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joyousreads132's review against another edition
4.0
If you're not familiar with Hogarth Shakespeare (as I was before I read this book), it is a project that commissioned some prolific authors to rewrite Shakespeare's plays in a way that will appeal to modern readers. It is a massive undertaking for two reasons: one, they're to rewrite the plays into novels, and two, consider the author of the original works.
THE WINTER'S TALE.
The first book in this series is a retelling of The Winter's Tale. In the original work, it tells the story of King Leontes, his pregnant wife Hermoine, and King Polixenes. King Leontes, in a jealous fit, accused his wife and Polixenes of having an affair. But of course, the two weren't having an affair, and the baby was his. In a series of event, Leontes will lose his wife, their son, and the baby. King Leontes exiled the baby to a faraway land never to be seen again.
The child was found by a shepherd and his simple-minded son. Years passed, Perdita grew up to be a beautiful woman. Enter Florizel, son of King Polixenes. While pretending to be a commoner, Florizel fell in love with Perdita. And as they grew closer, the journey they would both embark will take them back to how it all started.
THE GAP OF TIME.
We all know Bill Shakespeare's writing was not made for the masses. I've always found it difficult to understand even watching it in its film version. As a reader, I know how important it is to have some knowledge of his works. Because missing out on Shakespeare is almost an unforgivable sin. Winterson revamped the story to make it more palatable to plebian readers such as I. For one the story was set in the modern times. Leo [Leontes] and Xeno [Polixenes] are wealthy tech executives who dabbled in gaming and real estate. MiMi [Hermoine] is a French singer in Paris. There is also an arch of a gay relationship between Leo and Xeno during their teen years. Now, I'm not familiar with the original work, so I don't know whether or not this was even implied. Xeno, however, never outgrew that love. In fact, he was in love with both Leo and MiMi.
The interesting part of this story is how each of their pasts would come to a head. And this is all spear-headed by the relationship between Perdita (the missing baby), and Zel (Florizel). At one point, Perdita even thought that they were siblings. And knowing that this was a Shakespeare work, I couldn't put it past him. So I had to go back and check the original work to make sure that it was nothing but confusion.
I also enjoyed Perdita's relationship with her adopted family. It was obvious to Perdita that they were not her biological family because they were Blacks and she was White. But their relationship was one of the sincerest, loveliest familial dynamics I've ever read in a while. Shep considered Perdita a blessing in their life even though the circumstances of how she came to them wasn't all that ideal.
IN RETROSPECT.
I'm so excited to read the rest of the books in this series. Margaret Atwood had signed on to do The Tempest. Anne Tyler is doing The Taming of the Shrew - which is probably a favourite of mine all thanks to 10 Things I Hate About You. I've never been more thankful for the powers that be that instigated this project. Because now I have a chance to get to know Shakespeare's works in such a way that I can easily understand.
THE WINTER'S TALE.
The first book in this series is a retelling of The Winter's Tale. In the original work, it tells the story of King Leontes, his pregnant wife Hermoine, and King Polixenes. King Leontes, in a jealous fit, accused his wife and Polixenes of having an affair. But of course, the two weren't having an affair, and the baby was his. In a series of event, Leontes will lose his wife, their son, and the baby. King Leontes exiled the baby to a faraway land never to be seen again.
The child was found by a shepherd and his simple-minded son. Years passed, Perdita grew up to be a beautiful woman. Enter Florizel, son of King Polixenes. While pretending to be a commoner, Florizel fell in love with Perdita. And as they grew closer, the journey they would both embark will take them back to how it all started.
THE GAP OF TIME.
We all know Bill Shakespeare's writing was not made for the masses. I've always found it difficult to understand even watching it in its film version. As a reader, I know how important it is to have some knowledge of his works. Because missing out on Shakespeare is almost an unforgivable sin. Winterson revamped the story to make it more palatable to plebian readers such as I. For one the story was set in the modern times. Leo [Leontes] and Xeno [Polixenes] are wealthy tech executives who dabbled in gaming and real estate. MiMi [Hermoine] is a French singer in Paris. There is also an arch of a gay relationship between Leo and Xeno during their teen years. Now, I'm not familiar with the original work, so I don't know whether or not this was even implied. Xeno, however, never outgrew that love. In fact, he was in love with both Leo and MiMi.
The interesting part of this story is how each of their pasts would come to a head. And this is all spear-headed by the relationship between Perdita (the missing baby), and Zel (Florizel). At one point, Perdita even thought that they were siblings. And knowing that this was a Shakespeare work, I couldn't put it past him. So I had to go back and check the original work to make sure that it was nothing but confusion.
I also enjoyed Perdita's relationship with her adopted family. It was obvious to Perdita that they were not her biological family because they were Blacks and she was White. But their relationship was one of the sincerest, loveliest familial dynamics I've ever read in a while. Shep considered Perdita a blessing in their life even though the circumstances of how she came to them wasn't all that ideal.
IN RETROSPECT.
