William Shakespeare's The Empire Striketh Back
Registered by 
GoryDetails
of Nashua, New Hampshire USA on 7/23/2021
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
GoryDetails of Nashua, New Hampshire USA on 7/23/2021 This Book is Currently in the Wild!
1 journaler for this copy...
I got this hardcover from the "buy the pound" book sale at a local Goodwill thrift shop, and was glad of another release copy.
I first discovered this series via Doescher's Phantom of Menace, retelling the plot of the Star Wars "Phantom Menace" film in Shakespearian form, and loved it. Since then I've read the rest of the series, including "Verily, A New Hope", which leads into this one.
This volume retells the plot of The Empire Strikes Back in Shakespearian style, with most lines in iambic pentameter ("...in time so long ago begins our play, in in war-torn galaxy far, far away") but with some exceptions - including Yoda's lines: here, he speaks in haiku!
I get a kick out of the way Doescher pulls in Shakespearian quotes and some from other sources; for example, the scene on snowy Hoth opens with "If flurries be the food of quests, snow on!" And I like it when some of the movie-version's monsters get lines of their own, as when the savage wampa gets to explain its motivation in going after Luke: "I prithee know I strike but for my food".
While I enjoyed the whole thing, my favorite bit was the scene where a couple of guards on Bespin are chatting - much in the vein of typical Shakespearian Rude Mechanicals - and they get onto the subject of the weird building codes that seem to mandate that every important passage runs by a yawning abyss with no safety railings. And they come up with a reason for this! I couldn't stop chuckling...
The conclusion's amusing, too, with the nice little shout-outs:
"Ye must leave empty, sighing lack-a-day,
Til we, by George, a brighter play compose.
Our story endeth, though your hearts do burn,
And shall until the Jedi doth return."
I appreciated the afterword, too, where the author explains some of his choices. Another fine entry in this very well-done series!
I first discovered this series via Doescher's Phantom of Menace, retelling the plot of the Star Wars "Phantom Menace" film in Shakespearian form, and loved it. Since then I've read the rest of the series, including "Verily, A New Hope", which leads into this one.
This volume retells the plot of The Empire Strikes Back in Shakespearian style, with most lines in iambic pentameter ("...in time so long ago begins our play, in in war-torn galaxy far, far away") but with some exceptions - including Yoda's lines: here, he speaks in haiku!
I get a kick out of the way Doescher pulls in Shakespearian quotes and some from other sources; for example, the scene on snowy Hoth opens with "If flurries be the food of quests, snow on!" And I like it when some of the movie-version's monsters get lines of their own, as when the savage wampa gets to explain its motivation in going after Luke: "I prithee know I strike but for my food".
While I enjoyed the whole thing, my favorite bit was the scene where a couple of guards on Bespin are chatting - much in the vein of typical Shakespearian Rude Mechanicals - and they get onto the subject of the weird building codes that seem to mandate that every important passage runs by a yawning abyss with no safety railings. And they come up with a reason for this! I couldn't stop chuckling...
The conclusion's amusing, too, with the nice little shout-outs:
"Ye must leave empty, sighing lack-a-day,
Til we, by George, a brighter play compose.
Our story endeth, though your hearts do burn,
And shall until the Jedi doth return."
I appreciated the afterword, too, where the author explains some of his choices. Another fine entry in this very well-done series!
Journal Entry 2 by GoryDetails at Little Free Library - 70 Golden Hill Rd. in Lee, Massachusetts USA on Tuesday, July 27, 2021
GoryDetails at Little Free Library - 70 Golden Hill Rd. in Lee, Massachusetts USA on Tuesday, July 27, 2021
Released 2 yrs ago (7/27/2021 UTC) at Little Free Library - 70 Golden Hill Rd. in Lee, Massachusetts USA
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
Guidelines for safely visiting and stocking Little Free Libraries during the COVID-19 pandemic, from the LFL site here.I left this book in this new-to-me Little Free Library, while in the area to visit the Norman Rockwell Museum's fantasy-art exhibit with a friend; hope someone enjoys the book!
[See other recent releases in MA here.]
*** Released for the 2021 Seeking Septads challenge. ***
*** Released for the 2021 Movie challenge. ***
*** Released for the 2021 Theater challenge. ***
