King Lear

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1. mmoossSep 2026
   > I don’t think I’d be able to get through a Shakespeare play without hand-holding.

   Wow. Kevin Kelly is obviously an intellectually capable, well-educated person. Shakespeare isn't that hard - people have been enjoying the benefits of the Bard's writing for over 400 years. Like those many generations of people and many contemporaries, you'll get used to the Elizabethan verse and it will become second nature - to me it's now just another style of English now (which also opens the door to other early modern writers).

   Many computer geeks sell themselves short and miss out on a lot. Make the effort - the more you put in, the more you get out. It's from that effort that we benefit, like the way a physical workout both strengthens you and releases those endorphins. Like the way love is only truly experienced with deep engagement, but the rewards are immense, everlasting, and they grow the deeper you go. I'm not exaggerating about great art.

   'Great art' is a term that people object to. The term is simplistic; I'm using it for efficiency. Its usefulness is to indicate what art really does benefit from all that depth and engagement. Otherwise it's hard to know until you try something: because engaging with art involves starting from a place of not understanding and learning something new - radically new, if you're lucky, something you never imagined - you don't know ahead of time. Shakespeare's writing has incredible insight, beauty and depth, and I've still not grasped it completely; I doubt I ever will.

   Shakespeare is a real person, and no real person has done everything at a high level, or an all-time great level. Shakespeare's name is on some duds. But the famous great plays - Richard III (especially topical), King Lear, Hamlet, etc. - are monuments to humanity's genius.

   > After I read each poem, I ran it through Claude AI for an interpretation and an explanation of the obscure references. The explanations were helpful. Was it cheating to use AI this way? I don’t think so. I enjoyed reading each poem once or twice before asking Claude to supply its take.

   Don't do this. The point is the exploration, the personal journey, not the 'answer' - and the point is your journey, not someone else's. (And looking up references is part of that, IME.) It's like reading a story about travel instead of going there yourself.

   It takes much more time and a different level of engagement than what we're used to consuming - a 4 minute song, a news article, etc. Poems are short but information/word, so to speak, is very high. Break the habit of moving your eyes at a certain pace, of 4 minutes of engagement, and stop and stare. Don't plan on reading many poems in a sitting - maybe one.

   You've shared so much with the world Kevin that I want to tell you: Don't sell yourself short. You're missing out on some of the most very beautiful things.

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2. miltonlostNov 2025
   Shakespeare is from around the same time period as Rabelais in OP. If you haven't read Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, As You Like It, they also take some getting used to but are worth it in the end.
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3. dr_dshivJul 2024
   I don’t think many have read your link. It’s great. Some lines from King Lear:

   The best and soundest of his time hath been but rash; then must we look to receive from his age, not alone the imperfections of long-engraffed condition, but therewithal the unruly waywardness that infirm and choleric years bring with them.

   Regan replies:

   Such unconstant starts are we like to have from him as this of Kent’s banishment.

   Goneril continues:

   There is further compliment of leave-taking between France and him. Pray you, let’s hit together.

   The commentary on these lines is delightful!

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4. dekhnJun 2023
   I remember the teacher talking up Romeo and Juliet and being fairly unimpressed. But when I read King Lear, I was electrified- that scene with the king ranging around in the field while the fool says smart things is really good IMHO. I saw the Scottish Play put on by my high school theater and it was also great.

   Over time I've come to appreciate his fragments: "But soft! what light through yonder window breaks? Tis the east, and Juliet is the sun..."

   It came as a big surprise after reading and parsing out whole plays that other kids in my class were just reading some short guide and talking like they understood it.

   THe best movie version of the Tempest is Forbidden Planet, which can also just be viewed purely as science fiction.

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5. kstenerudJul 2022
   Honestly, I'd suggest starting out with a more contemporary and easy author before delving into the classics, for the same reasons Einstein gave about music: https://www.rd.com/article/the-night-i-met-einstein/

   The classics tend to be harder to approach due to the many cultural references contemporary to their time, and also their literary devices and techniques that are part of what led to their selection as classics to begin with. Without that background knowledge, you'll feel lost and frustrated, and there's little point in reading things if you can't enjoy them.

   I started my journey into history and the classics later in life. I never thought I'd ever actually enjoy reading Shakespeare, and yet King Lear is one of my favorites (but it takes a lot of background knowledge to enjoy).

   So start with someone contemporary to the last 30 years or so. Think of the genres of TV shows or movies you do enjoy, and then seek out famous authors of those genres.

   Here are some authors I've enjoyed in the more "addition and subtraction" end of literature. Temba, his arms wide:

   - Stephen King (horror, suspense) - fun fact: Did you know that "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption" is one of the few non-horror short stories he wrote? And I daresay his best.

   - Terry Pratchett (comedy, fantasy) - Spent many an evening giggling uncontrollably with his Discworld novels.

   - Douglas Adams (comedy, scifi)

   - Robert Heinlein (scifi) - "Stranger in a Strange Land" is still my favorite scifi story. This is where the term "grok" comes from.

   - Tom Clancy (drama, thriller, spy)

   - John Steinbeck (drama, depression era) - "Of Mice and Men" is particularly good, and a source of many references. Whenever you hear references to Lenny and the rabbits and the puppy, it's referring to this book.

   - Farley Mowatt (drama, environmentalism) - Most famous for "Never Cry Wolf"

   TBH I'm a little jealous... You're about to discover a whole world.

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6. scopJun 2022
   Reading Hamlet as an adult simply blew my mind. It was one of those moments where you step back in awe that a single mind could produce a work of such depth, with so many layers, yet with a consistency and a wholeness. JS Bach is the only other artist I have seen to produce a similar “Forrest” and “Trees” views within his artwork.

   While King Lear is my personal favorite of Shakespeare’s plays, I acknowledge Hamlet his greatest in all aspects (poetry, philosophy, etc).

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