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3.32 AVERAGE
3.32 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The language just… I couldn’t get into it.
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I had never read an Updike novel before. I knew he was famous for novels about the torrid sexual lives of 20th-century middle-class Americans. So here's a novel about the torrid sexual lives of upper-class medieval Danish people. It also happens to be a prequel to Hamlet.
I found the beginning of the novel a bit off-putting--the style seemed stilted and awkward and the analysis of everyone's motivations and thoughts rather labored and obvious. But it grew on me as it went on. Some of the descriptions of nature and the changing seasons are absolutely gorgeous, and the characters--mostly Gertrude, Claudius, and Polonius--are fleshed out beautifully in ways that more or less support my own reading of the play but also enrich my understanding of it. I was given this book several years ago by one of my cast members (Gertrude, in fact) when I directed Hamlet for our local community theater, but I've only now gotten around to reading it. So it's a play I've thought about a lot and I'm happy to see that many of Updike's thoughts correspond with my own. His account of Claudius' motivations for his actions in Act 1:Scene 2 (with which the novel ends) is pretty much what I came to independently. That was one of the most fun and challenging scenes to stage and Updike sets it up beautifully. It's a melancholy and ironic way to end the novel.
There's some awkwardness about the way the story's setting seems to shift from near-Viking times to the Renaissance in the course of a few decades. Not entirely unlike what T. H. White does in _Once and Future King_ though he's more explicit and fantastical about it. I think Updike means this to be symbolic and on the whole it works.
But what matters most, for the book as a novel, is that Gertrude and Claudius and their hapless sidekick Polonius come alive as people--deeply flawed but sympathetic people who make bad decisions for understandable human reasons. This book will enrich my understanding of one of Western literature's greatest masterpieces.
I found the beginning of the novel a bit off-putting--the style seemed stilted and awkward and the analysis of everyone's motivations and thoughts rather labored and obvious. But it grew on me as it went on. Some of the descriptions of nature and the changing seasons are absolutely gorgeous, and the characters--mostly Gertrude, Claudius, and Polonius--are fleshed out beautifully in ways that more or less support my own reading of the play but also enrich my understanding of it. I was given this book several years ago by one of my cast members (Gertrude, in fact) when I directed Hamlet for our local community theater, but I've only now gotten around to reading it. So it's a play I've thought about a lot and I'm happy to see that many of Updike's thoughts correspond with my own. His account of Claudius' motivations for his actions in Act 1:Scene 2 (with which the novel ends) is pretty much what I came to independently. That was one of the most fun and challenging scenes to stage and Updike sets it up beautifully. It's a melancholy and ironic way to end the novel.
There's some awkwardness about the way the story's setting seems to shift from near-Viking times to the Renaissance in the course of a few decades. Not entirely unlike what T. H. White does in _Once and Future King_ though he's more explicit and fantastical about it. I think Updike means this to be symbolic and on the whole it works.
But what matters most, for the book as a novel, is that Gertrude and Claudius and their hapless sidekick Polonius come alive as people--deeply flawed but sympathetic people who make bad decisions for understandable human reasons. This book will enrich my understanding of one of Western literature's greatest masterpieces.
Read this as prep for my AP English class, as the kids are required to read a modern/different take on the classic in addition to the play itself. And. . . welllllll. . . . it was interesting in concept, but my! It dragged. Part of the problem with retellings is that WE KNOW ALREADY!!!!! so the only thrill is watching an old story unfold. Updike makes this a prequel, filled with impressive details of Danish court life, etc, but he also perpetrates sentences like "Gertrude kept brushing out her hair, which in the half-light of this gloomy winter morning emanated a coruscating halo of static phosphorescence as she brushed" (79). That took me several pages to recover from. Updike also weaves a lot of quotations into the text of the play--sometimes successfully, sometimes not--and I'm still baffled about why everyone's names changed after Fengon/Claudius's coronation, except to connect the original legend more firmly to the play. Overall, I think the story stands as an intellectual exercise. I'm glad I read it, but I'm thrilled to be done. On to some real summer reading!
