Reviews

Fool by Christopher Moore

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Quite the romp through Shakespeare's King Lear, but told from the perspective of a fool. Comical and amusing at times, but it never really grabbed me. I was a fan of Pockets, but most of the rest of the cast of characters were simply put in as foils for him and didn't really add much for me.

blondierocket's review

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4.0

A new spin on Shakespeare’s King Lear, told by the fool’s prospective.

I was immediately intrigued when I was given this book as a gift because King Lear is one play I am very familiar with having done a production of it in high school. Knowing the story so well helped me fully understand and grasp this idea of telling the story all over again, but through Lear’s fool’s eyes.

For those who don’t know, King Lear, is about a king who decides to divide his land between his three daughters, based on how much they love him. His youngest, Cordelia, refuses to be like her sisters and is banished from the family. Throughout the story we find Lear going mad at his decision, wishing he had made a different decision as he watches his other daughters fight for all the land.

There are clear differences between King Lear and Fool, but at some point Moore needed to take creative license and he did an amazing job creating a character we hardly know and making him center stage.

You don’t have to know the story of King Lear, to read this book, if fact, you may find it even more enjoyable if you are less familiar. It’s a satyrical piece of work containing vulgar and crude language that you would never hear so expressly pointed out in Shakespeare’s original work.

briesespieces's review

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5.0

HOLY FUDGESTOCKINGS !!! This was better than I expected!! I certainly breezed through it faster than I expected!! I seriously could not fault Moore in this book. Much genius . Such sexy. Heinous fucking fuckery most foul. :')

willbefunorelse's review

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4.0

For the full review (and to learn my new favorite curse word), visit That's What She Read.

mikenyby's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.0

tophat8855's review

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3.0

Well, if you want a book more raunchy than Shakespeare himself, here's one! A fun romp, not serious. Listened via Hoopla

celtic_oracle's review against another edition

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2.0

All I can think of as I listen to this is just how much fun Christopher Moore must have had writing it.

Will come back and revisit this review once I have either:
- read a hard copy or gotten my hands on an un-skippy version of the audio book, or

- have actually read King Lear.