The list, the list, that list. Again!
What sort of dingbat puts up on her blog a list of things she planned to do in the next decade when she knows that procrastination is her middle name? I am that dingbat: I put up such a list. Now, I do things that are urgent or important pronto-pronto but when it comes to anything else I can procrastinate for the planet.
Ergo there is no need to ask if I have opened a copy of Hamlet – reading it was on the list – let alone read it because the answer on both counts is negative. And I’d lief not say exactly how many items on the list I’ve crossed off.
I did check recently to see if I had a copy of Hamlet on my bookshelves. I knew I had two volumes of a Shakespeare that my Mum gave me a few years back when she was doing a clear out but obviously there are many more volumes in the set because Hamlet is nowhere to be found in the two I have. Although one of them has notes on the play. The books themselves are beautiful filled as they are with copious lovely illustrations. Natch I had to while away a few hours looking at these.
And then procrastination pounced again when I popped down the internet rabbit hole in search of Shakespearean phrases. Just in case you don’t know, and I am sure you do, Shakespeare coined many phrases that are still in everyday use. Such as:
“Neither a borrower nor a lender be” – Hamlet
“Brave new world” – The Tempest
“Break the ice” – The Taming of the Shrew
“Brevity is the soul of wit” – Hamlet
“Dead as a doornail” – Henry VI Part II
“Devil incarnate” – Titus Andronicus / Henry V
“Eaten me out of house and home” – Henry IV Part II
“Forever and a day” – As You Like It
“Foregone conclusion” – Othello
“Jealousy is the green-eyed monster” – Othello
“Heart of gold” – Henry V
“Kill with kindness” – The Taming of the Shrew
“Knock knock! Who’s there?” – Macbeth
“Laughing stock” – The Merry Wives of Windsor
“Mum’s the word” – Henry VI, Part II
“A wild goose chase” – Romeo and Juliet
“Own flesh and blood” – Hamlet
“There’s method in my madness” – Hamlet
“Wear your heart on your sleeve” – Othello
There are lots more see here and I am sure google could find many others.
I bought a copy of Hamlet today. Now, to read or not to read it is not the question. Forsooth it’s more a case of when wilt I.
Just Add Attitude 
Good luck with your reading. I left Shakespeare behind in high school.
Thank you Debra. Leaving Shakespeare behind in high school was most likely a wise decision!
Best of luck with your Shakespearean reads. I like Shakespeare but somethimes get caught up in the language that gets kind of jumbled and I really don’t know exatly what the characters are saying sometimes. That said I do enjoy and am a fan of Hamlet.
Thank you Suzanne. I am thinking if I get stuck, for any reason language or otherwise, while I am reading Hamlet I may download an audiobook of it to help me out.
Good idea. Sometimes the language befuddles me.
I ‘read’ quite a few books using audio books last year including one I just couldn’t get into when I was reading the printed word. It was amazing what difference hearing the book made.
That is an interesting thought – to listen to Hamlet – I might do that just out of interest.. good luck! c
Hello c and how very lovely to hear from you. I have yet to download an audio version of the play but I had a look on iBooks and there’s a version available narrated by Laurence Oliver.
That would be wonderful to hear. Shakespeare, like Dickens, was written to be read aloud, I think.
What a wonderful list to return to now and again B! I’m impressed with your quest to read Hamlet. I remember reading it in high school and feeling like it was a challenge until I got comfortable with the prose. Happy reading! 🙂
Thank you Heather. I expect I will find it challenging it too but hopefully I will sink into the rhythm of the prose. Happy weekend! 😉
I wish you all the best with your reading! I think you are going to need it! I wish I had the same courage! 😉
Hi Francesa, I hope you are all well and warm and that you escaped the worst of the ‘big snow’. Alas and alack I fear I will need much luck with my Shakespearean reading! 😉
Ahhhh, You are not alone on the procrastination. I have at least ten books on my library shelf that need to be read, skeins of yarn that needs to be knitted and who knows what else. But what fun would life be without it’s plans?
Thanks for your comment Terri. I have a pile of books by my bedside waiting for me to get around to reading them! It’s not as if I don’t have the time to motor through them it’s more a case of me being over-skilled in the ‘art’ of procrastination. Good luck with your reading and knitting.
Here’s something to delay you further. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88kZQWsPazE It relates to the idea that Shakespeare can be appreciated in many forms. I would watch or listen to Shakespeare but I don’t think I want to read any more of it. Not the plays anyway. Happy procrastinating and Hamlet-reading. 😀