Customer Reviews

The Complete Works (Arden Shakespeare)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

For those of us who love (and rely on) the individual editions of the Arden Shakespeare, the Complete Works is a huge disappointment. What has always made the Arden editions stand out from the others is the in-depth scholarly analyses and copious footnotes. The footnotes alone are worth the price of a copy but, guess what? In this edition, they've disposed of all but the most general of critical apparatus. Unfortunately, this serves to make this complete edition just another big book to put on your shelf to impress your friends. Curious readers who want assistance with the complex Elizabethan language in the plays will be much better served by the Folger or Bantam editions. That is, at least until someone gets smart and brings back all the individual Arden editions that have been allowed to go out of print! What were they thinking?

I must agree with the reviewers who rated this volume so low because of the lack of footnotes. I remember being introduced to the individual Arden copies when I was acting in college - the footnotes were SUPERB, much better, more authoritative, more in-depth than anything else out there. I was hoping for the same with this collected works - but was quite disappointed not to find it.

I bought the famed Arden ed. of the Works of Shakespeare, shrink-wrapped. I peeled it open in glee...opened it...and...and...NO NOTES! What a waste of hard-earned money. I'd say stick with the individual plays in the Arden series in paperback. Sheesh!! (I rate the "book" two stars; Shakespeare gets five.)

I received my copy in the post today and immediately immersed myself in it for several hours. This is a superb one-volume edition of Shakespeare's works. It's a very large format hardcover, with a very clear and readable font. The present editors have made some welcome innovations to the usual presentation of the plays, notably the full name of each character prefixing each delivery (as opposed to the normal abbreviation), and a reduction in unnecessary and distracting stage directions, most of which are editorial interpolations from previous editions. There's also a reduction in the size of the numerical annotation, making this the clearest, cleanest publication of Shakespeare's works I've yet seen. There's not much in the way of analysis, but the overview of Shakespeare's life and art, as well as the history of Shakespearian criticism and interpretation, is succinct and reasonable. I can't praise this book highly enough, and at the price offered it's worth every cent. A wonderful treasure.

The Arden Shakespeare without the notes and the full original critical essays is not the Arden Shakespeare. I eagerly picked this up in a book store and was standing in line for the cash register when I flipped through it to check my fond recollections. I was appalled and took it back to the shelf. Rather than buy this edition I will keep trying to complete my collection of the separate volumes. I wish somebody would bring out a single-volume edition of them instead of this travesty.

Even without the notes I've found this edition more than helpful. It's good to have the complete playtexts as verified by the Arden team in a single volume. It also includes introductions by the Arden editors which are very useful.

I wonder if the skeptics realise that a Complete Works with all the Arden notes would run to about 10,000 pages? And just for the record (to the best of my knowledge) all the Arden single editions are still in print.

A very comprehensive and valuable edition. Mighty pretty-lookin' too...

This is a strangely uneven volume. It is a commercial exercise rather than an educational or cultural one. The publisher has taken advantage of the justified reputation of the - not now really current, "mark II", not "mark III" - Arden editions of separate works to bring them together into one volume, but has left out a good deal which earned the reputation of those editions. The result is that this edition does offer, on the whole, exceptionally well edited TEXTS (i.e. versions with sensible and accurate modernisation of spelling and modernisation, exhibiting good choices among variants and necessary emendations), but not much else that is not also found, and usually in a superior form, in other collected editions of Shakespeare. The most appalling drawback of this volume is the absence of explanatory notes (which WERE present in the editions of individual works!), without which a modern reader will inevitably misunderstand much of what Shakespeare writes. A glossary (which is offered) is not a good substitute: modern readers usually do not KNOW what they do not understand, as much Elizabethan English looks like modern English but in fact means something different. Only explanatory notes can offer help in such cases, as the Arden editions of individual works very frequently did. Introductions to Shakespeare's work are superior in e.g. Bevington's edition. (See my review of that, which many readers have found helpful.) All in all, I would not recommend this edition, though someone who wants just the text could do worse (by buying one less well edited). If you are keen on the Arden editions of individual works, then buy those, as they offer so much more. New editions of individual works are in the process of appearing, though they are not always better than those they are seeking to replace. Several of the older Arden volumes, e.g. the *Hamlet* or the *Romeo and Juliet* (both from the 80s, so not really "old"), are hard to surpass, and a very good buy if you can get them, often at low cost. Joost Daalder, Professor of English, Flinders University

If you want the complete works on a budget, this is the best choice. It's the full Arden text, with a good glossary at the end of the book. Each play begins with a brief introductory note. You don't get the extensive footnotes of the individual Arden plays, but for many readers, that's a bonus.

This is a great one volume edition of Shakespeare's work. A bit unweildly for casual reading. I would whole heartedly recommend that for a real treat you collect the complete series of Arden Editions. The introductory essays cannot be beat. The text conveniently has footnotes at the lower half of each page. The single volume size is perfect for reading in your favorite chair.

I purchased this work for my niece for her graduation from high school. She preferred this edition because she liked the way it looked: all handsome in its red cassette. So I ordered it for her. But behold: the picture doesn't match the actual product! What you get doesn't come in a handsome red cassette, but actually is the oversized regular version with its rather dull jacket.
After complaining about this to Amazon, the image mysteriously disappeared for a while, but now it seems to be back. No doubt misleading many more oblivious customers into paying for something they in the end aren't getting. So Amazon: please remove this image, and place the correct one, so at least customers know beforehand what they are getting.