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The RSC Shakespeare: The Complete Works

Author: William Shakespeare
Creators: Jonathan Bate, Eric Rasmussen
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Category: Book

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Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars

7 reviews
Sales Rank: 2917

Media: Hardcover
Pages: 2576
Shipping Weight (lbs): 5.3
Dimensions (in): 9.5 x 7.3 x 3.2

ISBN: 0230003508
EAN: 9780230003507
ASIN: 0230003508

Publication Date: April 19, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days

Also Available In:

•	Paperback - The RSC Shakespeare: The Complete Works
•	Hardcover - RSC Shakespeare: The Complete Works

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Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

Ten star review June 1, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

I had this given as a birthday presant and all i can say is WOW.I have only recently got into Shakespeare and have seen a couple of the plays already and i just wanted to enchance my viewing of them,as i,m going to see four this year.And this book dose it.Its brilliantly put together with every thing W.S. wrote and more I think!.If could put TEN stars at the top i would.

4 out of 5 stars

The right 'Shakespeare Complete Works' for the right person... May 27, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

One of the features that is most attractive about this latest edition of Shakespeare's plays is its layout. The text is of a pleasantly large size, and glosses of the meanings of certain words is easy to access at the bottom of the page. The introductions are great - although in other editions there are more extensive and/or scholarly introductions to the plays, these are well written, and are still very readable if you are about to read the play for the first time. The style of writing is pleasantly unassuming in that respect. So for people reading Shakespeare for pleasure I would highly recommend this book.
However, at points in my degree I've slightly regretted my choice, for a number of reasons. Firstly, the paper, to allow the book to be not too thick whilst having text occurring in only one column per page, must be very thin. As a consequence of this it tends to wrinkle slightly if you put your fingers on it for too long. The Riverside Shakespeare solves this problem because it has text in two columns down the page, (it still has glosses of difficult words at the bottom of the page) and this allows the paper to be slightly thicker, and so you are not worried that you are going to tear it.
The text itself is pretty good, although it sometimes differs quite strongly from the Arden text. This is not a fault in itself, but as the Arden text is the major editing of our time, this can sometimes cause slight problems. Of course, if you're not doing a degree when you need to read literature about the texts then this will not apply to you. An example would be the play 'Hamlet', where the quarto text is a lot longer than the folio text, and this text sticks to the folio text. This is okay, but the Norton edition, I think, gets round this really well by putting the bits which are in the quarto but not in the folio, in their place but in italics. That is really useful.
Anyhow, unless your hoping to study shakespeare at a advanced level this text is fine. It is really beautifully presented, and easy to access.

5 out of 5 stars

Best ever edition April 16, 2008
10 out of 10 found this review helpful

Every play and poem in one book with footnotes at the bottom so you can understand what virtually every word means. There's also great introductions to each play so you get some background information on the characters, so you feel the emotion because you feel where every character is coming from when they say certain lines. People usually avoid reading Shakespeare because they think its just some esoteric babble that got forced on them at school as a form of torture, but what the RSC do is they make it accessible, so much Kudos to them. I have to agree with Dame Judi Dench's review that every household should have this book because its absolutely brilliant.

5 out of 5 stars

Just incredibly readable April 15, 2008
7 out of 7 found this review helpful

Although the size would make you think this is forbidding, the layout of the text is tremendously clear and you can coast through your reading fairly easily. Shakespeare went from being someone I had a duty to admire, to beng a worthwile, accessible author. I would never have thought presentation was so impoortant to enjoying him; but, I was surprised.

The footnotes are superb, easy to check as you read - so they don't spoil the experience but add to it.

Pages are nice and light too; makes you feel very special.

This review's getting a bit weird now...

5 out of 5 stars

Easy access to a forgotten world April 8, 2008
10 out of 10 found this review helpful

My story is brief - I wanted to read some Shakespeare, I'd read some at school when I was forced and now, 20 years later, thought I'd give it a try.

I chose this because it was by the RSC so you would think it would be good. But, you have to remember that this was written around 400 years ago so in a lot of ways its a little like reading a foreign language wher eyou know most of the words and not all.

The beauty about this book is that the "translation" for those few words you may not know is at the bottom of each page so you only need glance down to carry on reading the text ... almost in the clear as it were.

This alone makes Shakespeare accessible to anyone. So, is it worth it ?

I have to say I was stunned, being able to read the plays, just how good they are. How, with just a few words, Shakespeare can set a scene and with a few more, tell you the whole mood of the characters.

The scenes change quickly from place to place taking the stories along at a hectic place and you can easily imagine any of the pieces being performed. They're as good, if not better, than most films you get to see at the cinema these days.

So, if you're wondering if Shakespeare is right for you, buy this and give it a go.

You may be pleasantly surprised !