I have always wanted to read Shakespeare and even have a huge book of his complete works, but find him difficult to read and understand so I give up. Does anyone have any suggestions or recommendations?
I suggest starting with a play that is familiar to you such as Romeo & Juliet or MacBeth or Hamlet. Consider watching a movie first where a theatrical Shakespearian actor plays the title role to get an idea of the syntax of the iambic pentameter. Read some out loud to yourself.
I come from a crazy family. My siblings and I actually read the entirety of MacBeth out loud, in the car, on a family road trip.
See a play. Many communities have Shakespeare in the park.
Get an annotated copy of a play or plays.
Reading the entire works would be daunting to all but Elizabethan scholars.
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Thank you! There is no way I’ll ever read them all 
, but would like to read the main plays and understand them. My HS English class studied an annotated version of Julius Caesar and surprisingly a large majority loved it. Do you by any chance have suggestions for good annotated versions?
And I love it that your family read MacBeth on a road trip.
I would suggest checking online at the Folger Shakespeare Library.
The website: www.folger.edu
This reminds me I need to make a visit. It is a short walk from the Library of Congress in DC.
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