Example of a lovely sentence: after Gertrude speaks to Ophelia privately, "the two women perfumed the closet with the stir of their embrace." (187)
Example of a lovely sentence: after Gertrude speaks to Ophelia privately, "the two women perfumed the closet with the stir of their embrace." (187)
Entering Kornborg Castle in Denmark requires the visitor to not only approach the castle on foot, but to also cross two moats. It is after the first moat, the one with the swans, that Kornborg's purpose becomes manifest. It is quite clear that the purpose of the structure is not to be a castle but to be a fortress and to enforce the collection of sound duties for which it was built. The harsh fact of warfare greets the visitor with an absence. There was a beautiful fountain until the Swedes invaded and stole it (don't worry, plenty of things in Denmark were taken from the Swedes, so it all works out). Kornborg lacks the charm of a Renaissance palace such as Rosenberg Castle. It is stark. This is not to say the castle is not fascinating. Of particular interest to a visitor are the casements. Once a part of the castle that served as barracks, which constantly flooded, today the casements house pickled herring and Holger the Dane. Kornborg’s, and its town, claim to fame lie in their association with a famous work of literature, [b:Hamlet|6497830|Hamlet|William Shakespeare|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51%2Bj-4YK1JL._SL75_.jpg|1885548], and the castle itself is better known as Helsingor Castle (Helsingor being the town).
The town capitalizes heavily on its connection with one of the world's most famous plays. There is Hamlet's well, Hamlet's tree, and Ophelia's grave, which is in a park that seems way too close to a casino. Strangely, she is also the only the grave there. Despite these relics, the town does not seem to embody the play. It is too charming, and not at all melancholy. But Kornborg Castle is a different story entirely. The castle breathes power and melancholy. Perhaps this is due to the connection to a fictional depressed prince. Perhaps it is due to the unpleasant living conditions that the soldiers had to suffer though, wading though ankle deep water in their sleeping quarters. More likely, it is due to the fact that Queen Caroline was imprisoned here after her coup against her husband, Christian VII, whose sanity was not stable and whose lover was Katrine with the Boots. Queen Caroline lost power, saw her lover beheaded, was imprisoned and never saw her son or daughter again. Eventually, she was sent into exile. That's not only sad, it's tragic.
Because of its starkness and mood, Kornborg suits the story of Hamlet perfectly. What better setting for a story of palace murder, incest, death, and sex?
Apparently, there are many better settings because very few adaptations seem to make use of the castle. Brannagh's excellent movie version of the play would've been out of place at Kornborg. Brannagh's Hamlet is too much of a Renaissance prince. What about Gibson, you ask? That was Medieval. True, but it lacked the Sound, which has become a part of the castle itself. And Olivier's? There is not enough room for the funeral procession at Kornborg.
John Updike, however, presents the story of Hamlet in such a way that it finally seems to take place in Kornborg Castle.
The plot of Updike's novel is concerned about what happen prior to the start of the famous play. He gives the reader the back story of Gertrude, Claudius, and Hamlet Sr. as well as bit more information about Polonius and Ophelia.
Updike uses the langue to capture the feeling and place. He melds Shakespeare with the original story. The book reads like the bastard child of Shakespeare and a scop. It is startling, but strangely enough it works.
The character that shines the most is Gertrude. Updike draws from Shakespeare's presentation but deepens the character. The reader sees her drafted into a marriage that she does not want, of her peace with that marriage, of her sleeping. The reader sees her awakened as a person, finally living instead of just being the cipher she is though Hamlet's eyes.
Claudius too is as close to redeemed as anyone can bring him. Updike paints him almost as a knight errant, whose feelings for Gertrude never seem in doubt. This matches the play, for Claudius loves Gertrude his afterword, Updike hints that he wrote the book in part to offer solutions to those puzzling questions of [b:Hamlet|6497830|Hamlet|William Shakespeare|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51%2Bj-4YK1JL._SL75_.jpg|1885548], such as the age of Hamlet, the time of the story, as well as the cover up. Updike does this well and with a degree of believability. More importantly, he gets the attentive reader to think more deeply about the play, and challenges the more readily accepted and established view.de up until the end, where he decides he loves his life and power more (and then is killed). Additionally, Updike shows a man who is perhaps more like his brother than he realizes, and what power and the desire to keep it, can do.
Hamlet is present, though in a shadowy, forceful and threatening way. Here, Hamlet becomes the rotten aspect of Denmark. The book, like the play it draws from, is a tragedy, for the reader knows the final fate of all those involved. It is this tragic, futile, melancholy feeling that matches the castle of Kornborg so well. It is wonderful to read the story of Hamlet set in the correct place and time.
