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kikiandarrowsfishshelf's review
3.0
Really a 3.5. Sometimes books are a really a point something.
Alas Poor Yorick, I knew him Horatio.
So did Horatio.
And finally, so does the reader.
Yarbro's novel takes the reader to the court of King Hamlet Sr. In other words, to the whole start of the bloody mess that make up Shakespeare most famous play (or one Shakespeare's most famous plays. Can we agree not to quibble over this? Thank you).
Yarbro's back story is very good (though there is one point at the end, where she didn't really have to go. It was really unnescessary to a degree. To say anymore would ruin it). The reader is introduced to the characters of Gertrude, Hamlet Sr., Claudius, and Polonius without the filter of Hamlet. In some ways, like Updike in his book of the same matter, Yarbro allows the reader to get a better handle on the more quiet members of Shakespeare's plot.
There are many in jokes to not only Shakespeare but the Tudor world as well. Overall it is a good book, just that one revelation at the end seems out of place. I understand the reason, but it doesn't quite fit. However, if you enjoy Hamlet, you should enjoy this book.
Alas Poor Yorick, I knew him Horatio.
So did Horatio.
And finally, so does the reader.
Yarbro's novel takes the reader to the court of King Hamlet Sr. In other words, to the whole start of the bloody mess that make up Shakespeare most famous play (or one Shakespeare's most famous plays. Can we agree not to quibble over this? Thank you).
Yarbro's back story is very good (though there is one point at the end, where she didn't really have to go. It was really unnescessary to a degree. To say anymore would ruin it). The reader is introduced to the characters of Gertrude, Hamlet Sr., Claudius, and Polonius without the filter of Hamlet. In some ways, like Updike in his book of the same matter, Yarbro allows the reader to get a better handle on the more quiet members of Shakespeare's plot.
There are many in jokes to not only Shakespeare but the Tudor world as well. Overall it is a good book, just that one revelation at the end seems out of place. I understand the reason, but it doesn't quite fit. However, if you enjoy Hamlet, you should enjoy this book.
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