Shakespeare

jgray · 11-14-2010, 10:59 PM

Time to confess my guilty little secret -- I've never read Shakespeare :-) Over the years, I have watched several film adaptations and enjoyed most of them. I particularly liked Kenneth Branagh's "Henry V".

I could just dive in head first and download one of the many PD copies of Shakespeare's works available online, but that seems overwhelming. Looking at the Sony store, I found a few possibilities.

A collection of Shakespeare that claims to be formatted for ease of use on an ereader. This costs, but may be better than a generic PD copy.

http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/wil...00000000109556

Two modern works that purport to explain things a bit.

http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/mar...00000000099909

http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/mce...00000000069184

Does anyone have any comments on these ebooks? Would you recommend any others?

I'm looking for something that would be interesting and maybe even fun to read. I don't want some dessicated scholarly tome that will put me to sleep. The other consideration is cost. Either of the two books from the Sony store are probably at the limit of what I want to spend.

And please, don't recommend any "For Dummies" or "For Idiots" books. It may be my personal prejudice, but I find those series titles insulting and refuse to buy any of them.

Joe

ficbot · 11-14-2010, 11:15 PM

I can't speak for specific editions, but as for content, I really enjoy Shakespeare. I have to admit, I did not much care for the histories (I never could keep the Henrys and Richards straight). But I enjoy the comedies, and some of the tragedies. From my school days, I can still recite all of Act 1, Scene 2 of Twelfth Night by heart

My favourite comedies are A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Tempest, The Taming of the Shrew and Twelfth Night. My favourite tragedies are Othello, Hamlet and Romeo & Juliet.

ziegl027 · 11-15-2010, 11:26 AM

I'm interested in being pointed toward some annotated versions of The Bard, too. Some of the language usages and historical references are just too obscure for me. I can figure out the gist from context, but I always appreciated the footnotes in the books that I recall from High School.

neilmarr · 11-15-2010, 01:04 PM

I'm something of a Shakespeare buff, but a dummy (that's dumby, by the way) compared to one of my authors, Meredith Whitford, who knows every word the Bard ever spoke or wrote -- and many that he didn't -- off by heart.

We're releasing a fictional account of Shakespeare's life and strange loves and intrigues and wotnot later this month called 'Shakespeare's Will' that I found a lot of fun because the historical fact is 100%, the speculation realistic, and the craftilly hidden puns and jokes on his works scattered through the text on almost every page tickled me pink.

Just for folks in this thread, if you want an ebook copy with our compliments, just email me with your preferred format and I'll be happy to send it along now -- a couple of weeks in advance of 'official' release.

Should you want a preview before asking for the ebook version, visit the bookstore section of our website (link below) and just click on the cover in the coming-soon section.

Cheers. Neil -- ntmarrATbewrite.net (but use the @ sign, of course)

jgray · 11-15-2010, 09:03 PM

I went ahead and purchased "Shakespeare After All". I'll let you know what I think of it.

BTW, Feedbooks has quite a bit of Shakespeare. Gutenberg and others also have Shakespeare for free, but I keep finding that Feedbooks does a better job formatting the epubs. Good job Hadrien (hope I spelled that right).

Joe

desertgrandma · 11-15-2010, 09:07 PM

Has anyone tried to download any of the many Shakespeare volumes from here?

ziegl027 · 11-15-2010, 09:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

Has anyone tried to download any of the many Shakespeare volumes from here?

Are there any that have good annotations? I kind of presumed they were largely "naked"--the Bard, the whole Bard, and nothing but the Bard. But I confess I haven't looked through all of them

.

desertgrandma · 11-15-2010, 09:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ziegl027

Are there any that have good annotations? I kind of presumed they were largely "naked"--the Bard, the whole Bard, and nothing but the Bard. But I confess I haven't looked through all of them

.

I do not know....but there are so many to choose from.

And if none fit your requirements.....you just use the 'delete' botton!

jgaiser · 11-15-2010, 09:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ziegl027

Are there any that have good annotations? I kind of presumed they were largely "naked"--the Bard, the whole Bard, and nothing but the Bard. But I confess I haven't looked through all of them

.

Yes, they're "naked". But, great for the price.

ziegl027 · 11-15-2010, 11:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jgaiser

Yes, they're "naked". But, great for the price.

The thing is, there are those of us (me and the OP, at least) who would be willing to pay a bit of money to get some value-added stuff to make things more approachable. Is there a good source of that anywhere?

HarryT · 11-16-2010, 01:26 AM

The best annotated Shakespeare is, IMHO, the Arden Shakespeare. I have the entire series as paper books; they aren't available as ebooks unfortunately.

crich70 · 11-16-2010, 01:39 AM

I have a copy of the Oxford Shakespeare. Not easy to carry it around though (and not annotated). I bought it in july of 1989 so I could read the Bard's works at my leisure rather than having to hurry through a library book. Also got a 2 Vol. version of the plays later (for reading while on the go). Course an ebook version of the works is the best all around I think. At least as far as portability.

neilmarr · 11-16-2010, 05:22 AM

Everyone who asked for a copy of 'Shakespare's Will' should have it by now, apart from a couple who sent me an MR PM but forgot to include their email address. Just drop an email to ntmarrATbewrite.net (use the @ sign) and I'll send the book by return in the format of your choice. The offer's still open to all, by the way. Happy reading. Neil

ShortNCuddlyAm · 11-16-2010, 07:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

The best annotated Shakespeare is, IMHO, the Arden Shakespeare. I have the entire series as paper books; they aren't available as ebooks unfortunately.

I have a few still from school, and I have to agree they are good. It's a shame they're not available as ebooks.

