Rating: 
Summary: Excellent!!
Review: This book is a great edition, it is probably the best completeworks of Shakespeare available, especially for us poor collegestudents. It has an easy to follow layout, and the works areorganized logically by the comedies, the histories, the tragedies, andthe poetry. Excellent Shakespeare collection,..., a great value.Excellent!!
Rating:
Summary: Everyone should have one at home
Review: This is one of those English reference books that you should have on your shelf. I like this edition (my previous one was hardbound but so bulky it was a nuisance to use.) This is good, the price is right. No commentary, but who cares? This is for looking up those famous speeches, reading sonnets and generally a good thing to have if you have kids in school. It may be a surprise to people, but Shakespeare is really popular in German-speaking countries. Gerhart Hauptmann, in his 1915 address "Germany and Shakespeare" said "There is no people, not even the English, that has earned a right to Shakespeare as the German people has. Shakespeare's characters have become a part of our world, his soul has become one with ours: and if he was born and buried in England, it is nevertheless Germany where he truly lives" This is why some Germans secretly feel that Shakespeare really was written originally in German. I feel fortunate that I can enjoy the original English and try to see Shakespeare staged any chance I get. Our Bard is eternal.
Rating:
Summary: A great value
Review: This is the Complete Works of Shakespeare, with a few illustrations, and nothing more. There are no annotations, and no modern introductions. Some will fault this edition for its lack of annotations. I say that, although annotations are necessary for scholarly study of the Works, they can very much distract the reader who reads for pleasure. I find that half the fun of reading Shakespeare is trying to figure out what the meaning of the text is; annotations rob me of this. I once had the misfortune of reading an annotated version of King Lear. At one point, King Lear makes an obscure, non sequitur remark (in Act 1, Scene 5). Was I given the opportunity to think about this remark, ponder it, decide for myself what this remark really meant? No: a footnote was there to do it for me. So I suggest you consider using a non-annotated edition for reading, and save the annotated versions for in-depth study. Some might fault this edition for the quality of the binding. Although I am not an expert on bindings, I find the binding to be at least better than a typical paperback. Furthermore, the book is very lightweight; I would be surprised if it isn't the world's lightest Complete Works. For this reason, I find it surprisingly comfortable to hold as I read. This edition comes with a ribbon sewn into the binding for use as a bookmark. Not only is the ribbon very useful, but it's also easy enough to cut off if it annoys you. Some will fault this edition for the quality of the text. Indeed, the text has the character of an early twentieth century newspaper. I wouldn't be surprised if this edition was printed with plates from that time. Although not very clean, the text readable enough. Probably the worst thing about this edition is the continuation lines--somtimes a long line will continue into empty space on the line above or below it. That takes some getting used to, especially since it's sometime ambiguous what line a continuation belongs to. The best thing about this edition is the price, only about US$20.
Rating:
Summary: Wells & Taylor concise ed. of Shakespeare is a winner
Review: This one has a lot going for it. (Keep in mind it's a concise version.) Appealing typeface. A modicum of notes. Attractively packaged. Good binding. I seem to collect complete editions, and the Wells & Taylor; the Riverside; and the Arden (with notes) are my favorites--right now, that is. But, it's still a tome. I was lucky to find a hardcover complete so small and almost light that I carry it to work every day. Can't do that with most complete editions! All in all, a nice solid book. "For truth is truth to the end of reckoning, and time cannot make that false which was once true."
Rating:
Summary: Old-fashioned quality
Review: This refers to the Pelican edition. I like the design of this book a lot, from the dignified cloth cover, handsome endpapers, and sewn binding to the very readable typeface on good paper. The problem of how to mark footnotes unobtrusively has been solved by the simple expedient of numbering only lines that contain footnoted words or phrases. The notes are mostly glosses; there's not a lot of apparatus criticus (textual variations etc.). For the price I don't think there's a better edition for general readers.
