The Shakespeare Attempt

Since I've had to put my Dress Project (the one where I card, spin, and weave fleece into fabric, then sew it by hand into a dress) on hold, due to various factors, I cast about for a new year-long project. I'm starting a couple weeks late, but no matter. I like having something to do, something that feels like it might be significant, at least personally, and this one will check off something that's been on my mental to-do list for years.

This project was inspired by the work of Matthew Davis, who read through all of Dickens in one year. That's a lot of reading, and I'm very impressed. While I like Dickens in small doses, I don't have the determination to plow through all of his works like that. Instead, I've picked a different writer, one whose work I know I can continue reading throughout the year without losing interest.

37 plays, 154 sonnets, and 6 assorted long poems. That's right. This is the year of the Shakespeare Attempt.

My goal is to read through each play and poem (those known and available, at least--if my Complete Works is missing a poem or two, I will have to track those down) over the course of the next year. Since I have begun my task on January 11, 2013, it must be completed by January 11, 2014. I will do a weekly post on my reading, and provide some fun quotes as I go.

I have read a number of Shakespeare's plays before, so some of this will be re-reading. However, I always find that a re-read allows me to see things in the text that I'd missed in the past, and I'm sure I'll discover new depths and delights in the Bard's work.

We begin with The Tempest.