Moe The Cat · 11-16-2010, 08:05 AM

Thanks for sending Shakespeare's Will, Neil!

11-14-2010, 10:59 PM	#1
jgray Fanatic Posts: 548 Karma: 2928497 Join Date: Mar 2008 Device: Clara 2E & Sage	Shakespeare Time to confess my guilty little secret -- I've never read Shakespeare :-) Over the years, I have watched several film adaptations and enjoyed most of them. I particularly liked Kenneth Branagh's "Henry V". I could just dive in head first and download one of the many PD copies of Shakespeare's works available online, but that seems overwhelming. Looking at the Sony store, I found a few possibilities. A collection of Shakespeare that claims to be formatted for ease of use on an ereader. This costs, but may be better than a generic PD copy. http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/wil...00000000109556 Two modern works that purport to explain things a bit. http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/mar...00000000099909 http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/mce...00000000069184 Does anyone have any comments on these ebooks? Would you recommend any others? I'm looking for something that would be interesting and maybe even fun to read. I don't want some dessicated scholarly tome that will put me to sleep. The other consideration is cost. Either of the two books from the Sony store are probably at the limit of what I want to spend. And please, don't recommend any "For Dummies" or "For Idiots" books. It may be my personal prejudice, but I find those series titles insulting and refuse to buy any of them. Joe Last edited by jgray; 11-21-2010 at 03:56 AM.

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11-14-2010, 11:15 PM	#2
ficbot Wizard Posts: 2,409 Karma: 4132096 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: Kindle Paperwhite/iOS Kindle App	I can't speak for specific editions, but as for content, I really enjoy Shakespeare. I have to admit, I did not much care for the histories (I never could keep the Henrys and Richards straight). But I enjoy the comedies, and some of the tragedies. From my school days, I can still recite all of Act 1, Scene 2 of Twelfth Night by heart My favourite comedies are A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Tempest, The Taming of the Shrew and Twelfth Night. My favourite tragedies are Othello, Hamlet and Romeo & Juliet.

11-15-2010, 11:26 AM	#3
ziegl027 Addict Posts: 264 Karma: 764 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Minnesota Device: Sony Touch, Kindle DXG	I'm interested in being pointed toward some annotated versions of The Bard, too. Some of the language usages and historical references are just too obscure for me. I can figure out the gist from context, but I always appreciated the footnotes in the books that I recall from High School.

11-15-2010, 01:04 PM	#4
neilmarr neilmarr Posts: 7,216 Karma: 6000059 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Monaco-Menton, France Device: sony	I'm something of a Shakespeare buff, but a dummy (that's dumby, by the way) compared to one of my authors, Meredith Whitford, who knows every word the Bard ever spoke or wrote -- and many that he didn't -- off by heart. We're releasing a fictional account of Shakespeare's life and strange loves and intrigues and wotnot later this month called 'Shakespeare's Will' that I found a lot of fun because the historical fact is 100%, the speculation realistic, and the craftilly hidden puns and jokes on his works scattered through the text on almost every page tickled me pink. Just for folks in this thread, if you want an ebook copy with our compliments, just email me with your preferred format and I'll be happy to send it along now -- a couple of weeks in advance of 'official' release. Should you want a preview before asking for the ebook version, visit the bookstore section of our website (link below) and just click on the cover in the coming-soon section. Cheers. Neil -- ntmarrATbewrite.net (but use the @ sign, of course)

11-15-2010, 09:03 PM	#5
jgray Fanatic Posts: 548 Karma: 2928497 Join Date: Mar 2008 Device: Clara 2E & Sage	I went ahead and purchased "Shakespeare After All". I'll let you know what I think of it. BTW, Feedbooks has quite a bit of Shakespeare. Gutenberg and others also have Shakespeare for free, but I keep finding that Feedbooks does a better job formatting the epubs. Good job Hadrien (hope I spelled that right). Joe

11-15-2010, 09:07 PM	#6
desertgrandma Enjoying the show.... Posts: 14,270 Karma: 10462841 Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Arizona Device: A K1, Kindle Paperwhite, an Ipod, IPad2, Iphone, an Ipad Mini & macAir	Has anyone tried to download any of the many Shakespeare volumes from here?

11-16-2010, 01:26 AM	#11
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	The best annotated Shakespeare is, IMHO, the Arden Shakespeare. I have the entire series as paper books; they aren't available as ebooks unfortunately.

11-16-2010, 01:39 AM	#12
crich70 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,305 Karma: 43993832 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Monroe Wisconsin Device: K3, Kindle Paperwhite, Calibre, and Mobipocket for Pc (netbook)	I have a copy of the Oxford Shakespeare. Not easy to carry it around though (and not annotated). I bought it in july of 1989 so I could read the Bard's works at my leisure rather than having to hurry through a library book. Also got a 2 Vol. version of the plays later (for reading while on the go). Course an ebook version of the works is the best all around I think. At least as far as portability.

11-16-2010, 05:22 AM	#13
neilmarr neilmarr Posts: 7,216 Karma: 6000059 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Monaco-Menton, France Device: sony	Everyone who asked for a copy of 'Shakespare's Will' should have it by now, apart from a couple who sent me an MR PM but forgot to include their email address. Just drop an email to ntmarrATbewrite.net (use the @ sign) and I'll send the book by return in the format of your choice. The offer's still open to all, by the way. Happy reading. Neil

11-16-2010, 08:05 AM	#15
Moe The Cat Bear Melt Posts: 919 Karma: 5433051 Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Toronto Device: Google Pixel 6, Moto G9 Power (both with Fbreader) & Kindle PW2	Thanks for sending Shakespeare's Will, Neil!

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