“Alas, poor Yorick!”
– Howl, from Howl’s Moving Castle, quoting Shakespeare
When I first read Howl’s Moving Castle, I didn’t realize this was a quote from Shakespeare until I read Hamlet a year later. Funny how we tend to attribute things to the last person that we remember said them, whether or not they actually came up with the quote themselves. Might be a whole other reason behind the misquotes I wrote about before.
I love catching on when an author is alluding to another author’s work. But I wonder how often these allusions fly over my head.
Oh well, as long as I don’t misquote anyone…
There’s another reason for reading classic literature.
PS: Yes, I used a Wikipedia link on the day Wikipedia shut down. I never realized how much I rely on it. All the same, I hope their bid is successful.
Hmm... 
Oh yeah, I had never heard of Sopa before this week and now it’s like it’s everywhere.
I totally relate to what you said about those allusions flying over my head. Just the over day I translated a chapter of this fanfiction I’ve been working on (it’s an interesting thing to do, plus I’m always complaining about how poorly some fanfictions are translated, so I might as well do it myself) and anyway I got a comment from a girl who recognized an Albert Camus reference in the chapter. And I really didn’t know what she was talking about. I mean, did the author intended for that reference ? I’m not sure Camus is that popular in english, but maybe some other author made an allusion to his work, like Diana Wynne Jones with Shakespeare… Furthermore, I still haven’t figured out what the reference is, and it’s slowly driving me crazy 🙂
LikeLike
That’s cool that you translate fanfiction! I’d like to know a language well enough to translate something someday. I’ve heard of the name Albert Camus, but never read his work so I probably wouldn’t know what she was referring to either. Haha, yes, might drive me crazy too. 🙂
LikeLike
Pingback: An Opening to Intrigue You | Stories and Stuff