Been a while since I have read Shakespeare or even seen a movie based on his works. Heck, I did not really read Shakespeare even when I was in high school. Although, I did visit Shakespeare's Globe whilst in London a few years ago. You can no doubt tell, from reading my posts, that reading and writing is not my strong point.
When I heard about William Shakespeare's Get Thee...Back to the Future by Ian Doescher, I was excited to be re-introduced to Shakespeare. Well, at least the writing style of Shakespeare. What better way to 'trick' me into reading than to write on one of my favourite subjects.
The author,Ian Doescher, included many Easter Eggs that many fans of the movie will no doubt pick up on. For example, he had Milton Baines, played by Jason Hervey say "'Tis new, and not from past wonder year". Jason Hervey is known for playing Wayne Arnold on The Wonder Years. He is also played Kevin Morton in Pee-Wee's Big Adventure. "I have been ready, since first call...roll!"
Even Match, Billy Zane's character is given the line, "- Ha, ha, a zany plan indeed". I was hoping for a "family ties" reference in there but did not notice one.
I learned a few things about Shakespeare's writing in the notes as Ian Doescher explained the pacing and format. I remember that Shakespeare ended a scene with the last two lines in rhyme. Things like having ten syllables per line, I never knew. Or, maybe I was told in class, but totally forgot...more likely, I was not paying attention...probably sketching in my notebook, no doubt. Oh, and always a even number of lines.
One interesting thing I learned was the acrostic poem. Hidden in the first letter of each line is a hidden message. The author mentions the first is in the prologue and there were two other ones hidden within the text. I scanned the pages back and forth until I found them. Pretty sneaky.
Here is a (bad) example of what an acrostic poem looks like:
A play adapted from a classic film
Will Shakespeare’s Get Thee...Back to the Future
Yeah, not that good. You can guess what kind of grades I got in English.
Anyway, the location of the three acrostics are:
Tangent: I know you were hoping for an update on my Eaglemoss build, but I fear there is another delay. Hopefully, not another five month delay like last year. As soon as I get new parts, I will start building and sharing. Until then, this book filled my Back to the Future void.
Ian Doescher has also written Shakespeare versions of Star Wars and Mean Girls. I may read some more books in the future. http://www.iandoescher.com/
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| William Shakespeare's Get Thee...Back to the Future |
The author,Ian Doescher, included many Easter Eggs that many fans of the movie will no doubt pick up on. For example, he had Milton Baines, played by Jason Hervey say "'Tis new, and not from past wonder year". Jason Hervey is known for playing Wayne Arnold on The Wonder Years. He is also played Kevin Morton in Pee-Wee's Big Adventure. "I have been ready, since first call...roll!"
Even Match, Billy Zane's character is given the line, "- Ha, ha, a zany plan indeed". I was hoping for a "family ties" reference in there but did not notice one.
I learned a few things about Shakespeare's writing in the notes as Ian Doescher explained the pacing and format. I remember that Shakespeare ended a scene with the last two lines in rhyme. Things like having ten syllables per line, I never knew. Or, maybe I was told in class, but totally forgot...more likely, I was not paying attention...probably sketching in my notebook, no doubt. Oh, and always a even number of lines.
One interesting thing I learned was the acrostic poem. Hidden in the first letter of each line is a hidden message. The author mentions the first is in the prologue and there were two other ones hidden within the text. I scanned the pages back and forth until I found them. Pretty sneaky.
Here is a (bad) example of what an acrostic poem looks like:
A play adapted from a classic film
Will Shakespeare’s Get Thee...Back to the Future
I have not
read Shakespeare’s work since high school
Last two
lines rhyme, that is all I recall
Decree of pacing
and format were lost
Enjoyed the book
as I did the movie
Read it all through
to find the hidden clues
Messages encrypted
in acrostics
Oh, how clever
this author is, how fun
Determined
to locate the other ones
Extra line to
complete my acrostic
Yeah, not that good. You can guess what kind of grades I got in English.
Anyway, the location of the three acrostics are:
- The first was a given by the author, in the Prologue, p.15
- The second acrostic is a little harder to find, located at Act III, scene 4, lines 33-48, on pages 101-102.
- The last is kinda obvious, it sticks out from the rest of the lines. Located at Act IV, scene 4, lines, 45-62, on pate 131.
Tangent: I know you were hoping for an update on my Eaglemoss build, but I fear there is another delay. Hopefully, not another five month delay like last year. As soon as I get new parts, I will start building and sharing. Until then, this book filled my Back to the Future void.
Ian Doescher has also written Shakespeare versions of Star Wars and Mean Girls. I may read some more books in the future. http://www.iandoescher.com/
