 |
| Source: Amazon.com |
From the cover: Return once more to a galaxy far, far away with this sublime retelling of George Lucas's epic Star Wars in the style of the immortal Bard of Avon. The saga of a wise (Jedi) knight and an evil (Sith) lord, of a beautiful princess held captive and a young hero coming of age, Star Wars abounds with all the valor and villainy of Shakespeare's greatest plays. 'Tis a tale told by fretful droids, full of faithful Wookiees and fearsome Stormtroopers, signifying...pretty much everything.
Reimagined in glorious iambic pentameter, and complete with twenty gorgeous Elizabethan illustrations--William Shakespeare's Star Wars will astound and edify Rebels and Imperials alike. Zounds! This is the book you're looking for.
The review: I have never really gotten into Shakespeare. I'll admit it. I don't hate the Bard's writings. And I quite enjoy the stories I have been exposed to, such as Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, and Much Ado About Nothing. Yeah, I saw them as movies, which a true Shakespeare lover would probably find deplorable. But I haven't been able to actually read the guy's stuff myself.
 |
| The author, Ian Doescher. / Source: QuirkBooks.com |
Not that I haven't tried, or been forced to, on occasion. I had to read a part from Romeo and Juliet in junior high, as part of a in-class aural reading assignment the English teacher gave. I didn't like it. Of course, how many junior high boys really would?
As for really trying to read Shakespeare, I have attempted using "No Fear Shakespeare," that website that translates it into common English. However until recently, I didn't have comfortable access to a computer upon which I could read for an extended period of time. And we're not talking short stuff here, in Shakespeare's case. I wasn't thrilled with the prospect of sitting and reading through an entire play like Julius Cesar at my desktop.
That has changed, given my semi-recent introduction to the world of tablet computing. Now I will have to go back and revisit No Fear Shakespeare when I have nothing else going on and feel like reading. I wonder, is there an "app" for that?
All this brings me to my latest completed read, William Shakespeare's Star Wars, by Ian Doescher. I recall seeing the advertisement for this book and thinking: "oh, that sounds like so much fun!" The idea of changing George Lucas's seminal work into a work that Shakespeare himself could relate to, minus the far-fetched technology, was pretty clever.
 |
| Farmboy come Jedi Knight takes on role of Hamlet? It's actually decent. / Source: BrainPickings.org |
The book follows the plot of Star Wars fairly closely, and even uses a chorus (that rhymes too, which I thought was a nice touch; do Shakespearean plays do this too, I wonder?) to describe events unfolding. The writing is really well done overall, with only a few niggles from me.
On the bright side, I liked how the author took the time to include some moments of soliloquy. There were some really novel moments where, in the film, the action moves on, but in the Doescher's work, a character will take a moment to go into some detail about things that have passed, or things that are to come.
On the other hand, there were a few of these "aside" moments where the writer delves into stuff that is covered in other parts of the Star Wars series of films, including things revealed in the Prequel Trilogy. I found this a touch annoying, to be honest. Yes, those things happen, but... well I know Star Wars is pretty well known and some people could probably recite the whole thing, line-for-line, but Doescher's nearly blatant use of information you'd only know if you knew those other works bugged me a bit. Yes, most people know Darth Vader is Anakin Skywalker, but Obi Wan's soliloquy on their relationship, though brief, throws too much of what was not yet revealed when Star Wars was first released into the ring.
Also, I know Doescher was trying to be neutral and everything, but the subtle wink at whether Han shot first or not that he puts in... Yeah, Han Shot first. Though even as I gripe, I must say that his leaving it up to interpretation was pretty clever. My gripe is more about the whole question itself. But I come down pretty squarely in the 1977 version of the film's version, and Special Editions be damned if they change canon.
 |
| I realize that, in order to cram Lucas's story into the Bard's speach, certain lines had to be expanded a bit. To me, some of the punchiness of the dialogue gets lost. Still good stuff overall, I think. / Source: yadadarcyyada.com |
On the whole, the word that keeps coming to mind when I think of William Shakespeare's Star Wars is "clever." The whole thing was well done and very... well, clever. I enjoyed reading it, and got really excited in the final passages where Luke is piloting down the trench on his way to successfully saving the Rebel Alliance with that "one shot in a million." It's good enough that I will whole-heartedly throw myself to reading the following two installments by Doescher, covering Empire and Jedi.
Recommended for anyone who likes Star Wars and doesn't absolutely despise Shakespeare. Even if you aren't really into Shakespeare, you will probably enjoy this book if you don't absolutely loath either Lucas's film or the Bard's works. It's approachable and engaging stuff. Worth the read, for sure.
Learn more about William Shakespeare's Star Wars, by Ian Doescher, on Amazon.com
A live performance of William Shakespeare's Star Wars, for free? How cool is that!?
The parting comment:
 |
| Source: nerdist.com |
 |
| Source: nerdist.com |
Speaking of tweaking famous materials with Star Wars flair, artist Albert Nguyen took some famous images from U.S. history and gave them a decidedly Imperial flavor. These and other artwork were featured in an article on Nerdist.com. Pretty cool stuff, though I think the Rebel Alliance would better suit the classic "Crossing of the Delaware," scene. All about perspective, I suppose.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments welcome, but moderated. Thanks