Shakespeare has been in the news lately. Many authors are forgotten as time goes on, but Shakespeare is debated, copied, and celebrated year after year. It's a testament to the quality of his writing, and of course, a considerable achievement for someone who died 400 years ago. I sometimes wonder why Shakespeare has endured while so many of his contemporaries are forgotten, many of their manuscripts lost to time. Shakespeare was fond of borrowing elements from Thomas Kyd's works - try reading Kyd's play The Spanish Tragedy alongside Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus or even Hamlet some time. There's also the Ur-Hamlet, possibly written by Thomas Kyd, and performed before any record of the Hamlet we all know (and love). And of course, where would Shakespeare have been without Christopher Marlowe's "Mighty Line"? Marlowe's Doctor Faustus contains the strong prose and magical elements Shakespeare employed in many of his works. So Shakespeare borrowed from other writers, true - but plenty of writers have borrowed from Shakespeare as the years have gone on. With that in mind, here at the library we decided to display some works inspired by Shakespeare's life and writing. Come by the 2nd floor to check these books out:
Based on the life of Shakespeare:
License to Quill by Jacopo Della Quercia
The Secret Life of Shakespeare by Jude Morgan
Based on Romeo and Juliet:
The Prince of Cats by Ronald Wimberly
The Master of Verona by David Blixt
Based on King Lear:
Fool by Christopher Moore
A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley
Based on The Winter's Tale:
The Gap of Time by Jeanette Winterson
Based on The Tempest:
Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood
Juno's Daughters by Lise Saffran
Based on Macbeth:
Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett
Lady Macbeth by Susan King
Based on A Midsummer Night's Dream:
Sandman, volume 3: Dream Country by Neil Gaiman
Based on The Merchant of Venice
Shylock is My Name by Howard Jacobson
Other titles to look out for are Nutshell by Ian McEwan, and Something Rotten by Jasper Fforde. Of course, if you can't get enough Shakespeare we have his works in print, audiobook, and DVD. Last but not least, the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival will be performing Hamlet this year, where the play's the thing.
