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3.59 AVERAGE
3.59 AVERAGE
Founded around a series of what-ifs. What if Ophelia's death was in fact a Romeo-and-Juliet type attempt to get away from the troubles that beset her relationship with Hamlet and in fact she survived to tell her tale? In fact this story mostly reads like Hamlet meets Romeo and Juliet and finishes with a happy ending.
Overall it was interesting to have some of the dialogue from the original interspersed with the story and a greater development of the character of Ophelia but overall it was a bit ho-hum.
Overall it was interesting to have some of the dialogue from the original interspersed with the story and a greater development of the character of Ophelia but overall it was a bit ho-hum.
The best parts of Lisa Klein's Ophelia are when she sticks close to Shakespeare, weaving in bits of the play's original dialog and reading between the lines to find much more there. The scene between Hamlet and Ophelia while Claudius and Polonius spy on them is inspired! I've never been a big fan of Shakespeare's Hamlet as a character, but Klein's representation gives me new insights into Shakespeare's play, helping me imagine Hamlet as a lively, charming prince, heightening the tragedy still further. I must admit that the story does lose a bit of luster in the last section as it continues the story where Shakespeare left off. Still, this may be the best literary retelling I've ever read and I'm becoming something of a connoisseur.
Absolutely Loved it. I'd never read anything by Shakespeare and now that I've read this wonderful book I understand Hamlet much better now. I hope she writes more of the female point of view of Shakespeare characters like this.
2.5 stars. thought it was due for a reread, and.... yeah this book was not nearly as good as I remembered.
I read this before I read Hamlet. Before I read I think any Shakespeare. But wow I just loved this book. I have read it at least three times and after reading Hamlet I am glad I read it. Ophelia is such a awful character in the original and I feel that here she is a real person. It is nice to see her flesh her out and make her human.
Eh. I appreciated the concept of a retelling focusing on Ophelia, but this was kind of a miss for me. I enjoyed that the relationship between Gertrude and Ophelia is fleshed out a lot and that Ophelia has agency in this and I'll still check out the movie, though.