Rating:
Summary: A superb version that belongs in every household
Review: This weighty tome brings together authoritative versions of the complete works of Shakespeare. The excellent and informative introduction provides the historical context for the plays, the author and the folios. It also explains well how the plays tended to evolve with re-writes and performances. I have not read all of the plays and sonnets, but of the Shakespeare works Henry V and Hamlet, for example, provide high drama with stories that are compelling and language that is unique, beautiful and powerful. While the Taming of the Shrew and a Midsummers Night Dream provide humor, and other plays provide tragedy and pathos. A thousand phrases from these great plays and sonnets have probably carried into modern usuage. Shakespeare is best enjoyed first as a play by fine actors, such as those of the Royal Shakespeare company, that can give life to the often archaic and unfamiliar words, phrases and language constructs that come late 1500s. Once you have been captivated by a good live performance, reading the text becomes a joy and the strange language an exquisit pleasure. Some movies based on Shakespeare are more interesting than others (Kenneth Branagh has been quite successful, while Mel Gibson and Sir Lawrence Olivier were less so to my mind) but a live theater performance is far better and the written word is probably a close second. If you are interested in Shakespeare then this is a wonderful book - the only one you need really. If you have children then you really should get this and encourage them to read it. I have started reading selected passages with my 5 year old son and he loves it, he is absolutely enthralled with the language -- be bold, try it.
Rating:
Summary: A superb version that belongs in every household
Review: This weighty tome brings together authoritative versions of the complete works of Shakespeare. The excellent and informative introduction provides the historical context for the plays, the author and the folios. It also explains well how the plays tended to evolve with re-writes and performances. I have not read all of the plays and sonnets, but of the Shakespeare works Henry V and Hamlet, for example, provide high drama with stories that are compelling and language that is unique, beautiful and powerful. While the Taming of the Shrew and a Midsummers Night Dream provide humor, and other plays provide tragedy and pathos. A thousand phrases from these great plays and sonnets have probably carried into modern usuage. Shakespeare is best enjoyed first as a play by fine actors, such as those of the Royal Shakespeare company, that can give life to the often archaic and unfamiliar words, phrases and language constructs that come late 1500s. Once you have been captivated by a good live performance, reading the text becomes a joy and the strange language an exquisit pleasure. Some movies based on Shakespeare are more interesting than others (Kenneth Branagh has been quite successful, while Mel Gibson and Sir Lawrence Olivier were less so to my mind) but a live theater performance is far better and the written word is probably a close second. If you are interested in Shakespeare then this is a wonderful book - the only one you need really. If you have children then you really should get this and encourage them to read it. I have started reading selected passages with my 5 year old son and he loves it, he is absolutely enthralled with the language -- be bold, try it.
Rating: 
Summary: Errors
Review: Upon opening this book I immediately turned to my favourite play, Romeo and Juliet. My favourite scene is the opening battle between the Montagues and the Capulets. But what have we here? Suddenly the families are reversed. Sampson and Gregory are servants to Montague, not Capulet, and Abraham has apparently switched teams as well. Gregory says that one of his kinsmen is coming, and then Benvolio enters. Benvolio is a montague, which just goes to prove that they are montagues, and not servants of capulet. I don't know the rest of the plays as well, but for all I know there could be many more easily missed mistakes in the text.
Rating:
Summary: Willy deserves better treatment
Review: Useless. Those willing to sit by a desk straining their eyes whilst porring over tiny text in a heavy tome will perhaps go one step further. Do a google search for any Shakespeare text and watch as the relays mount. The texts themselves are searchable and one can look up references quickly and at the speed of your fingertips. Compendium editons are jade's stale nourishment for the drab and the indolent. The print is small, the book is heavy. Get thee to a second-hand bookshop and bargain for single play editions that take hold your fancy. (Arden, Norton, Cambridge, Folger, Signet Classics, respectively) The marginalia by previous owners often provide more substantial insight, references and wit than a wilderness of professional editors could in a millennium of their scribbling. Have your wealthy spinster auntie procure the Norton Facsimile for your birthday and reade him, therefore; and againe, and againe.
Rating:
Summary: Excellence personified
Review: We bought the book for Shakespeare. Oxford University has assembled Wells and Taylor did exemplary research here. What more can be said?
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