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Title: Shakespeare for Dummies by John Doyle, Ray Lischner ISBN: 0-7645-5135-3 Publisher: For Dummies Pub. Date: 16 April, 1999 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $19.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.4 (5 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A Shakespeare dummy no more
Comment: "Exquisite," as Judi Dench writes in her forward, a treat for anyone who enjoys Shakespeare and an accessible guide for those who want to learn more about him and his work. Authors John Doyle and Ray Lischner are acutely attune to the difficulties one faces when encountering Shakespeare, whether for pleasure or required reading, and pare down the excesses of language into a digestible, humorous guide.
Act-by-act summaries of the plays form the bulk of this book, but a biography and introduction to the Elizabethan era (Chapter 2, "Will's World") as well as the essentials to understanding Shakespeare's work receive a fair amount of attention. Part II is devoted entirely to language, with a small glossary of commonly used words and keys to the many puns and jokes in the plays. Particularly helpful is Chapter 6, "How to Read Shakespeare's English." In Part III, the authors introduce structure, themes, and common character types and explore the actual staging of a play. In addition to his dramatic works, the book also discusses Shakespeare's sonnets and various other poems.
You'll find these elements in many introductory works, but few contain as much information and are as easy to read. The authors do all they can to facilitate modern readers - scorecards to track characters and their actions, video suggestions, photos from stage and film productions, and international festivals. After reading this book, you'll be ready to discuss any topic on Shakespeare, from the ten greatest Shakespearean performers to the Dark Lady of the sonnets to whether "Cymbeline" is a comedy, tragedy, or history.
Rating: 4
Summary: To be or not to be... a Dummy!
Comment: For those of us who didn't pay too much attention when Shakespeare was taught in school, this book is for us. It definately helps out any late bloomers who suddenly become interested in the bard. There are many other books on Shakespeare. And they are probably more precise and intelligent but also a demanding read. Shakes for Dummies is as simple to read as any other in the series and well thought out by its creator, John Doyle... Shakespeare scholar. The book includes a basic history of Will and his homeland... and the state of the world at the time of his writings... This helps in understanding the storylines as well... Also in the book is a brief synopsis and commentary on each of his plays, whether they be his comedies, tragedies or histories. One of the best elements of the book is the introduction of "Scorecards". Shakespeares stories can be compared to sporting events but instead of 'getting struck out at third', the player would be 'banished from his kingdom'. So, DUMMIES gives you a fun format for keeping score of all the plays. I guess Shakespeare was not as boring as Miss Garcia made it sound.
Rating: 3
Summary: Many trees but not much forest.
Comment: There are 2 main reasons for purchasing one of the books in this series: you're a "dummy" with respect to the subject, or you're knowledgeable and either wish to test your smarts against the author's or to acquire some ideas about how to communicate your knowledge to others. If I may be so presumptuous as to place myself in the latter category, I'd be hard-pressed to recommend this book. It provides comparatively brief summaries of each of the plays, but little perspective on what makes one play more profound, more respected, more "required" reading than another. A reader might just as easily conclude that *Titus Andronicus* is as important as *Hamlet*; that *Romeo and Juliet* is no less a tragedy than *Lear*; that *Henry 6 or 8* is as well written as *Henry's 4 and 5*. Moreover, the book-cover blurb promises to teach the reader how to read the Sonnets (totalling 154), yet the authors provide no more than 2 glib paragraphs about the sonnet cycle.
The authors' recommendations about films and editions are too succinct or limited to be of much help. (Only the Arden Complete Edition is recommended, an edition with numerous problems.) And there's the question of just how much justice you can do the Bard with language that, unlike his, is unremittingly "flip." But if you enjoy this style, I'd recommend reading first the section on Shakespeare in *An Incomplete Education* to get a better sense of which readings are truly indispensable and most worthy of a reader's time. And if you want more detailed summaries of plays, try SparkNotes, the website created by Harvard students.
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Title: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Shakespeare by Alpha Group, Laurie E. Rozakis, Charles Boyce ISBN: 0028629051 Publisher: Alpha Books Pub. Date: 12 April, 1999 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: The Friendly Shakespeare: A Thoroughly Painless Guide to the Best of the Bard by Norrie Epstein ISBN: 0140138862 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: October, 1994 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: Poetry for Dummies by The Poetry Center, John Timpane ISBN: 0764552724 Publisher: For Dummies Pub. Date: 01 May, 2001 List Price(USD): $19.99 |
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Title: Asimov's Guide to Shakespeare : A Guide to Understanding and Enjoying the Works of Shakespeare by ISAAC ASIMOV ISBN: 0517268256 Publisher: Gramercy Pub. Date: 02 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.99 |
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Title: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Classical Mythology by Kevin Osborn, Dana Burgess, Michael B. Poliakoff ISBN: 0028623851 Publisher: Alpha Books Pub. Date: 23 July, 1998 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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