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3.59 AVERAGE
3.59 AVERAGE
I need time to process the extent to which I buy this characterization Ophelia--how much she *could* line up with the Ophelia of Hamlet. But the book itself was very enjoyable. The first couple dozen pages were kind of crap, but after that it was really enjoyable.
I call this a book candy.
I have always admired Ophelia, long before I actually read Hamlet. Then I was confused as why she is so stupid like all the other female Shakesperean characters... So for me this book brought joy. Am I aware of the critiques? Yes. Do I care? No.
This book has ticked all the boxes for me.
- Did I enjoy it? Yes.
- Did I like the characters? Yes.
- Did it make me think? Yes.
- Am I a feminist? Well, who isn’t?
- Do I think Claire Randall Fraser from Outlander and Ophelia would be great friends? Hell, yes!
I have always admired Ophelia, long before I actually read Hamlet. Then I was confused as why she is so stupid like all the other female Shakesperean characters... So for me this book brought joy. Am I aware of the critiques? Yes. Do I care? No.
This book has ticked all the boxes for me.
- Did I enjoy it? Yes.
- Did I like the characters? Yes.
- Did it make me think? Yes.
- Am I a feminist? Well, who isn’t?
- Do I think Claire Randall Fraser from Outlander and Ophelia would be great friends? Hell, yes!
3. 5 stars.
I do love a good re-telling of a classic story, and Shakespeare's corpus offers so many points for an author's re-interpretation of events. A book on Ophelia from her point of view seemed a creative choice and the finished product was not terrible.
However, compared with the beautifully written original, Ophelia's lack of stellar writing seems even more of a flaw. There are no soliloquies, no dialogue, and no beautiful passages that even come close to touching the majestic speeches of play. And while authors are free to interpret their source material as they wish, I didn't feel that the Hamlet of this novel bore even a slight resemblance to his thespian counterpart. Klein's goal was to recreate the story from Ophelia's point of view, and in doing so I feel that she missed a significant part of what makes the play so beautiful. Yet she did manage to capture the fear caused by something being rotten in the state of Denmark, something one doesn't always get from just reading the play.
The last quarter of the novel, however, felt tacked on and random--really it could have been a novella about some other woman entirely, it felt so completely removed and separate from the rest of the novel.
But Horatio and Ophelia...oh yes, I ship them. Kiss away, you two. .
Still, I enjoyed the read. Shakespeare is a treasure trove of stories, so let the creative interpretations and adaptions continue.
I do love a good re-telling of a classic story, and Shakespeare's corpus offers so many points for an author's re-interpretation of events. A book on Ophelia from her point of view seemed a creative choice and the finished product was not terrible.
However, compared with the beautifully written original, Ophelia's lack of stellar writing seems even more of a flaw. There are no soliloquies, no dialogue, and no beautiful passages that even come close to touching the majestic speeches of play. And while authors are free to interpret their source material as they wish, I didn't feel that the Hamlet of this novel bore even a slight resemblance to his thespian counterpart. Klein's goal was to recreate the story from Ophelia's point of view, and in doing so I feel that she missed a significant part of what makes the play so beautiful. Yet she did manage to capture the fear caused by something being rotten in the state of Denmark, something one doesn't always get from just reading the play.
The last quarter of the novel, however, felt tacked on and random--really it could have been a novella about some other woman entirely, it felt so completely removed and separate from the rest of the novel.
Still, I enjoyed the read. Shakespeare is a treasure trove of stories, so let the creative interpretations and adaptions continue.
DNF on page 105. No rating/dates, not adding it to my challenge.
I was really intrigued by this concept: I raved about it to my friends and then reserved it from my library... and proceeded to not care. It had a lot of potential, but the writing style in itself was so all over the place that I had no interest in pursuing the novel further. The writing was a mixture of 16th century English and scenes from the play mixed with modern prose. It attempts to mix the two, but it doesn't succeed. It feels false, which is not what you need.
I'll give Klein kudos for attempting such a big project. Shakespeare is hard to take on, especially since this is not only a modernisation but also a reworking of the facts. The concept in itself was decent, and there were moments which intrigued me. But, they were fleeting moments and I honestly found this book forgettable. I would forget I was reading it until I logged back into Goodreads and saw it on my Currently Reading list.
Unfortunately, I'm not going to continue reading this.
I was really intrigued by this concept: I raved about it to my friends and then reserved it from my library... and proceeded to not care. It had a lot of potential, but the writing style in itself was so all over the place that I had no interest in pursuing the novel further. The writing was a mixture of 16th century English and scenes from the play mixed with modern prose. It attempts to mix the two, but it doesn't succeed. It feels false, which is not what you need.
I'll give Klein kudos for attempting such a big project. Shakespeare is hard to take on, especially since this is not only a modernisation but also a reworking of the facts. The concept in itself was decent, and there were moments which intrigued me. But, they were fleeting moments and I honestly found this book forgettable. I would forget I was reading it until I logged back into Goodreads and saw it on my Currently Reading list.
Unfortunately, I'm not going to continue reading this.
I thought reading this might make me like Ophelia better or sympathize with her more.
It didn't.
I've read a lot of Shakespeare re-tellings (it's an area of intense interest) and you have to be seriously careful with them and have immense talent to pull it off even remotely successfully.
It didn't.
I've read a lot of Shakespeare re-tellings (it's an area of intense interest) and you have to be seriously careful with them and have immense talent to pull it off even remotely successfully.
The beginning was so interesting and fast paced. The rest of it was so boring and slow. I liked the new imagining of Hamlet, but I didn't really like the rest.
I stopped reading at 32% which was the point I realized that I didn't care- at all- about any of the characters. Everyone was flat- not relatable, likable, or even interesting.
The writing was very tedious. At times it was weighed down by overly effusive descriptions (I didn't test this, but I suspect this writer might have used more similes and metaphors than even Shakespeare did and not always to good effect) and then it was punctuated by the bare delivery of those plot points that we expect. It read almost like a story outline at places.
The places where the writer diverged from the well-known story were not particularly interesting or useful.
I imagine that trying to write a redemptive, female-centered story into a world that Shakespeare originated would be particularly challenging. It might have been better to write a tragic romance in a historical setting all on its own and left Ophelia and Hamlet alone.
The writing was very tedious. At times it was weighed down by overly effusive descriptions (I didn't test this, but I suspect this writer might have used more similes and metaphors than even Shakespeare did and not always to good effect) and then it was punctuated by the bare delivery of those plot points that we expect. It read almost like a story outline at places.
The places where the writer diverged from the well-known story were not particularly interesting or useful.
I imagine that trying to write a redemptive, female-centered story into a world that Shakespeare originated would be particularly challenging. It might have been better to write a tragic romance in a historical setting all on its own and left Ophelia and Hamlet alone.
While this book started off slow, I ended up loving it. It's a great, feminist-style take on the classic "Hamlet" story, and it gives a spin on the original that I actually like much better. It's great historical fiction writing and I'd reccomend it to anyone interested in that genre, especially if you're fond of strong female lead characters. I would read this book over again in a heartbeat.