Speare Me

His birthday was this past Monday, so maybe that accounts for why Shakespeare's all over the news these days. It was only a manner of time before he infiltrated the world of video games. From bookshelves of doom I heard all about Speare. It's Shakespeare in space, but not in a Forbidden Planet kind of way. The Toronto Star (who, if I'm gonna be snobby, totally messes up the name of their article) reports that, "The game also links with an interactive website of Romeo and Juliet, which features everything from the text of the play and scholarly debates about its meaning, to samples of movie adaptations and clips with real actors and Claymation characters. And designers have created a free resource guide and lesson plan for teachers." So there you go then.

Meanwhile the blogger Miss Erin has set up The Shakespeare Challenge. What have you read? Basically she encourages you to go through the list and mark off what you have and have not perused in the course of your lifetime. Then read through your gaps. Personally, I'm abysmal when it comes to the Histories. No Pericles for me, please.

There was also a rather interesting Shakespearean kerfuffle on the child_lit listserv this week, and Roger Sutton brought it to the attention of the blogging community. Really, though, the best summary of this Shakespeare debate came via Becky's Book Reviews. You don't need to go any further than her posting for an intense little summary.

Finally, via Bookninja is the Telegraph article, Is there a lost Shakespeare in your attic?. How very British. The piece explores the great lost play of Mr. Shaking a Spear. Says the piece the, "same fate nearly befell Troilus and Cressida." And wouldn't THAT have been a loss to the world.