Reviews

Jullius Caesar. the Originals. by William Shakespeare

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gardenia_gerda's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

jtrogers1992's review against another edition

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4.0

Friends, Romans, Goodreads followers, lend me your ears. I enjoyed this very much and recommend reading plays with the text and audiobook. Really brings it to life. Great meditation on power, motives and politics. Can see why this is a classic.

tonii113's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

swiftie7013's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

bensontmac's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Giving Julius Caesar a rating is difficult because at times while reading it, it felt distant and alien -- a dusty relic from 400+ years ago with unfamiliar language and obscure themes. But when I got into it, it was honestly kind of beautiful. I was able to see the humanity of the characters; I saw the way Brutus's gentleness of character clashed with his violent sense of duty; I saw how Cassius was ultimately a noble and admirable man despite his anger and his warlike tendencies; I understood that Antony's villainous actions were largely motivated not by inherent evil but by love for Caesar. I was able to appreciate how the interactions between characters revealed a host of complex and warring emotions at play inside each person. It was hard to get through, and the arcane language threw me off, but I'd still say it's an excellent book.

This is the second Shakespeare play I've read, and I've been a bit surprised both times. He is so sparse on details; pretty much the only information the audience gets is either directly learned or inferred from character dialogue. As a result, I've often felt frustrated with the critical bonanza surrounding Shakespeare's works. The edition of Caesar I read, for example, contained 104 pages of actual original text and about 250 pages of analysis, introduction, Notes on the Text, critical analysis, etc. How do people get so excited, and write at such length, about such a short book? How much deep meaning is really wrapped into those 104 pages, and how much is overanalysis? Don't get me wrong: I was able to get a lot of emotion and meaning out of Julius Caesar. I also think that some of those hidden layers will be clearer upon subsequent rereads. But I'm still docking a star because, in comparison to all the hubbub about it, the book itself was a bit of a letdown.

eesh25's review against another edition

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5.0

So I really don't think I can be very critical about Shakespeare (haven't reached that level yet) so I'm not even gonna try.

I will say that I really liked the play, something I was surprised by. I thought reading it would be very homework-like. It wasn't. The haracters were all quite interesting. I hated two of them: Brutus and Cassius. Except I'm not a 100% sure I hate Cassius.

He was such a manipulative bastard and so good at it, that I gotta admire him for it. The dude has skill.

Brute I definitely hated. I had a hard time deciding whether he really thought Caesar was a threat or if he was simply looking for an excuse to kill him so he could be the ruler. The latter seemed more plausible.

Mark Antony is seriously goals, though. That speech/eulogy was the best thing ever. He should get an award for that.

Overall, really good play, even if it was very difficult in the beginning.