The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Special Editions)

The book is very chunky and it features ALL his plays and major poems/sonnets. Each page has two columns of text in very small print, so if you don't have good eye sight, I wouldn't recommend this book. It's also quite smudgy and the text is quite cramped. I don't feel this book is suitable to work from, to annotate etc.. However, it is as useful as a dictionary when it comes to looking up quotes and is brilliant to have around in order to recommend speeches to students. It also has a very useful Glossary at the back for those words which are uncommon/not used nowadays and includes information from the original folio.

To summarise... a book very worth the money, useful as a point of reference but not a book to be worked from.


England's greatest writer   August 11, 2004
 34 out of 39 found this review helpful

William Shakespeare is renowned for being England's greatest writer, and arguably the greatest writer the World has ever known. Most people will have come across Shakespeare in one form or another, whether it be reading him at school, hearing his works quoted, or seeing a film that is based on one of his plays. The borrowings from Shakespeare are wide and varied, and many day to day sayings such as "Cruel to be kind", "Too much of a good thing" and "Wild-goose chase" all have their origins in Shakespeare.

This book is a collection of all 37 plays, all 152 sonnets and some of his longer poems. They don't have to be read in order, and there is no reason to read all of them in one sitting - it's just great to be able to pick up a single volume to be able to read 'King Lear', or 'Hamlet', or 'Henry V' whenever the mood takes you. There is something for every mood here, from lightweight comedy to dark, harrowing tragedy.

My only criticism is that with a book this large it is often hard to keep a softcover edition in good condition. It needs a little more looking after, so if you want to keep this fantastic collection of literary works in good condition, do yourself a favour and get a hardcover edition, but for those on a budget, this is an ideal way to get your hands on some of the greatest literature ever written!