I'm so excited to read the rest of the books in this series. Margaret Atwood had signed on to do The Tempest. Anne Tyler is doing The Taming of the Shrew - which is probably a favourite of mine all thanks to 10 Things I Hate About You. I've never been more thankful for the powers that be that instigated this project. Because now I have a chance to get to know Shakespeare's works in such a way that I can easily understand.
paradismaja's review against another edition
4.0
Winterson levererar, dock inte en av mina favoriter. Älskar idén och språket men berättelsen kom inte lika nära den här gången.
olivehead's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
nattygsmith's review against another edition
4.0
In The Gap of Time, Winterson undertakes the challenging task of modernizing the characters, plot, and language of one of Shakespeare's more quirky stories. It took me a while to appreciate this book, and it wasn't until I sat down and read the last third of the book straight through in an hour that I found what I was looking for. The modernized versions of Shakespeare's characters were fun all along, and while I didn't love her writing style, once I committed to reading quickly and sustainedly I was won over by the wonderful pace of well-done Shakespeare. The inevitable rush forward, headlong through misunderstandings, blunders, and redemptions, felt exactly right. The result is a fun and personal experiment, and just like in any theatrical production, a certain amount of the experience is left to chance.
berlinbibliophile's review against another edition
4.0
I love Shakespeare's plays, and his Winter's Tale is the first one I saw performed, at the Globe in London. Back then, I was quite young and my English was just barely good enough to understand the plot. Nonetheless, it was a magical experience that made me fall in love with live theatre forever. So I was very happy when I got Jeanette Winterson's reworking of the story for Christmas. I think that she translates the essentials of the Bard's characters into the modern world seamlessly, and that her update of the setting works very well. The frustration caused by the open ending, in which terrible people are suddenly forgiven, is native to the source material and thus forgivable. The clear, definite ending (or, indeed, anything definite) was never Winterson's interest, and she uses the malleability of events here to meditate upon and experiment with time, the same way she treated space in Sexing the Cherry. Overall a great book.
librarylapin's review against another edition
4.0
I love Jeanette Winterson's writing and Shakespeare's stories so I was obviously excited about this tale. I have to re-read the winter's tale so I can see what parts of the story were reinterpreted differently. I was disappointed with the audio version. I found the depiction of three characters quite racist as they had been raised in the United States from birth but had Chinese accents because they had been born there. I didn't like the voices chosen for the characters either. This might have been a better text read. I was also wondering why one of the characters was constantly referred to as Jewish. I understand that that was probably part of the original story but didn't need to be so constantly reiterated. Winterson's beautiful prose is still present and part one especially is told with her usual magic.
margaret21's review against another edition
3.0
I feel a little mixed about this book. I loved much of it. Winterson's re-interpretation of the consequences of a husband's unreasonable and unstable jealousy, and its back-story is a vivid page-turner. The story of how his child, whom he believes to be the result of an adulterous liaison between his wife and best friend, ends up in the care of a small-time pianist is similarly engaging. As is the tale, moved on 16 years, of the 70th birthday party for the piano player, now successful bar owner.
The characters are believable, the dialogue lively, the debt to Shakespeare obvious. Then we moved on to a long sequence involving a computer game devised by the husband's best friend, and at that point I lost interest.
Moving on to Act V Scene 1 as it were, and the story moves on apace. There are wonderful tales-within-tales of Leo (the husband) as powerful property developer. But as with the Winter's Tale itself, coincidences and unlikely events pile in on the story, and suddenly, it's over.
I remember being similarly baffled by the play itself when I read it for A Level, so this somewhat hurried ending, tying up every possible loose end is hardly Winterson's fault.
Maybe I owe it to Shakespeare and to Winterson to have a more dispassionate look at both their interpretations of the story's final act.
And don't be put off. This is a good read, and a provocative story, well told.
The characters are believable, the dialogue lively, the debt to Shakespeare obvious. Then we moved on to a long sequence involving a computer game devised by the husband's best friend, and at that point I lost interest.
Moving on to Act V Scene 1 as it were, and the story moves on apace. There are wonderful tales-within-tales of Leo (the husband) as powerful property developer. But as with the Winter's Tale itself, coincidences and unlikely events pile in on the story, and suddenly, it's over.
I remember being similarly baffled by the play itself when I read it for A Level, so this somewhat hurried ending, tying up every possible loose end is hardly Winterson's fault.
Maybe I owe it to Shakespeare and to Winterson to have a more dispassionate look at both their interpretations of the story's final act.
And don't be put off. This is a good read, and a provocative story, well told.
docatshavekneees's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I don't really know how to describe the experience of reading this book because the majority of its a blur for me. The writing was very different from what I usually read but it wasn't difficult to understand.I did found it beautiful at times but at parts it wasn't enough. The plot seemed interesting but like I said I never really thought about it other than when I was reading. I was never really encouraged to read the book but I never regretted reading it. also most of the love stories in this book is mostly insta-love which was also a really big turn down for me
moirastone's review against another edition
4.0
There is something clipped and, I don't know, muscular about Winterson's writing here. I felt propelled through the story; never rushed, but not encouraged to linger. Maybe by writing a cover of A Winter's Tale she was freed from the job of having to invent the plot and instead turned her considerable gifts to some of the tightest and most emotionally efficient writing I've read in ages? This is praise, by the way.
lenamarie_wind's review against another edition
2.0
Irgendwas zwischen zwei und drei ⭐️
Leider nicht so gut, wie erwartet.
Mit dem Vorwissen über the Winter's Tale gab es leider überhaupt keine Spannung und dann wollte ich es eigentlich einfach nur schnell fertig lesen, damit ich was neues anfangen kann
Keiner der Charaktere ging mir wirklich nah
Leider nicht so gut, wie erwartet.
Mit dem Vorwissen über the Winter's Tale gab es leider überhaupt keine Spannung und dann wollte ich es eigentlich einfach nur schnell fertig lesen, damit ich was neues anfangen kann
Keiner der Charaktere ging mir wirklich nah