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A review by suzemo
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by David Hewson, A.J. Hartley
4.0
This is a retelling of Hamlet, beautifully narrated by Richard Armitage.
I know Armitage has been on stage in Hamlet before, and since it is one of my favorite Shakespearean pieces, I decided to give it a go, even though I was not all that thrilled with the authors' prior work, MacBeth.
Armitage did such a great job, that I actually managed to like the work more than I think I would have without his narration. I still really enjoyed the work, and I enjoyed the different viewpoints and plot points expressed in this novelization.
I liked the change in characters, the outright choice of making Hamlet pretending to be insane (instead of playing the "is he or isn't he" bit out). I liked the political intrigue and how they just fleshed out the characters in a different way than you see in the Shakespeare play.
The afterward was good, too, I really like the authors giving a bit of history and rationale behind their choices.
I know Armitage has been on stage in Hamlet before, and since it is one of my favorite Shakespearean pieces, I decided to give it a go, even though I was not all that thrilled with the authors' prior work, MacBeth.
Armitage did such a great job, that I actually managed to like the work more than I think I would have without his narration. I still really enjoyed the work, and I enjoyed the different viewpoints and plot points expressed in this novelization.
I liked the change in characters, the outright choice of making Hamlet pretending to be insane (instead of playing the "is he or isn't he" bit out). I liked the political intrigue and how they just fleshed out the characters in a different way than you see in the Shakespeare play.
The afterward was good, too, I really like the authors giving a bit of history and rationale behind their choices.