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franklyfrank's review
3.0
Adonis and Venus 45 Stars/5
this was a tough read but really well worth it.
" Love comforteth like sunshine after rain,
But Lust's effect is tempest after sun.
Love's gentle spring doth always fresh remain;
Lust's winter comes ere summer half be done.
Love surfeits not, Lust like a glutton dies;
Love is all truth, Lust full of forged lies.”
There's a reason Shakespeare is a classic. I was wondering at first if this was about a tale of a goddess pursuing a mortal for sex. I was so completely wrong.
Quotes like: "For he being dead, with him is beauty slain,
And, beauty dead, black chaos comes again."
just show how amazing he was as a writer.
this was a tough read but really well worth it.
" Love comforteth like sunshine after rain,
But Lust's effect is tempest after sun.
Love's gentle spring doth always fresh remain;
Lust's winter comes ere summer half be done.
Love surfeits not, Lust like a glutton dies;
Love is all truth, Lust full of forged lies.”
There's a reason Shakespeare is a classic. I was wondering at first if this was about a tale of a goddess pursuing a mortal for sex. I was so completely wrong.
Quotes like: "For he being dead, with him is beauty slain,
And, beauty dead, black chaos comes again."
just show how amazing he was as a writer.
gaby_inz's review
emotional
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
mika_'s review
2.0
I gave it a generous three stars, it's just my opinion but I was skimming through the book and I found it a little tedious or slow, that's all the words I can say about this. I do admit I'm only starting with classics thus these poems were just not entertaining. (do not recommend if you're only getting started)
libraryofpeculiar's review against another edition
3.0
Not blown away as I thought I'd be. I love Shakespeare's plays so I was quite happy to read his poetry..
But I found long poems "Venus and Adonis" and "The Rape of Lucrece" rather boring. I haven't even finished "The Rape of Lucrece", I skipped it and went to sonnets. Sonnets were quite good. I really liked some sonnets while some were meh. But all in all I liked sonnets better than the longer poems. The only longer poem I liked was "A lover's complaint", that one was quite fun to read.
But the biggest problem for me was the language and way it was written. I had a hard time understanding since English isn't my first language so I had to concentrate real hard to understand what's going on in some of the poems. Wish I had this book in Croatian rather than English, maybe I'd enjoy it more.
But I found long poems "Venus and Adonis" and "The Rape of Lucrece" rather boring. I haven't even finished "The Rape of Lucrece", I skipped it and went to sonnets. Sonnets were quite good. I really liked some sonnets while some were meh. But all in all I liked sonnets better than the longer poems. The only longer poem I liked was "A lover's complaint", that one was quite fun to read.
But the biggest problem for me was the language and way it was written. I had a hard time understanding since English isn't my first language so I had to concentrate real hard to understand what's going on in some of the poems. Wish I had this book in Croatian rather than English, maybe I'd enjoy it more.
stephgraves's review
5.0
This is a seriously wonderful edition--the glossing is actually quite helpful, and the introduction is thoroughly researched and wide-reaching in both its historical situating of the poems as well as the elements at work in the poems.
fmoreno's review
4.0
I got this book for my birthday. Actually, I demanded this book for my birthday and I started reading it the moment I put my eyes on it. Since I started to study Shakespeare (plays and some sonnets) I have wanted to read his sonnets in order to get to know Shakespeare, the poet and not only Shakespeare the playwright. I was mostly interested in his sonnets as I said but this edition has two additional narrative poems and some other poems that were supposedly written by Shakespeare.
The notes on the edition help a great deal since I'm not a specialist in Shakespeare's works. This is not a book to read in one sitting (I took 3 months more or less to read this) but it is worth it. There are some things of more interest than others - for me it was the sonnets, without a doubt - but all in all it's a great collection of Shakespeare's poetry.
The notes on the edition help a great deal since I'm not a specialist in Shakespeare's works. This is not a book to read in one sitting (I took 3 months more or less to read this) but it is worth it. There are some things of more interest than others - for me it was the sonnets, without a doubt - but all in all it's a great collection of Shakespeare's poetry.
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