Hamlet: No Fear Shakespeare Side-by-Side Plain English Paperback – Abridged, April 15, 2003

I cannot more highly recommend this particular book, No Fear Shakespeare's Hamlet.I am approaching 50 years old and my only real experience trying to read Shakespeare was in high school where we were assigned roles in class and made to read, without comprehension, Romeo and Juliet and Julius Cesar. In the interim, I tried watching a few plays and dragged my kids to see the play Taming of the Shrew, which they hated because they couldn't understand the language nor the plot. Rather than becoming a Shakespeare hater, I've always felt inadequate and dumb for this huge hole in my education.My current inspiration to try Shakespeare again was my desire to try and help my high school aged son become more educated and cultured than I have been.I tried first with the Folger annotated editions of Shakespeare. They look excellent and define the unfamiliar words, but I still could not make sense of a substantial portion of the dialogue. I guess maybe I'm just dumb, I don't know.Anyway, I saw good reviews about this No Fear series, and I ordered several. So far I have read the modern English translations of Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, King Lear, and The Tempest. While I feel a bit like I'm 'cheating', I actually have really enjoyed all the plays and at least now I know the plots and the characters and even some of the more subtle themes. I can't answer the complaints that the translations don't adequately translate Shakespeare's meanings. There are a few side notes that point out double meanings and things like that, though there are not extensive footnotes or sidenotes.To answer those who rate these books one or two stars, my answer is that they are at least a door into the world of Shakespeare for those of us unable to navigate the originals on our own. And they only take a couple of hours to read. It's not like this is a lifetime commitment or anything. The book only costs five bucks, so why not invest a couple of hours and read it? And, for me, I liked the plays so much that I AM now going to dig out the Folger editions and read the originals, with the No Fear books available in case I get in trouble. These modalities of trying to appreciate Shakespeare are not mutually exclusive.Well, hopefully that's helpful to someone. I wanted to write this so that people would know that these books are not just for lazy students hoping to avoid reading the originals or somehow 'cheat' in their English classes. I'm not a Shakespeare scholar or teacher and never will be, just an ordinary guy, but for me, these books were the window of opportunity that I had been searching for. Two thumbs up, most definitely.

I teach HS English and would recommend this book. It has the original version (which I teach from) and the plain English version for kids so they can understand the sldense verbage Shakespeare uses. We get both the famous quotes and passages and then the kids can have it "translated" for their understanding.

good

Nice, heavy-duty book, easy to understand

Lifesaver. Shakespearean language can be hard to decipher so receiving this book was such a relief that I literally kissed it. There were a few modern English translations that had me scratching my head, and this seems geared towards adolescents, but I am a grateful older adult college student.

I am pleased with the No Fear Shakespeare books. As homeschoolers, they have helped us understand the story's twists and turns. Additionally, they come at a great price!

For the experienced Shakespeare reader, the modern language version gives an easy reference point. For the new, it holds your hand and walks you through Shakespeare’s genius. I found the modern version accurate. Most important, it maintained the spirit and soul of the original work.

Wow! We've read Shakespeare for years as a family, especially Asimov's Guide to Shakespeare as a quick overview before attending plays, but this line-by-line translation is perfect for our high schooler in her Shakespeare lit class. Highly recommend!