Reviews

Tales from Shakespeare by Mary Lamb, Charles Lamb

gauriraut's review

4.0

This book did its job. Which for my parents was: getting me interested in and having a rough knowledge of Shakespeare.

The Judi Dench (who I did not know about) introduction which I did NOT care for as a child, now seems interesting.

_ash0_'s review against another edition

5.0

Dad loved it when he was young and he gifted me so that I could read it.

apochemu's review against another edition

5.0

To be honest, I've never read any actual Shakespeare plays (that I can remember, maybe I did in high school but have no remembrance) so I can't compare these to those, but we really liked them. They made Shakespeare so accessible without dumbing it down excessively. They still took a good amount of attention to understand and follow all the characters. We'd usually do a narration halfway through each story and also at the end. My son said enjoyed it and thought it funny that all the stories ended with either everyone getting married or everyone dying and he's not wrong, ha ha.

I'm going to read this book again to my younger son in a few years and then we'll all dive into some actual Shakespeare together.

kismazsola's review against another edition

3.0

Nem vagyok nagy Shakespeare-rajongó, de ezzel az olvasással tartoztam – leginkább magamnak. A történetek mondjuk harmadát ismertem (ezek töredékét olvastam is drámaformában, a maradékot inkább film- és/vagy színházi feldolgozásból.)

Igazából maguk a történetek sem tudtak megfogni. Még az is, amelyiket szeretem (mondjuk a Vízkeresztet kifejezetten szeretem, bár ott is valószínűleg a feldolgozások érték el ezt), itt idegesített. Tudom, hogy kvázi ez a mesék feladata, de a rengeteg sztereotípia és agyonhasznált toposz/fordulat is csak eltávolított. Például A velencei kalmár végletekig gonosz uzsorás zsidója a 20. század tükrében kifejezetten nyomasztó volt – és ezt most nem felróni akarom, csak egyszerűen ezt éreztem. Emellett viszont nagyon ideje volt már megismernem a Hamlet történetét vagy mondjuk az Othellot.

Ami viszont kifejezetten pozitív élmény volt, az az Ahogy tetszik. Egyszerűen azért, mert amikor azt olvastam, akkor még a drámaformátum olvasása élénken élt bennem, és így tudatosan figyeltem arra, hogy mit ír le másképp egy próza, hogyan fűzi össze a jeleneteket, amiket a dráma különösebb nehézség nélkül csak egymás mögé pakol. Több helyen vélt vagy valós magyarázat is megjelenik történésekre, gondolom részben a potenciális gyerekolvasókra való tekintettel, részben a szöveg gördülékenysége miatt. Illetve szintén a gyerekek miatt valószínűleg a bolond és az álruhás-Rosalindba szerelmes lány (és az őt szerető ifjú) is kimaradtak a történetből. Őszintén szólva én ezt irodalomórán egy kihagyhatatlan lehetőségnek tartanám, hogy bármely kötelező Shakespeare-drámához el kelljen olvasni a mesét is, így a történeten kívül a két műnem és műnem-eszköztár közötti különbséget is lehetne elemezni.

És most már azt is elmondhatom, hogy olvastam óangol szöveget, ha mégoly keveset is hagytak meg Lambék, hűen követve az előszóban leírt koncepciójukat.

loddaline's review

funny fast-paced

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

4.25

Now; I’m writing a review for a whole book and not the individual stories, which means I’m aloud to take into account that Shakespeares plays were re-written by the authors for young people. In 1807. I love that fun fact, it’s so lovely to think about. 
They did a good job turning plays into a compact story version, but of course Shakespeare is meant to be seen not read. I think that would make the instant love and over dramatic responses to rumors and whatnot not so cringeworthy/laughable. 
All in all it should not be read story after story, because that is when the whole instant love, let’s marry upon sight thing really gets annoying. Fun to read though. 

hannahchair's review

adventurous emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A lovely short read to engage in for a bus ride, short stories that delivered the summary and essence of each of Shakespare’s works, however I did find some details rather inaccurate, such as it was never mentioned Juliet stabbed herself with her own dagger, but that of Romeo’s, but otherwise it has been wonderful getting to know the themes, lessons and commonalities found in Shakespeare.

thomasreede's review

3.0

Personally feel like Shakespeare and the whole shabang is seriously overrated. But then again, these were short stories of his plays/texts so maybe an actual performance would be quite impressive, who knows

thisbeauden's review against another edition

4.0

Recommended by my Shakespeare teacher, “Tales from Shakespeare” is a collection of short stories written in the 19th century for children to learn about Shakespeare works since childhood. The language was perfectly understandable, and in the end, the whole book was captivating and very engaging from the very start. It is a great thing for people who want to refresh their memory about Shakespearean plays.

natalie001's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

thekeziamartins's review against another edition

2.0

Pode ser um livro bom para quem não tem interesse de ler as peças diretamente da fonte. Mas eu não gostei quase nada dessas adaptações, nem todas as peças adaptadas eu li, mas as que li não foi nada satisfatório o resumo e reescrita. Apenas apagou a bela escrita de Shakespeare.