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klparmley's review against another edition
2.0
If you don't know the play and don't care to read a script, it is a good way to learn the story. Alan Cummings narration is excellent. It lacks the magnificent language of the orginal.
frostbitsky's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I read the play in high school and I don't remember much about the details, so I can't tell what liberties were taken. I think there was a lot more focus on the battles, which did drag a bit for me at the end.
Alan Cumming's performance was fantastic.
The witches (whom I pictured as the Sanderson sisters from Hocus Pocus) were instigators. The players in their games put too much stock in the witches' prophecy.
What a tragedy to see friends turn against each other and a husband and wife grow apart because of their sins.
Classic tragedy.
4 out of 5 Kilts.
Alan Cumming's performance was fantastic.
The witches (whom I pictured as the Sanderson sisters from Hocus Pocus) were instigators. The players in their games put too much stock in the witches' prophecy.
What a tragedy to see friends turn against each other and a husband and wife grow apart because of their sins.
Classic tragedy.
4 out of 5 Kilts.
algae429's review against another edition
5.0
Loved this. It expanded on the drama we know so well and Alan Cumming's voice is perfect for the narration.
thelucyfan's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this interpretation. Lady MacBeth is less villain here. We are meant to like the MacBeths and feel Banquo is just as culpable for the tragedy as anyone. Good read.
suzemo's review against another edition
3.0
I thought this re-telling (but not quite retelling) of MacBeth was quite well done and very enjoyable. Alan Cumming did a great job as narrator (as always).
I'm glad this wasn't just a blow by blow of the original play in a new form, as some retellings are. The authors took from the book and from history what would be very interesting and gave the characters more depth and the actions and plot a more interesting spin.
My only problem is that I could have lived without the pedophilia/child rape (yeah yeah, I know the arguments for/against, I'm merely saying I could live without the rapey bit, and now you have been warned).
It's a solid work, and it made me appreciate the story of MacBeth in a better way. I enjoyed the foreward and afterward by the authors and their rationale behind why they wrote the book and some of the action in it the way they did.
I'm glad this wasn't just a blow by blow of the original play in a new form, as some retellings are. The authors took from the book and from history what would be very interesting and gave the characters more depth and the actions and plot a more interesting spin.
My only problem is that I could have lived without the pedophilia/child rape (yeah yeah, I know the arguments for/against, I'm merely saying I could live without the rapey bit, and now you have been warned).
It's a solid work, and it made me appreciate the story of MacBeth in a better way. I enjoyed the foreward and afterward by the authors and their rationale behind why they wrote the book and some of the action in it the way they did.
mezzosherri's review against another edition
4.0
As with the similar audiobook adaptation of Hamlet I enjoyed a few months ago, Hartley and Hewson have paired strong interpretive choices with a narration/performance of EXCEPTIONAL quality (seriously--props to Alan Cumming!) to create an enjoyable, thought-provoking re-imagining of Shakespeare's famous "Scottish play." I enjoyed the authors' willingness to try and complicate Lord and Lady Macbeth's villainy by portraying them as a couple who began in a place of (mostly) good intentions and then made a series of poor choices resulting in the ultimately tragic sequence of actions. However, the sequence of bad decisions and coincidence came off as a little bit TOO coincidence-driven for my preferences. And, as with H&H's Hamlet, there was a closing "surprise reveal" that betrayed H&H trying to have it both ways with their wyrd sisters (they're super-evil! they're just misunderstood! they're proto-feminists! they're cliched sexualized objects!)--much in the same unsatisfying way they tried with Hamlet's insanity during the closing minutes of THAT audiobook.
goodverbsonly's review against another edition
3.0
in my opinion the tragedy of macbeth is that they would have killed duncan no matter what kind of king he was, and so in doing the exact same thing they did with the hamlet book (making the old king just The Worst) you undercut the real tragedy of it. also, idk, lady macbeth being undone by the death of a random child instead instead of directly affected by her role here sort of falls flat for me too.
pattydsf's review against another edition
3.0
“Men at their games again. Thanes and crofters, lords and peasants. Killing and being killed, with spear and knife, ax and sword, arrow and dagger, and cruel, cruel hands. Much of a muchness when they are a bag of slaughtered flesh and bone bleeding out their little lives for the grateful worms in the peat.”
It took me a long time to listen to this audio and almost as long to write my review. I found Hartley and Hewson’s interpretation of MacBeth well done and well read. They couldn’t have picked a better reader than Alan Cumming. He was the reason I picked this book to listen to – several years ago I saw Cumming do all of MacBeth in New York City. The performance was amazing.
Shakespeare’s plays are often mined for other’s stories. Of course, Shakespeare did the same thing. This version of MacBeth, for me, rounded out the tale that Shakespeare told. I like what Hartley and Hewson did with the three witches and other characters.
I recommend this novel to folks to like Shakespeare’s play, to those who need to know more about MacBeth because they find the play hard to read (i.e. teens who have to read the play) and to anyone who likes a good audiobook.
Now I want to go see MacBeth, the play, again so I can see what new things I see there because of this interpretation.
It took me a long time to listen to this audio and almost as long to write my review. I found Hartley and Hewson’s interpretation of MacBeth well done and well read. They couldn’t have picked a better reader than Alan Cumming. He was the reason I picked this book to listen to – several years ago I saw Cumming do all of MacBeth in New York City. The performance was amazing.
Shakespeare’s plays are often mined for other’s stories. Of course, Shakespeare did the same thing. This version of MacBeth, for me, rounded out the tale that Shakespeare told. I like what Hartley and Hewson did with the three witches and other characters.
I recommend this novel to folks to like Shakespeare’s play, to those who need to know more about MacBeth because they find the play hard to read (i.e. teens who have to read the play) and to anyone who likes a good audiobook.
Now I want to go see MacBeth, the play, again so I can see what new things I see there because of this interpretation.
branch_c's review against another edition
3.0
Having last seen or read the play more than twenty years ago, this works for me almost as an original piece of historical fiction - not quite, of course, since it's hard not to be familiar with the basics of such a famous story. But I didn't remember all the details, and this novelization does a fine job with those details (even adding some of its own, such as Lady M's first name) while making the story quite accessible and readable compared to the original. Of course, there's a reason this story is a tragedy, and that makes it fairly unpleasant to read in places - there's no getting around the fact that the plot hinges on some really bad decisions with horrific results. That's what made Shakespeare's version so powerful, and that power is evident here as well. This version may even do a better job in making Macbeth and his wife complex and even sympathetic characters, although I still found it hard to go along with their justifications of their actions. Anyway, even if not the most enjoyable read, it's certainly a well-executed novelization.