moreĪs one of those uneducated people who have never actually read Shakespeare - apart, of course, from a passing familiarity with some wonderful quotes, or the odd “scene” acted out (or parodied) at school, or a glimpse and at some of his beautiful poetry - I approached John Marsden’s “Hamlet: A Novel” full of anticipation, blissfully ignorant but waiting to be told just what was so rotten in the State of Denmark. I would easily call this my favourite adaptation of Hamlet and I would readily sit down and read, or listen, to it all over again.Ī longer version of this review was published on my blog. Not overly complex but not basic either, very poetic and melodic at times, very Shakespeare without being Shakespeare. Set in a time with swords and ships the locations are the same, and Marsden's writing feels write for the era in which it is set.
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Marsden doesn't update the play either, the same events are there, but they aren't modernised or anything. The extension of the story allows more character depth I found, you really get a sense of not just Hamlet, but also Ophelia, Claudius and the rest. He is my absolute favourite character in this whole thing. The tragedy is there, Horatio is amazing and I love him throughout. The plot follows the play in terms of events, I did find myself waiting lines to be included that are so well known from the play, but Marsden doesn't fall for cheap copying, the same elements are there, the same moments, but Marsden doesn't reduce this novelisation to simply adding quotes from Shakespeare in it. Marsden's words really brings out Hamlet's home life and his despair, yes, he is a dramatic idiot and you roll your eyes at him at the start, but through the rest of the story you see what his life is like, what he is like, and you really pity him and for the situation his father put him in and how it affects him. Whether it's Marsden magic or just the fact that the novel could include more detail, but I had so much more sympathy for Hamlet listening to this than I ever did with the play. It exceeded my expectations (whatever they were) and it has made me wish that more of Shakespeare's plays were given the Marsden novelisation treatment because I think they would be divine. Whether it's Marsden magic or just the fact that the novel could include more detail, but I had so much more sympathy for Hamlet listening to this than I ever did with the pl I have wanted to read this novelisation of Hamlet since it was first published and I am so incredibly happy that I was not disappointed. I have wanted to read this novelisation of Hamlet since it was first published and I am so incredibly happy that I was not disappointed. What matters is the characters, and that they come to life.more Marsden's Hamlet wears jeans, but most other indicators suggest a setting several centuries old, and it probably doesn't need to have a fixed date. There's some tradition in productions of the play to include current political overtones, or even to set it in the contemporary world. It isn't clear into what historical period Marsden places his story.
Yes, his characters are different from those of Shakespeare, no less tortured, but believable as people. That's his forte - getting into the mind of the adolescent or young adult. and that's exactly what it is! Marsden gives us his own version of the story, not much different from that of the Bard, but it's the characters that come to life with Marsden. It's the story you'd get if you asked one of the best contemporary writers for young adults to tell the tale of Hamlet. It's a new telling of the story of Hamlet, so it doesn't matter whether or not it is faithful to the Shakespearian Hamlet (and most scholars agree that Shakespeare borrowed heavily from other Hamlet-like stories and plays). This is not Hamlet retold in prose, nor is it an attempt to explain Hamlet to a modern, younger audience. It's the story you'd get if you asked one of the best contemporary writers for young adults to tell the tal I'm amused, or perhaps irritated, by some of the reviews here.
I'm amused, or perhaps irritated, by some of the reviews here.