This was one I’d noted down on my rainy day list for when I couldn’t get out to do something more energetic. A nice, gentle, easy challenge. Well, the day after the Olympic volleyball I was tired and a bit hungover, so I needed something gentle and easy. So, this was perfect, right?
Well, believe it or not this actually took more brainwork than I’d thought! Summarising giant thick books in the form of 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables is pretty challenging, especially if you haven’t had a lot of sleep. In traditional Japanese haikus there is also a cut-off point at the end of one of the lines – a syllable or punctuation mark which separates two of the lines for the other one. I think I managed to get this right in only one of the haikus – the Moby Dick one. Oh well! I had my best shot, and here are the results. See what you think.
‘The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ by Robert Louis Stevenson
Doctor splits himself.
Good aims create evil, so
must destroy them both.
‘Pride and Prejudice’ by Jane Austen
Lizzie looks for love.
Darcy is rude but perks up
and has a big house.
‘Dracula’ by Bram Stoker
Toothy bloke drinks blood.
Immortal? Beaten by a
solicitor. Crap!
‘Moby Dick’ by Herman Melville
Peg-leg obsessive
scours the oceans for white whale.
Kills all but Ishmael.
‘Tess of the d’Urbervilles’ by Thomas Hardy
Tess is raped. Angel
blames her. Poverty, murder,
misery for all!
