In an attempt to broaden our minds, Saturday Devin and I headed out shopping for a long list of books. I decided to shop the Half Price bookstore first. There we found Moby Dick, Frankenstein, and Robin Hood (not on list but Devin wanted it). Then it was off to Barnes and Noble. There we spent the bulk of our time. We left with Dante's The Divine Comedy, Catcher in the Rye, No Fear Julius Caesar, No Fear Taming of the Shrew, and Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazof. Jason asked for books from the Wayside series by Louis Sachar. I bought him a book set and two others from that series.
The No Fear series of William Shakespeare is amusing and brilliant. It gives you a modern translation of the play on the opposite page throughout the book. I don't believe it was necessary for The Taming of the Shrew but I couldn't resist buying this version because the translations were amusing. The authors do an excellent job making the words understandable for kids. It is perfect for Devin to start with which is why I bought him the No Fear Julius Caesar. Up until now, I had only read Shakespeare in high school. Freshman year it was Julius Caesar and senior year I read MacBeth. I have read bits and pieces of Taming of the Shrew online after seeing Elizabeth Taylor's performance in the movie. It is my favorite by far. True to form, it is my nature to pick a love story over murder and incestuous story lines. It is what I can relate to most in life. Shakespeare writes with ease and good humor about the differences between men and women. Regardless of gender, one's temperament and overall personality prove to cause the most difficulty and so the most excitement in the human story. Shakespeare had a firm grasp of human nature which is why his work has stood the test of time.
I wanted to read the same books as Devin so we could talk about them. I am forcing myself to read Dante's The Divine Comedy which starts with the Inferno. It is a difficult and slow process for me, but I am trying. Devin and I have very different taste in literature and he reads as quickly as he breathes. His library is full of classics as well as Vampire books and comic books. It was my intention from the time he was very small for him to love to read because I never did. I read Pipi Longstocking, The Danny Dunn science mysteries, and Choose Your Own Adventure books as a kid for fun. I only read the classics when it was required for school. As an adult, I have read a dozen books, almost exclusively Jane Austen. I am trying to broaden my scope by reading Devin's kind of books. If nothing else, it will give us something in common to talk about.
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