabeth's court into lowly actors and peasants lives. Through the book also, we find how England's political situation, press activity, and other little things might have affected Shakespeare and his works.<br />
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For me, notable, it is interesting to see how the publication of <i>The Passionate Pilgrim</i> might have affected <i>As You Like It</i>, and also might have brought back Marlowe's ghost into Shakespeare's mind.<br />
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Having said all the good things about the book, it's still necessary to note that the book is more about the year than about Shakespeare. Between Shakespeare and Shakespeare, the book mentions tons of history, including all the details about Spenser and Essex. Although the author argues that it is 'necessary', it is still too much for me.<br />
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Oh, and this book is part of my reading for Fanda's <a href="http://klasikfanda.blogspot.com/2014/01/history-reading-challenge-2014-master.html">History Reading Challenge</a>.<br />
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<br />Lemon Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340029101536146372noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9136377775102467028.post-44359117906178114512014-08-16T20:54:00.000-07:002014-08-17T02:39:16.526-07:00Henry IV Part I: Father and Son (and a Fat Friend)This is the second play in Shakespeare's second tetralogy. I have reviewed <a href="http://half-filledattic.blogspot.com/2014/06/richard-ii-two-buckets-filling-one.html"><i>Richard II</i></a> somewhere in the blog. Now, to be honest, I kind of read the four plays in succession. So in fact, I have read them all since several months ago. However, being me, I can't write well when I feel too much, so I waited until my heart cools down. (In fact, I can't write about Henry V now for the same reason.)<br />
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We all have seen how Henry Bolingbroke feels guilty about 'compassing the crown' in Richard II. The feeling haunts him for the rest of his life. To be fair about it, he didn't take it because he was ambitious. From his point of view, it's more like saving-the-kingdom-from-a-bad-ruler kind of thing. However, it's still wrong. So this past deed torments him so much with guilt and fear.<br />
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Why fear? Well, once you overthrow a king other people will start thinking that they can overthrow <i>you</i> in order to be king. Further on, there are other people lurking about who have stronger claim to the throne than Henry IV himself. Politics.<br />
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The king's distress doesn't stop there. His oldest son, who would later become king, is a naughty rascal. He doesn't go to the court, but to the tavern. He is friend with robbers, drunkards, thieves, prostitutes, and what-not. Certainly not a good reputation for a king-to-be.<br />
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On the other hand, Northumberland (if you remember the guy who helped Henry to the crown) has an excellent son - Henry Percy a.k.a Hotspur. He has a reputation of an honorable and brave soldier. Henry IV's a bit jealous that Northumberland has such a son while his own is hopeless. This same young man later joins his father and uncle in a rebellion against the king. It is by no means surprising, because his brother-in-law has a claim to the crown stronger than that of Henry IV himself.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jeremy Irons as Henry IV </td></tr>
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That's not the king's main source of fear. His fear comes from the resemblance between this young soldier's reputation and feats with his own when he took the crown. It's like <i>dejavu</i>, with you on the losing side. It's certainly not a beautiful thing to imagine. Being frustrated, he vents all his causes of distress to his oldest son, scolding him so bad (in private, thankfully), comparing him with the gallant Percy.<br />
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That's painful. So the prince vows to kill Percy and proves that he's not as bad as his father thinks. (He truly is not that bad, I mean, come on, he's Henry V. Oops, spoilers.)<br />
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Talking about the prince. (I start to smile and blush in front of my computer screen.)<br />
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Because kings and nobles love to name their kids after their own names and make everything confusing, I'll just call the prince as Prince Hal. After all, it's his popular name. His father wouldn't like it, but as long as he doesn't know, it's kinda okay. Besides, the name 'Prince Hal' sounds so sweet in the tongue of his best companion - Falstaff.<br />
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See, I have a high standard for friendship, and Falstaff doesn't reach even half of it. Nor does Pointz, Hal's other companion. But before I digress and leave my subject, let's go back to the prince.<br />
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To understand what the Prince thinks about himself, Shakespeare gives us one short soliloquy.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I know you all, and will awhile uphold<br />
The unyoked humour of your idleness:<br />
Yet herein will I imitate the sun,<br />
Who doth permit the base contagious clouds<br />
To smother up his beauty from the world,<br />
That, when he please again to be himself,<br />
Being wanted, he may be more wonder'd at.<br />
...<br />
So, when this loose behavior I throw off<br />
...<br />
My reformation, glittering o'er my fault,<br />
Shall show more goodly and attract more eyes<br />
Than that which hath no foil to set it off.<br />
I'll so offend, to make offence a skill;<br />
Redeeming time when men think least I will.</blockquote>
Young little braggart. The prince sincerely believes that he's just playing around, concealing who he really is, and one day, when he becomes a king, he'd be amazing. (Which is true, by the way, but not the way that he thought it might be.) Instead of sounding like a great prince or soldier, he sounds like a teenage school boy, dreaming of greatness in days to come, but loitering around instead of working for it.<br />
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Another thing about the prince: his association. I'd be the first to admit that your companions affect you tremendously in ways you may not realize. Prince Hal's are the worst association you can get for a prince. But the worst of them is Falstaff.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jamie Parker as Prince Hal, Roger Allam as Falstaff,<br />
both are my favourites of the roles.</td></tr>
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Falstaff is an old rogue with no personal standard of right or wrong. He himself is the law to himself, or, may I say, lawless. He doesn't care a scruple about lying, stealing, or swearing. A person like that is great for humor, not great for a friend. Apart from physical jokes that Hal practices on him, he also calls him a "white-bearded Satan". Seeing that he lies a lot, I'd prefer the word 'devil'.<br />
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***<br />
