Giacomo Leopardi's
Zibaldone. This was recently fully translated into English. It is work of musings and thoughts by an Italian philosopher and poet. He read so much he ended up a hunchback. I'm not really reading it (it is over 4000 pages), more dipping into it before bed. If you like Schopenhauer or Nietzsche, this is the type thinker for you. Despite everything, he is very life-affirming.
And....
Due to circumstance, Christopher Marlowe is one of the few writers I can claim to have read his entire published works. I think he is one of the few figures of his time that if you said you preferred him over Shakespeare, few heads would turn. His tragedies are lot more readable than many of Bill's later work. It is silly to teach
Romeo and Juliet in schools because it is far too flowery that the average teen would not be able to grasp in reading, but Marlowe has a great cockney tongue which keeps him on point and sharp. You know where you are with him.
He writes one type of character perfectly: the amoral schemer. He's also remarkably brutish about everything. Violence is like a joke or cheered at. His tragedies feel like something you would have watched with a pint and shouted alongside with.
At university, I was taught by a teacher who tried to make him out like a Foucault style liberal, but Marlowe is so much better than that. There is a bit in
Tamburlaine where the main character burns the Quran. Modern adaptations tend to either overlook this or re-interpret it but it is written in such a way that everyone is made to see and cheer it on.
The Jew of Malta is also so extreme with discussing Jews that adaptations are rarer. Modern workings of
Merchant of Venice tend to make Shylock look sympathetic- such being the genius of Shakespeare that he could make any character multi-faceted- but it is near impossible with Marlowe who revels in how shitty everyone is.
Rating his plays:
1)
Doctor Faustus: this is the one you may learn at school and for good reason. A very funny tragedy about selling your soul. I'm not going ramble but yadda yadda Faustian spirit....
2)
Edward II: about the gay king you may have seen in
Braveheart. He gets a red hot poker up his arse.
3)
The Jew of Malta: scheming politics. Less said the better.
4)
The Massacre at Paris: about the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre. This is an incomplete work but what you get, especially with The Guise, is great. There is a real moment of beer guzzling patriotism at the end which always sticks out.
5)
Tamburlaine: People really like this, but I it found too long to enjoy. Two parts after all and I have yet to see it performed live.
6)
Dido, Queen of Carthage: everyone must start somewhere.
If you do not like plays or poems, I'd recommend at least reading a biography on the fellow. He was stabbed in the eye at a pub, presumably for being a spy. He had a very interesting life is what I am getting at.
As for his poem, Hero and Leander is a common story for poets to write on, but Marlowe's unfinished work is my favourite. My edition features George Chapman's continuation which is good but it lacks the intensity of Marlowe's first two sections. There is a lot to say on it but I would like to read a few more times before I commit. I felt the urge to re-read it last night. It really does stick out.
