h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

have any of you seen the movie they made -- 'much ado about nothing' -- with kenneth brannagh and keanu reeves and emma thompson? its soooooooo good
-saffire

Haven't seen it yet. I've seen Kenneth Brannagh in Hamlet (as Hamlet) and Othello (as Othello) but that's all this Shakespeare stuff I've seen. He's very good (though he's a tad old to play Hamlet)

"any of you"? Shouldn't that be "any of us"? In any case, no, I generally avoid Shakespearian movies, perhaps out of some dim remembrance of being tortured with the written version many moons ago when I was in high school.

there's the rub. You got the written version of a medium that was meant to be seen and heard, not read. Watch the thing. Don't get hung up on the language barrier, it's not as big as you may think. You don't have to pick it apart metaphore by metaphore, iamb by iamb, either. Hamlet is quite exciting when taken at face value, and the comedies are very entertaining.

OK, I confess. Although I generally detest movies, I have seen the Bard's works a few times in the honest-to-got for-real theatre as well. Let's see...Hamlet, Midsummer Night's Dream, one of the Henry's. And I agree, that's the right venue, one where you can see people actually emote, as opposed to photons on screen.

Unfortunately, my tastes remain decidedly lowbrow. Give me a good Destroyer novel any day.

I'm also doing Chaucer! When I first heard the two most dreaded names in Literature, I thought 'why am I doing this?' (simultaneously with 'I can't do this'). But, I have to admit that Chaucer is darn good. Better heard (with proper pronunciation!) than read! Perhaps I'll get the hang of it... eventually!

Haven't seen ANY Shakespeare (not even 'Shakespeare In Love'! - though I'm told it's pretty good, if slightly innaccurate in some senses!) I always thought it was strange at school that we weren't compelled (or even offered the chance) to do Shakespeare. Guess I feel I'm missing out on something, which is (partly) why I'm doing it now.

'sus

Yeah, one of my earliest Shakespeare encounters was actually performing in Midsummer, so I've always liked it. I never could get into Cantebury Tales, though. I don't have the slightest clue why.

I have to confess to 'cheating' and reading the modern English version, before making some sense of it originally (very readable translation by Neville Coghill). My tutor also speaks middle English very well, which helps!

'sus

This has only the vaguest of connections to the conversation, but for some reason I'm reminded of reading the Dorothy Sayers translation of Dante's divine trilogy -- likewise a very excellent rendering into modern English. (Though even Sayers can't keep purgatory and paradise from falling flat by comparison to the famous Inferno.)

I've never actually read the Inferno (nor the other two) because I was informed that to really understand it, you need to know something about Italian Politics at the time, and I've never had occasion to learn about it. This did not stop me from making a poster saying "Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Enter Here" on the door to the basement of my dad's lawfirm where I was working a few summers ago. Apparently it's still there...

Well, like Shakespeare, Dante is one of those things you can enjoy without understanding completely. You could always try the Niven/Pournelle INFERNO first to get an idea of the basic setting, and then delve into the original

*in sheepish voice* what exactly is dante's inferno about?
-saffire

Exactly? I don't know quite enough to say, but I can give you the broad idea. Dante travels to a rather traditional Christian Hell, guided by the shade of the poet Virgil. As he travels through the circles of Hell he meets a lot of people being punished in most hideous fashion for their sins on earth. Apparently he chose some particularly gruesome punishments for his political enemies.

It's the first book in a trilogy. The other two are Purgatorio and Paradisio, where he visits the rest of God's plans for the afterlife. I think the whole thing is designed to make some points about behaving yourself, though I can't say for sure.

It's very powerful writing in spots, though he does do a better job with the gruesome bits than the heavenly ones.

Pain is more exciting to hear about than pleasure (don't get dirty here). Stories of bad things are much more entertaining than stories of things that went well. So naturally "the Inferno" would be the more enticing read. That and the fact that if Heaven is perfect, the definition of "perfect" differs from person to person (a reason that Homer refrains from discribing Helen of Troy, the most beautiful woman in the world) makes it much easier to describe Hell.

But then everyone's perception of 'hell' differs too. For example, an all-night every night Celine Dion cabaret *shudder*

Doesn't bear thinking about!

'sus

Considering the wide variety of torments that Dante sees inflicted in Hell, it wouldn't surprise me to find the all-night every-night Celine Dion cabaret tucked away in one corner. In the Niven and Pournelle version, the protagonist discovers some empty space reserved for sins that haven't been invented yet.

Well, now we know what's in there!

I think I'll have to add 'Inferno' (?) to my 'must read it sometime if I'm not too busy playing...erm, I mean... working on the computer'!

'sus

I can't think of anyone worth knowing that wouldn't feel tortured by a 24/7 Celine Dion Concert. I imagine that even her fans wouldn't be quite as enthralled after a while, and surely she'd rather have a break or two, a chance to change her clothes (it gets hot and sweaty under stage lights, I know).

wow. i leave for three days and all of a sudden we're talking about eternal damnation. true, celine dion would be about as bad as you could get.

*gallops from forum screaming*