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The Merchant of Venice - William Shakespeare - Book Review
This entry was posted on 6/21/2011 1:30 AM and is filed under Book Reviews.
The Merchant of Venice. Written by William Shakespeare. Edited by Louis B. Wright and Virginia A. LaMar. Published in 1957 by Pocket Books.
Somewhere back in junior high or high school, an English or literature class visited Ol' Billy Shakespeare's world. One of his first books we were exposed to was the play The Merchant of Venice. Of course I remembered nothing of it. I found a 1957 edited version of the book not too long ago in a used book store. It set me back 80 Cents. I gave the woman at the desk a Buck and said, "Keep the change."
I am no Shakespearean scholar - not that I am a scholar in anything for that matter. There must be a thousand books critiquing Ol' Bill's stuff. The Internet is no exception. Therefore you must take my word that I did not peek at existing diatribes on the merits of this particular play.
What I noticed right away about this Folger Library version is that it is easy to read, There are 100 or so pages of verse and 100 or so pages of explanation for language of the era, actions, and observations. The editors lead you through the book by the nose.
Another thing I discovered at 60 years old, is that a play is perfect reading for breaks at work. A line here and a line there. In a few nights at work, the play is finished. This reading technique segues off my study strategy in college that I termed, "drive-by reading." Working students must read on the fly and the go.
Historians place the origin of this work at around the year 1600 - a chunk of time ago. The editors made a bit of an explanation of this play's rather rough treatment of Shylock, the Jewish money handler. They basically reiterated what I already know, that the intertwining of Jewish people with other cultures has been a topic of friction for a long, long time - hundreds of years. So, our little play here is a living art, relevant to the here and now.
We've got all the usual suspects that would not be so out of place in this day and age. We have Antonio our merchant who handles ships and shipping, a broker of sorts. We have his pal Bassanio who borrows money from Shylock on Antonio's credit. You see, Bassanio is an average guy and needs cash to finance his chasing of the beautiful Portia. She is an item who is courted by the very rich. I have a couple of pals myself that might refer to her as, "High maintenance." None-the-less, Bassanio is smitten with Portia and needs cash to enter the compitition.
A little problem is that if Antonio can't pay back Bassanio's debt to Shylock, Antonio must give up a pound of flesh as punishment. In the mean time rich guys are falling over themselves to win over Portia. They must play a little game-show type gamble set up by her now dead father and choose the correct box. There is one of gold, another of silver, and a third with lead. Of course there is a trick of sorts. But after my 30 years of marriage, I could not help smiling at the term used for the boxes - "caskets." Yikes!
There is drama, humor, and Shakespeare takes his nuanced and not so nuanced shots at the often absurdity of banal life at large of both the rich and poor.
If you want a somewhat easy read and then be able to tell your pals you "got culture," take a couple nights off from watching "reality tv," which we all know is not actually "real" and pick up a copy of Billy Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice.
Wisconsin Military Service Person Special Mention of the Week
(each week Cooldadiomedia mentions a Wisconsin service person killed in Iraq or Afghanistan)
Army Private Enlisted Grade 2, Adam Jacob Novak, 20, Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin, died Friday, August 27, 2010 in the Zardan district of Paktiya, Afghanistan. Insurgents with a command-wired roadside bomb (improvised explosive device) attacked his vehicle during convoy operations. He was assigned to Bravo Troop, 1st Squadron, 33rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), out of Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Private Novak was one of two soldiers killed in the incident. Also killed in the blast was Private First Class Chad D. Coleman, 20, of Moreland, Georgia, who was also originally from Wisconsin.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel noted Novak was a 2008 graduate of Sauk Prairie High School. He joined the military a year after graduation. Adam had recently been married. He was expecting to be back home in November of 2010. Novak's older brother Logan also served in Afghanistan. The Journal Sentinel went on to mention Adam had also lived in Fergus Falls, Minnesota for 11 years where as a boy he participated in Boy Scouts, Sunday School, and soccer. Adam's father died when Adam was around 12 years old.
A Wisconsin State Journal article found on lexisnexis.com notes that Adam Novak was born in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. He spent the aforementioned years in Minnesota, and returned to Wisconsin during the last couple years of his high school time. Novak was recently married in March of 2010. Private Novak's unit was part of the deployment of President Barack Obama's 30,000 soldier surge into Afghanistan.
The Websites wiscnews.com and channel3000.com for WISC-TV mentioned Adam had only been married for two weeks before heading to Afghanistan. Adam is remembered as having a magnetic personality and his love for life. They emphasized Novak's unit worked in reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition. The WDAY-TV-6 and WDAY-AM-970 Website wday.com noted that during his time in the military Novak worked on military trucks.
At the time of his death Adam Novak was survived by his wife Celeste Stuessy Novak; mother Sue Block; stepfather Rick Block; sisters Brooke (Doug) Warren and Jessica Novak; brothers Nick Novak and Logan Novak; and, grandparents Bonnie Christ, Milton and Doris Novak, and Elanie Wons. Adam was preceded in death by his father Greg Novak. Private Adam Novak was the 20th Wisconsin military service person killed in Afghanistan since October of 2001.
As of this blog entry's posting date:
101,366 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
10,028 Iraqi Security Forces have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
4,466 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
1623 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
318 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
911 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
1 American/Coalition casualty in Libyan "Operation Odyssey Dawn" since March, 2011
32,120 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
12,002 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
107 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
33 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
3 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in the U.S. related to "The War on Terror" since October, 2001.
148 journalists (several nationalities) have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
21 journalists (various nationalities) have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
5 journalists (regional and independents) have been killed in Libya since March, 2011.
Wisconsin military service person special mention of the week, military casualty, and journalist casualty information sources: Committee to Protect Journalists; cnn.com; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; washingtonpost.com; thehighground.org; Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs; iraqbodycount.org; www.defense.gov/news/casualty.pdf; and, icasualties.org.
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