 |  |  |
Share your comments
Hamlet : a novel
Marsden, John
Teen Fiction MARSDEN
From Publishers' Weekly:
Near the end of this retelling of one of Shakespeare's most famous works, Hamlet realizes he doesn't want to create a new world, he just wants to "tweak it a little." Indeed, Australian author Marsden (Out of Time) retains the familiar series of events (though more time transpires) as Hamlet progresses into madness, while adjusting the setting (the opening scenes are of teenage Hamlet playing soccer with Horatio) and incorporating unsettling but illuminating sexual and psychological undercurrents that highlight the rottenness in Denmark. Marsden occasionally invokes the present through mentions of dress (Hamlet wears black jeans) and colloquialisms (sore bums), but otherwise the story retains the modes of address and social norms of an older time. What he does remarkably well is to seamlessly insert original passages-" 'There's a divinity that shapes our ends,' Horatio muttered, 'rough-hew them how we will,' "-and to retain the feel of Shakespeare's tale with skilled paraphrase. Readers will need to be familiar with the original to get certain references, but Marsden's is a riveting version that might just lead reluctant readers to the Bard. Ages 14-up. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
From Library Journal:
Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet meets Rebel Without a Cause. Hamlet is one mad prince. Not even his desire for his childhood friend Ophelia can quell his lust to avenge his father's murder. As Hamlet's frustration mounts, the body count climbs, and things get more and more rotten in the state of Denmark. Why It Is for Us: Marsden amps up the sexual tension at Elsinore. The Danish prince is a hottie in black denim and the star of Ophelia's sweaty fantasies. It will not take a Freudian scholar to catch the Oedipal overtones in Hamlet's relationship with his adulterous mother, Gertrude.-Angelina Benedetti, King Cty. Lib. Syst., WA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Marsden, John
Teen Fiction MARSDEN
| |||||||||
 |
From Publishers' Weekly:
Near the end of this retelling of one of Shakespeare's most famous works, Hamlet realizes he doesn't want to create a new world, he just wants to "tweak it a little." Indeed, Australian author Marsden (Out of Time) retains the familiar series of events (though more time transpires) as Hamlet progresses into madness, while adjusting the setting (the opening scenes are of teenage Hamlet playing soccer with Horatio) and incorporating unsettling but illuminating sexual and psychological undercurrents that highlight the rottenness in Denmark. Marsden occasionally invokes the present through mentions of dress (Hamlet wears black jeans) and colloquialisms (sore bums), but otherwise the story retains the modes of address and social norms of an older time. What he does remarkably well is to seamlessly insert original passages-" 'There's a divinity that shapes our ends,' Horatio muttered, 'rough-hew them how we will,' "-and to retain the feel of Shakespeare's tale with skilled paraphrase. Readers will need to be familiar with the original to get certain references, but Marsden's is a riveting version that might just lead reluctant readers to the Bard. Ages 14-up. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
From Library Journal:
Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet meets Rebel Without a Cause. Hamlet is one mad prince. Not even his desire for his childhood friend Ophelia can quell his lust to avenge his father's murder. As Hamlet's frustration mounts, the body count climbs, and things get more and more rotten in the state of Denmark. Why It Is for Us: Marsden amps up the sexual tension at Elsinore. The Danish prince is a hottie in black denim and the star of Ophelia's sweaty fantasies. It will not take a Freudian scholar to catch the Oedipal overtones in Hamlet's relationship with his adulterous mother, Gertrude.-Angelina Benedetti, King Cty. Lib. Syst., WA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Be the first to add a comment! Share your thoughts about this title. Would you recommend it? Why or why not?
Question about returns, requests or other account details?
 Add a Comment |
Submission Guidelines |
