The hero of The Serpent of Venice is Pocket, an acrobatic and acerbic jester who was also the hero of Fool, a similar retelling of King Lear. It's a book that manages the lovely feat of revering Shakespeare by forswearing any hint of reverence - instead emulating the swift, foul-mouthed and perennially modern tone of the plays themselves.
So it is that, in a sense, the playwright himself, always first to every idea, inaugurated the literary tradition of appropriating and re-imagining his characters.įour centuries later, the most recent offering in this tradition, and far from the worst, is The Serpent of Venice, a mash-up of Othello and The Merchant of Venice by Christopher Moore.
No, not William Shakespeare - Raphael Holinshed, a minor historian who is chiefly remembered now for providing the source material for Shakespeare's plays. Navies - Officers - Italy | Venice - FictionĬataloging source DLC 1957- Moore, Christopher Dewey number 813/.54 Illustrations illustrations Index no index present LC call number PS3563.During the reign of Queen Elizabeth, an Englishman set down the stories of characters so memorable that their names endure to this day: Macbeth, King Lear, Richard III.Venice (Italy) - Foreign relations - 1508-1797 - Fiction.Legislators - Italy | Venice - Fiction.Label The serpent of Venice : a novel Title The serpent of Venice Title remainder a novel Statement of responsibility Christopher Moore Creator "William Shakespeare meets Edgar Allan Poe in New York Times bestselling author Christopher Moore's THE SERPENT OF VENICE! Oh, yeah, and everyone's favorite fool, Pocket of Dog Snogging, is back, too".Greed, revenge, deception, lust, and a giant (but lovable) sea monster combine to create another hilarious and bawdy tale from modern comic genius, Christopher Moore". But this Fool is no fool and he has more than a few tricks (and hand gestures) up his sleeve. (How can such a small man, be such a huge obstacle?).
Desperate to rid themselves once and for all of the man who has consistently foiled their grand quest for power and wealth, they have lured him to his death. The wine is drugged and the girl is not even within the city limits. But their invitation is, of course, bogus. Three prominent Venetians await their most loathsome and foul dinner guest, the erstwhile envoy from the Queen of Britain: the rascal-Fool Pocket.This trio of cunning plotters-the merchant, Antonio the senator, Montressor Brabantio and the naval officer, Iago-have lured Pocket to a dark dungeon, promising him an evening of spirits and debauchery with a rare Amontillado sherry and Brabantio's beautiful daughter, Portia.
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