Hamlet: Prince of Denmark

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Summary: Hamlet Review
Review: I thought that this book made reading Hamlet easier, but I still don't really like the story of Hamlet. There is really no point and it's really long. Many people like the story so much just because it was written by William Shakespeare, but it doesn't matter to me who wrote it, I'm still not sure that I understand it completely. But with the "easier reading" side I liked the story better because I could sort of understand it a little bit better.

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Summary: The map to begin a wonderful journey
Review: Before this book, my wife and I never enjoyed Shakespeare very much. This book makes the play perfectly clear, and with the side-by-side arrangement, makes the original poetry understandable and beautiful. We watched the play afterward and finally began to glimpse the wonder that is hidden within the words.

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Summary: To read or not to read shouldn't be the question
Review: Great literature has often been compared to a mirror that reflects man's inner development. Described as the first true modern work, Hamlet is full of the uncertainty and skepticism modern readers are only too familiar with. Unlike other tragic Shakespearean heroes such as Macbeth and Othello, Hamlet is rational before he is valiant. With most of his strife and turmoil being metaphysical rather than physical, Hamlet is at his best an obsessive spectator of the "weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable" state of human existence. As Harold Bloom puts it, Hamlet is a hero too grandiose for his own play. And indeed, savoring Hamlet's excessive reasoning in retrospection, the reader is able to see how despite his many emotional outbursts, Hamlet gropes beyond the goal of revenge because he is ultimately concerned with the nature and source of evil rather than the means to combat it. Can we then say Hamlet the play is but a decorative device for Hamlet the hero? Why not, Shakespeare needed actions to let his own dark vision of the human psyche unfold through Hamlet, who develops an extremely pessimistic outlook on humanity that has endured over time. By letting the reader discover for himself the same transience prevalent in everything and everyone else, Hamlet shows the daunting immortality of thoughts. Read it for the "to be or not to be" speech if nothing else.

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Summary: Revenge, easy to see!
Review: Is revenge bad? In a book about revenge there is no way revenge is bad when it is necessary. Hamlet had all the reason for his form of revenge. When you find that your father is dead and the person sleeping with your mother is his murderer, is that revenge or a necessary just.
With Hamlet's Edipus complex, is he mad at the new King for doing to his father what he wanted to do for himself. Hamlet like other young boys love their mothers' and by loosing his father, he felt it was his right to take his father's place. The revenge of Hamlet is not only for the death of his father but for the taking of his place.
When the ghost of his father comes to his mother's room after the Mouse Trap, Hamlet finds himself on the bed with his mother. When he sees the ghost he gets off the bed and pleads with his mother from his knees. With the mother believing he was crazy, he tried to proove to her he was thinking sensibly. Earlier in the play when Hamlet speaks the familiar line, "To be or not to be", is he really wondering to himself if he is to be or not to be with his mother.
With the death of his father Hamlet feels unwanted and shunned by his mother. For the rest of the play Hamlet is trying to proove he could be the man to feel his father's shoes. His hate for the new King stems from the feelings of inadequacy he brings on himself. Hamlet knows one day the kingdom will be his but with the new king in the way he will never have his kingdom or his mother.

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Summary: Confusion In All Things
Review: I found Hamlet to have a lot of relation to our everyday lives. There is one side of every story that we believe before we get all of the facts but once we have all of the facts our opinions are changed forever. This is basically what happens when Hamlet finds out what actually happened to his father. In Hamlet's case when he gets all of the facts, he becomes filled with anger and hatred towards his "step-father." I thought that this book was an excellent book.

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Summary: Side by Side Rocks
Review: Side by Side made english class much easier. Shakespeare can be tough, but this makes it possible. Even if you aren't good Shakespeare in the past, with the side by side, you can still enjoy the plot.

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Summary: Hamlet! More like Spamlet!
Review: I don't know what Willy Shakespeare was thinking when he wrote this one play tragedy, but I thought this sure was boring! Hamlet does too much talking and not enough stuff. He needs to shape up and show them who's boss. Maybe Shakespeare fans of Hamlet should take a rest on the book tragedy! Ha ha!

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Summary: "To be o not to be"
Review: Shakesphere's Hamlet, is a CLASSIC book. I love the charcters line and the Introduction. It's about a prince(hamlet), and his uncle Claudius, and him marrying Hamlet's mother Gertude. It's a great book. You see him fighting against himself, self against society, self against nature. If you are a great fan of Shakesphere, it's a great book to be in your shelf! This is not like Romeo and Juliet, it's totaly different!

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Summary: An Adequate Performance of a Great Play
Review: Readers should note that this site does not distinguish between the various editions of Shakespeare, so the reviews you read may be for audiotapes, modern translations, etc. I am reviewing the Kenneth Branaugh BBC Radio recording of Hamlet. It is adequate, which I consider high praise for this challenging play. Like Branaugh's movie a few years later, it includes the entire text of the play, which is a nice way to remind yourself of some issues you may have forgotten.

The performances are pretty good, and include Branaugh (of course) as Hamlet and Derek Jacobi as Claudius, giving us a hint of the performances they would later give in the movie. No one's performance really blew me away, although Jacobi was excellent.

Ultimately, the play loses quite a bit when transferred to audio only. There's a lot to be conveyed with stage placement, physican action, expression, etc. Somehow, listening to the play limited my imagination on those issues, preventing my from using my "mind's eye" to the fullest.

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Summary: Good Shakespeare, but not the best
Review: I was weary of whether or not I'd like Hamlet or not. Once it started off, I got into it, but later on, it seemed to drag on and occasionally pick up. Yes, it is good Shakespeare. Personally, my favorite is Julius Caesar.