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camillam's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
lgiegerich's review against another edition
4.0
The Winter's Tale is not my favorite Shakespeare play by a long shot, but I really enjoyed this "cover version." Some of the things that really annoy me in the play still annoyed me here, but I think Winterson did a great job of updating it in a way that made sense in modern times, especially all the coincidences of the end.
scholarhect's review against another edition
2.0
Abandoned halfway through. I haven't read A Winter's Tale and this modern retelling doesn't give me any inclination to. It may have been a flaw of her source material but Winterson's characters just don't hold my interest (not helped here by some very average voice acting on the audiobook version). They all feel like cliches and Leon especially is too grotesque to want to pay much attention to. Weak narrative (the worst of hers I've read so far) combined with some truly awful moments in the spoken word version, such as the triplets having a 'Chinglish' accent despite having been adopted as young children by a British missionary - which makes no sense as Perdita has the same southern drawl as her adoptive father and brother - have made this unreadable/listenable for me. Wouldn't recommend and glad I didn't buy it when I thought about it.
apawney97's review against another edition
4.0
3.5
Although this retelling is a feat in its own right, no prose could replicate the original's magical denouement. Some parallels were overemphasised and the retelling tried too hard to emulate the original - to the extent that at certain points the writing came across as clunky and pretentious.
Although this retelling is a feat in its own right, no prose could replicate the original's magical denouement. Some parallels were overemphasised and the retelling tried too hard to emulate the original - to the extent that at certain points the writing came across as clunky and pretentious.
paula_s's review against another edition
4.0
Este no es un retelling al uso sino una nueva interpretación de "Cuento de Invierno" de William Shakespeare, cambiando un poco el final y explicando el por qué de ese cambio y la razón por la que la autora, Jeanette Winterson, escogió esta obra y le dio esa visión en las páginas finales.
Así pues Cuento de Invierno pasando a ser El hueco del tiempo, se traduce de la tragedia Shakespeariana ("Y al final todos mueren") en un drama actualizado, mezclado con la crueldad despiadada del mundo moderno, la falta de alma y sensibilidad del ser humano, con un tinte esperanzador al final.
Habrá quien diga que esta no es una obra característica de la autora, y es verdad, no lo es... pero ya desde el principio debería saberse, desde que en la contraportada del libro puede leerse "Hogarth Shakespeare" en un sello rojo.
Así pues Cuento de Invierno pasando a ser El hueco del tiempo, se traduce de la tragedia Shakespeariana ("Y al final todos mueren") en un drama actualizado, mezclado con la crueldad despiadada del mundo moderno, la falta de alma y sensibilidad del ser humano, con un tinte esperanzador al final.
Habrá quien diga que esta no es una obra característica de la autora, y es verdad, no lo es... pero ya desde el principio debería saberse, desde que en la contraportada del libro puede leerse "Hogarth Shakespeare" en un sello rojo.
vgk's review against another edition
1.0
Although I would generally say I'm a fan, Winterson's work is always either hit or miss with me and this is definitely a miss. I hated the world she's created, the characters were one-dimensional (they are each either REALLY REALLY bad or REALLY REALLY good), the plot was obvious and quite stupid (perhaps Shakespeare's original is more believable?), it is disjointed and difficult to follow and the writing, unusually for Winterson, is pretty awful. Worst of all (for me) were the passages where she attempts to convince us she has some sort of profound philosophical insights about time and forgiveness, sections which reek of pretension but actually convey nothing at all. And I have no idea at all what all the computer game business was about, other than perhaps to try (but fail) to say something profound about the modern age, or maybe to appeal to a younger market. I got the sense that she was distracted whilst writing this, that it didn't get her full attention and there was a deadline before it was properly finished. I hated it.
erna_reads's review
5.0
'And the world goes on regardless of joy or despair or one woman's fortune or one man's loss.'
'The past must not mortgage the future.'
Brilliant cover version of Shakespeare's The Winter Tale. Redeeming, optimistic, and with truly lovable characters.
'The past must not mortgage the future.'
Brilliant cover version of Shakespeare's The Winter Tale. Redeeming, optimistic, and with truly lovable characters.
mlledottie's review
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
jessicah95's review against another edition
2.0
Quite surprised by the amount of favourable reviews for this one. Granted, it started off really strong, and I loved the first hundred pages or so. But then it almost became a parody of itself. It seemed the actual writing style changed, the characters became less believable, and the whole thing just got a little silly? I don't know. Just want to point out that I know this is a retelling of 'The Winter's Tale', which I read before this so I could pick up on nuances Winterson included. And annoyingly, I think it was a wonderful retelling to start with - for the first third anyway. All in all, quite disappointed in this!
flappermyrtle's review against another edition
4.0
Well. After the first 50 pages or so I was positively shocked. In a good way. The start of this novel is like watching a car crash take place, right in front of you. It is intense, bold, and grabs you by the throat.
Having said that, time for a little background information. The Gap of Time is a rewriting of Shakespeare's A Winter's Tale, which is not one of his major plays and barely ever brought on stage. Winterson explains that she picked this for its resonance with her own life, as it deals with a lost baby, and she herself was adopted as a baby.It is the first in a series of rewritings, which features a list of well-known writers and more well-known plays (really excited for Atwood's redo of The Tempest!).
Onto the book, then. The characters still felt Shakespearean to me, modernised of course, but they still had a certain Renaissance elegance to them. Winterson's lyrical language is perhaps less present than in novels like Written on the Body and The Power Book, a necessity when one must obey a plot. Still, there are plenty of moments when it surfaces, and the reader can get lost in its simple beauty.
I loved The Gap of Time for its acuteness, its language, its clever updating of Shakespeare. The one criticism I have is not so much on Winterson's head, but on Shakespeare's - the ending does not seem to flow very organically from the rest of the story. It is wonderful, magical even, to reunite the early generation and the later one, to show a promise for the future, but it just felt a little too good. With a novel this visceral, a happy ending seems somewhat out of place. But, alas, Shakespeare made it a comedy, and thus a comedy it must be, even 500 years later.
I'd very highly recommend this novel to those unfamiliar with Winterson's work, as well as returning fans. I feel it is perhaps easier to access than some of her earlier novels, yet still clearly bears her mark on it. Can't wait for the next one.
Having said that, time for a little background information. The Gap of Time is a rewriting of Shakespeare's A Winter's Tale, which is not one of his major plays and barely ever brought on stage. Winterson explains that she picked this for its resonance with her own life, as it deals with a lost baby, and she herself was adopted as a baby.It is the first in a series of rewritings, which features a list of well-known writers and more well-known plays (really excited for Atwood's redo of The Tempest!).
Onto the book, then. The characters still felt Shakespearean to me, modernised of course, but they still had a certain Renaissance elegance to them. Winterson's lyrical language is perhaps less present than in novels like Written on the Body and The Power Book, a necessity when one must obey a plot. Still, there are plenty of moments when it surfaces, and the reader can get lost in its simple beauty.
I loved The Gap of Time for its acuteness, its language, its clever updating of Shakespeare. The one criticism I have is not so much on Winterson's head, but on Shakespeare's - the ending does not seem to flow very organically from the rest of the story. It is wonderful, magical even, to reunite the early generation and the later one, to show a promise for the future, but it just felt a little too good. With a novel this visceral, a happy ending seems somewhat out of place. But, alas, Shakespeare made it a comedy, and thus a comedy it must be, even 500 years later.
I'd very highly recommend this novel to those unfamiliar with Winterson's work, as well as returning fans. I feel it is perhaps easier to access than some of her earlier novels, yet still clearly bears her mark on it. Can't wait for the next one.