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So. The play is not really about the king, it's more about the prince. Or both.<br />
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What I like about the play is that it's so many different things. Although the previous <i>Richard II </i>is practically a tragedy, <i>Henry IV </i>onward are comedy. So we laugh a lot. And since Falstaff is a great comic character, I really have nothing to complain about the script. From King Henry's point of view, it's not so comical. He has rebellion, a difficult son, and past sin to deal with. But that's another beauty of the play.<br />
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For me, the most important thing in the play is the relationship between Hal and his father. It's lovely because it's so realistic. Putting aside the kingship and all its glory, they're just father and son. Have you ever known parents who constantly compare their children with other children, and children who are tired of being treated so? Or children being tired of their parents expectation of them? Or parents being frustrated by their children's behaviour? It's all in <i>Henry IV</i>.<br />
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I also think that Prince Hal resembles so many of youngsters in the world. Nothing's wrong with it, it's just, you know, being young. I'm not referring to his drinking habit or choice of companions, but his search for identity, his bragging about the future, his struggle with peer pressure and people's expectation.<br />
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Goodness, I love the play. And the Prince.<br />
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***<br />
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So, the play ends with Hotspur dead and the rebellion thwarted, Hal being Hal again after killing Percy. Falstaff takes the praises for killing Percy (crazy liar!). Everybody's happy(?). It's a comedy after all. But Our story hasn't ended.<br />
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See you in <i>Henry IV Part II</i>.Lemon Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340029101536146372noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9136377775102467028.post-62411246546291778952014-08-15T18:27:00.000-07:002014-08-15T18:27:26.904-07:00Scaramouche: All the World's a Stage, and He is Scaramouche<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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When I first took up the book <i>Scaramouche</i>, I was expecting something like <i><a href="http://half-filledattic.blogspot.com/2012/05/classics-club-project-count-of-monte.html">Monte Cristo</a></i> or at least <i><a href="http://half-filledattic.blogspot.com/2013/07/captain-blood-slavery-vs-piracy-which.html">Captain Blood</a></i>, with far far away adventure and a ship or two. Instead, I got French Revolution.<br />
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Andre-Louis Moreau was an ordinary lawyer under the care and provision of his godfather, Quintin de Kercadiou, Lord of Gavrillac. He didn't really care about politics, or about the world in general, despite his appetite for books and philosophy. However, everything changed when he met first hand, for the first time, the ugly face of injustice.<br />
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Andre-Louis had a friend, with quite a different opinion from him, named Philippe de Vilmorin. He had keen eyes for injustice and zeal for change and revolution. He, like many other in that era, particularly disliked the Privileged few, the aristocrats. One morning, Philippe went to Andre-Louis' place, asking him for help. A peasant had been shot to death for hunting in Marquis de La Tour d'Azyr's property, and he left a poor family. Philippe wanted the Marquis to at least take care of that family. But because the Marquis had a reputation of heartlessness, Philippe expected Andre-Louis' godfather to ask it of his friend.<br />
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The business ended badly. The young man was provoked into a duel, and, being a seminary student and unskilled in fencing, he died in the hand of Marquis de La Tour d'Azyr.<br />
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That's where the story starts. Andre-Louis stubbornly demanded justice, and being turned away by the legal sense of it, he sought justice elsewhere. Like an Antony, he spoke to the people with Philippe's voice, regardless his own belief in politics, and swore chaos and destruction in his heart for the Privileged, his friend's murderer among them.<br />
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Being an activist is not a small matter. He ended up being hunted and had to change his identity. He joined a band of travelling actors, took the name Scaramouche, and disappeared. He later learned fencing, and led a school. Later on, he went back to politics, again in the hope of bringing de La Tour d'Azyr to justice.<br />
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Let me tell this plainly. This book is not about the even arms of justice. It's not like <i>Monte Cristo</i> where justice was served brilliantly (at least from Dantes' point of view), or <i>Captain Blood</i>, where people got what they deserved (again, from his point of view). Rather, it's about men's search for it, men's struggle for it, despite the vagueness and the imperfection of the people that define it. Andre-Louis never gets his justice. There's no such thing as retaliation. There's no such thing as revolution for the better government, no such thing as perfect society. None. And that's how the story ends.<br />
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***<br />
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Andre-Louis feels like the younger brother of Captain Blood. The character, the view, the change, are pretty much the same. Their tastes for women are also similar. Aline is pretty much another Arabella, but younger and not so harsh. So, yeah, everything's pretty predictable.<br />
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Quentin de Kercadiou is charming. He's a very loving godfather, only he doesn't show it much. He cares so much about his family and friends, although limited affection for anybody beyond that important circle. His love for Andre-Louis under the mask of anger and stubbornness is also touching. And because Andre-Louis loves him all the same, it becomes even sweeter.<br />
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The word Scaramouche echoes throughout the book, as Andre-Louis calling himself Scaramouche, for being a smart clown that always runs right before everything turns real bad. A fitting name.<br />
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***<br />
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Whether I like it or not, is hard to say. But I don't think I will read it again seriously other than to skim it for fun. The plot is pretty, how do you say it, inconclusive, not because it's unfinished, but because it doesn't finish exactly like it should. Like I said, no justice or retaliation, no significant reformation, not even hollistic reconciliation. It's just 'The End'. Ta-da.<br />
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But surely I'm glad to finish another Classic Club homework.Lemon Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340029101536146372noreply@blogger.com1