As of this afternoon I have now completed my read-through of Shakespeare's histories. I now have nine of the tragedies, plus Pericles, still to read, with my hope being that I'll finish up in early July. In the immediate future I'm going to take a couple of days off before starting the next play.
I found the histories rather more interesting than the comedies, largely because the comedies were very formulaic. That said, both the first (King John) and last (Henry VIII) were less enjoyable than any part of the two tetralogies.
However, I do remain convinced of my two previous conclusions:
- Shakespeare very definitely has a small number of "greatest hits" and a lot of lesser works, and those lesser works are generally lesser for a good reason.
- As I've said many times, these are plays and best enjoyed by watching rather than reading. Were it not for its place as the final entry on the UK side of The List, I wouldn't be tackling Shakespeare in this manner, and it's not something I can recommend.
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