Confession time, word nerds: I am a huge Shakespeare freak (I know what you’re thinking, I know: a Lit major who loves Shakespeare? How mind-bogglingly original). But I love the heck out of that man’s work. I love the mysterious Dark Lady sonnets, I love Helena’s whining iambs, I love conniving, deformed Richard the III- I even love the ending to Measure for Measure, and that takes some serious dedication. Let’s put it this way: if I had a time machine, I would travel back in time and bonk the bajeezus out of that darling old Bard.
Am I getting too creepy and necrophiliac on you? Sorry…where were we?
Ah yes. Fool, the hilariously inappropriate lovechild of darling Billy Shakespeare and another writer near and dear to my heart, Christopher Moore (I will wax poetic about Christopher Moore at a later date, I’m sure. I love him with all of the part of my heart not devoted to Shakespeare), was a book I knew I absolutely had to read.
In his novel Fool, Christopher Moore- infamous for his laugh-out-loud novels which explore demons, vampires, cargo cults, and other generally absurd and slightly macabre topics- (loosely) tells the Shakespearian story of King Lear from the point of view of the court fool. True to all of Shakespeare’s plot devices, Moore’s Fool features intrigue, mistaken identities, dramatic irony, and more than a few bawdy jokes. However, rather than have Lear be the center of all the action, Moore places his fool, a dwarf aptly named Pocket, as the one who drives the narrative. Pocket finds himself plotting a civil war, seducing Lear’s daughters, tangling with the three witches from Macbeth, and dropping so many F-bombs that I lost count after page 26.
Indisputably, Fool is more than thoroughly researched; Moore demonstrates his knowledge of Shakespeare through many quick jibs and allusions . And, as is always the case with Moore, his book leaves you laughing out loud at the absurdity in which he throws his delightful characters. That being said, those who subscribe to a purist reader of the Bard may be outraged by the liberties Moore takes in his retelling of Shakespeare’s Lear (Edgar, for example, is first introduced as a village madman named Tom O’Bedlam, covered in cow manure). Additionally, the readers who have no point of reference for King Lear will undoubtably be on the outside of this inside joke. Even I, having read King Lear multiple times, found myself lost at a few points, wondering exactly where Moore was attempting to go.
I’ve got to say, though, it takes some definite moxie to rewrite Shakespeare. Hats off to you, Good Sir Moore. That’s all for now, fearless readers. Parting is such sweet…well, you know.
P.S. The also hilarious writers at Cracked.com just posted a new article which I thought any other Shakespeare nerds out there would enjoy: The Six Most WTF Moments From Shakespeare Plays!
Book Lovers Never Go To Bed Alone 