Customer Reviews

The Klingon Hamlet

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

What a mad, hilarious enterprise this is. If anyone thinks this is merely a discharge of nerdishness, let them try and translate a whole Shakespeare play in ANY language - let alone one in which expressions and ways of thought have to be invented along with metre and rhyme. And as a matter of fact, this is not merely a well-made piece of whimsy: the emphasis of its "critical" parts on the warrior identity of "Khamlet" and the meaning of his sense of disgrace provide a useful, thought-provoking contrast to much of the "terran" critical tradition, which tends to neglect that Hamlet is a prince, a swordsman, a potential military leader, and that the warrior Fortinbras thought that "He was likely, had he been put on/ To have proved most royal".

Finally, the general public can read Shakespeare as he should be read--in the warrior's tongue. This book, formerly only available to humans in a small run in hardback, is now out in paperback, far more accessible to students of Klingon culture. Hamlet is an insightful tale of an earlier time and a royal house fallen into such indecision and intrigue that even revenge is hesitant--a truly disturbing work.

To step back from the conceit of Wil'yam Shax'pir as Klingon dramatist and keen observer of the Klingon culture, the study and development of tlhInganHol is an amazing work, at least equaling Tolkien's linguistic inventions, and the translation of Hamlet is a true labor of lo--er, honor. I would buy a video/DVD of a performance of Hamlet in Klingon (with English subtitles) in a heartbeat, and I hope that otther works of Shakespeare are "restored."

For all those wondering whether this is worth the read, let me say the Kang was right when he said you can't appreciate hamlet unless you've read it in Klingon. Ejoy!

When we were told we could bring any old copy of Hamlet in for our dramaturgy class, I took the assignment literally. Needless to say, bringing Khamlet to class made for plenty of textual analysis to go 'round, not just about Hamlet, but about how Hamlet has been produced, performed and interpreted throughout the ages. You'll definately want to work on your pronounciation before showing it off, however, as you'll be asked to read Khamlet's soliloquy aloud in the original tlhIngan Hol. Also, Khamlet brings out the best in people: I discovered that two of my classmates and the professor were Trek-fans! The only thing preventing this from being five stars is that the book doesn't annotate either copy of the play as student copies do. That might not be a big deal for most people, but when I'm reading classic literature, I like having notes to explain some of the more esoteric references and changed meanings.

The Klingon Hamlet is a good book to add to your collection especially for all Star Trek fans.

This book is amazing in every imaginable way. Unfortunately, I do not know Klingon and thus cannot read that translation but even the introduction (written in English) is very well-done and the presence of the Klingon translation makes reading it that much better.

those authors couldn't have written a finer book. This restored Klingon version is enriched by an indeed eloquent tongue. You may have read Shakespearean plays before but you cannot appreciate Shakespeare until you have read him in original Klingon. William Shakespeare had the soul of a Klingon.
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Klingon Hamlet is an elegant, graceful, vibrant and original Klingon
version of the critically acclaimed, glorious, magnificent and classic drama. That is why it is called "Restored version of Hamlet". The Hamlet's clumsy, inadequate, awkward and misleading English version has nothing but distorted, flaccid, ponderous meanderings. Now at last, the powerful drama of the legendary and brilliant playwright can be appreciated in the eloquence and glory of the Klingon language.

Well, okay, I liked it too.

Un libro tan clásico como este imposible. Además en Klingonés. ¿Aun no lo tienes?

those authors couldn't have written a finer book. This restored Klingon version is enriched by an indeed eloquent tongue. That's why Klingon Hamlet is regarded as the restored version.

You have read Shakespearean plays before but you cannot appreciate Shakespeare until you have read him in original Klingon.

You'll love reading the elegant, graceful, vibrant and original Klingon version of legendary, critically acclaimed and glorious drama Hamlet instead of clumsy and awkward English version.