The town capitalizes heavily on its connection with one of the world's most famous plays. There is Hamlet's well, Hamlet's tree, and Ophelia's grave, which is in a park that seems way too close to a casino. Strangely, she is also the only the grave there. Despite these relics, the town does not seem to embody the play. It is too charming, and not at all melancholy. But Kornborg Castle is a different story entirely. The castle breathes power and melancholy. Perhaps this is due to the connection to a fictional depressed prince. Perhaps it is due to the unpleasant living conditions that the soldiers had to suffer though, wading though ankle deep water in their sleeping quarters. More likely, it is due to the fact that Queen Caroline was imprisoned here after her coup against her husband, Christian VII, whose sanity was not stable and whose lover was Katrine with the Boots. Queen Caroline lost power, saw her lover beheaded, was imprisoned and never saw her son or daughter again. Eventually, she was sent into exile. That's not only sad, it's tragic.
Because of its starkness and mood, Kornborg suits the story of Hamlet perfectly. What better setting for a story of palace murder, incest, death, and sex?
Apparently, there are many better settings because very few adaptations seem to make use of the castle. Brannagh's excellent movie version of the play would've been out of place at Kornborg. Brannagh's Hamlet is too much of a Renaissance prince. What about Gibson, you ask? That was Medieval. True, but it lacked the Sound, which has become a part of the castle itself. And Olivier's? There is not enough room for the funeral procession at Kornborg.
John Updike, however, presents the story of Hamlet in such a way that it finally seems to take place in Kornborg Castle.
The plot of Updike's novel is concerned about what happen prior to the start of the famous play. He gives the reader the back story of Gertrude, Claudius, and Hamlet Sr. as well as bit more information about Polonius and Ophelia.
Updike uses the langue to capture the feeling and place. He melds Shakespeare with the original story. The book reads like the bastard child of Shakespeare and a scop. It is startling, but strangely enough it works.
The character that shines the most is Gertrude. Updike draws from Shakespeare's presentation but deepens the character. The reader sees her drafted into a marriage that she does not want, of her peace with that marriage, of her sleeping. The reader sees her awakened as a person, finally living instead of just being the cipher she is though Hamlet's eyes.
Claudius too is as close to redeemed as anyone can bring him. Updike paints him almost as a knight errant, whose feelings for Gertrude never seem in doubt. This matches the play, for Claudius loves Gertrude his afterword, Updike hints that he wrote the book in part to offer solutions to those puzzling questions of [b:Hamlet|6497830|Hamlet|William Shakespeare|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51%2Bj-4YK1JL._SL75_.jpg|1885548], such as the age of Hamlet, the time of the story, as well as the cover up. Updike does this well and with a degree of believability. More importantly, he gets the attentive reader to think more deeply about the play, and challenges the more readily accepted and established view.de up until the end, where he decides he loves his life and power more (and then is killed). Additionally, Updike shows a man who is perhaps more like his brother than he realizes, and what power and the desire to keep it, can do.
Hamlet is present, though in a shadowy, forceful and threatening way. Here, Hamlet becomes the rotten aspect of Denmark. The book, like the play it draws from, is a tragedy, for the reader knows the final fate of all those involved. It is this tragic, futile, melancholy feeling that matches the castle of Kornborg so well. It is wonderful to read the story of Hamlet set in the correct place and time.
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A solid prequel for Hamlet that gives dimension to Claudius and Getrude. The writing is thought out in a way to acknowledge not just Hamlet but other versions of the play (attributed to others) and discourse around Hamlet.
The romance of Claudius and Gertrude builds to just before the play should commence. The themes of the book center on gender roles, consent and love, and power.Interestingly, Gertrude worries that Claudius is won’t be as interested in her as a lover as king and queen, that she has been blinded to who Claudius truly was, who we truly are once he ascends to the throne. The last line of the book where Claudius is internally thinking that he has gotten away with killing his brother the king is chilling in the context of the pure love we thought he was motivated by through the courtship and affair.
The sex felt like the male gaze to me and gave me the ick—a bit dated way of writing about a woman’s sexual satisfaction.
The romance of Claudius and Gertrude builds to just before the play should commence. The themes of the book center on gender roles, consent and love, and power.
The sex felt like the male gaze to me and gave me the ick—a bit dated way of writing about a woman’s sexual satisfaction.