Customer Reviews

The Norton Shakespeare

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I confess that after examining 5-6 of the top-selling complete Shakespeares I tried not to like the Norton. There are less expensive editions, there are editions with glossy pages and colored photographs, there are editions that are half the weight and bulk of this leviathan, which is far more Shakespeare than the average reader--perhaps, even scholar, for that matter--would ever require. But despite its bulk and unwieldyness, its 3500 (!) thin, flimsy pages, its sheer excess, I couldn't ignore its advantages. The small print enables the publishers to squeeze in contextual materials--in the introduction and appendixes--that in themselves amount to an encyclopedic companion to Shakespeare's works; the introductions to the plays are written not in "textbook prose" but in an engaging style worthy of their subject; and perhaps, best of all, this is the only edition that places the glosses right alongside the "strange" Elizabethan word instead of in the footnotes. You can read the plays without experiencing vertigo of the eye. So this is the edition, though you may wish to go with the smaller, bound portions that Norton publishes of the same edition--especially if you can't afford the cost of a personal valet to carry this tome from home to office. On the other hand, the complete edition is excellent for doing crunches and other aerobic exercises--activities many of us who read the Bard are abt to ignore.

As a fervent admirer of Shakespeare, this complete collection, comprising excellent introductions to each play and helpful textual notes as well as informative writings on the history of both England and the art of acting that shaped Shakespeare's writing, was like a dream come true. While before I had to walk around trying to find a good edition of the play I wanted to read, now I can open the Norton Shakespeare and read without being afraid of not understanding words or missing the point of the play. This book's obvious drawbacks are its heft and, as mentioned, its delicate pages, but these are easily outweighed by the abovementioned advantages! Buy it and read!

Up until recently, the only Shakespeare I ever read was in school. Ten years later, I decided to reacquaint myself with his works. I checked this version out from the library and because it is so comprehensive, I eventually bought it.

With over 3,400 pages and all Shakespeare's known plays and poems, the high price of this book is well worth it. You'll probably never need another book of his works. The only downside is that it is very heavy (about the thickness of two hardcover novels) and the pages are extremely thin (and wrinkle easily).

Intended as a textbook, the editors of this edition add biographical information, glossaries, period illustrations and footnotes. If you're reading Shakespeare for pleasure, I would recommend reading the intro to each play after you have read it through once. The intros tend to give away a bit much of the story (this can be a plus if you're reading this for a class). I'm not suggesting that you skip them altogether, as they do add helpful insight and perspective to each play.

I haven't read all the plays yet, but my favorite so far is The Taming of the Shrew. This is the best play I've read in a long time. I laughed out loud in several places. I told the story to my 7 year old son and he even laughed! I also discovered that there is another play called The Taming of a Shrew that is similar to The Taming of the Shrew but with additional passages. These extra passages are also included in this edition.

The editors always let you know when more than one version of a play has been found. They include three known versions of King Lear. Two are presented on facing pages so that you can easily see the differences. They also include a conflated version, often used in actual productions.

I recommend this book to anyone wanting to read a little or a lot of Shakespeare.

Initially, I had to buy this mammoth of a book for a college course covering Shakespeare's early commedies and histories. I've been fascinated with Shakespeare ever since I read Romeo and Juliet in high school, and my college studies merely increased that fascination. This book served me very well in the course; the introductions are extremely relevant to and informative about both the background of play and also the period in which it is written. I appreciate that the introductions are well-written and easy to understand. (Shakespeare is hard enough to understand without having to wade through a difficult introduction as well.) The footnotes are also excellent; they provide much needed explanations, descriptions, and definitions. There are also side notes with the more common words for archaic words used. I certainly wouldn't want to try to read Shakespeare without all the tools provided in this edition. Since college, I have spent nearly two years working my way through Shakespeare's works, and it has been extrememly gratifying. I like some plays better than others and find some plays easier to understand than others, but I couldn't be happier with the edition required back in college.

I would also like to add that the book is much sturdier than it seems, especially the tissue thin pages. This book was toted around in a backpack with me for a semester in college and has been most abusively treated since then. I've dropped it numerous times, had it sliding around in the trunk whenever I went on vacation, and toted it with me to many a doctor's appointment. My puppy tried to chew up the corner of it when I wasn't looking, and my husband spilled coffee on the open pages and down the side while I was reading. With the exception of a little wear on the corners of the cover, a coffee stain, and a few wrinkled pages, the book is in fine condition. I would have expected ripped or severly damaged pages from some of the things my book has endured, but all the pages are whole, which is remarkable considering how thin they are.

Overall, I think this book is a wonderful edition of Shakespeare's work for both the student and also the reader who just wants to improve his or her mind. I'm not some fancy college professor, but this book has served me equally well in my endeavors as a student and as a reader.

I'd rather give this 4.5 stars, but I can't. As another reviewer said, one wants to not like this volume. It's expensive and there are some annoying things about it--for example, the paper is soooo thin you can practically read the recto on the verso--but it is all-around the edition I turn to most often. The Riverside (I'd judge it to be the other most commonly used anthology) is absolutely ungainly. Its paper is certainly better, but the thing is absolutely huge. Looks great on the shelf, but horrible to carry with you to class. I also dislike the Riverside's two column layout and system of notation, which puts notes and glosses at the bottom of the page without indicators in the text. The Norton puts glosses in the margin, which I find infinitely less disturbing and more likely to be helpful, and it numbers footnotes. It also uses a single-column layout, which I find much easier to read and allows a smaller paper size (same size as all the other Nortons out there, same Bible paper too) without a smaller font size. The introductions to the individual plays have been farmed out to some of the best in the biz, so it's not just Greenblatt's book. For what it's worth, his job on the introductory material in this volume matches the quality of what you expect from one of the leading figures in the field. What's more, the scholarly material is very readable and generally helpful. Yes, the take of that material is definitely influenced by new historicism and cultural materialism, but anything compiled in the last 20 years is likely to be similarly influenced. There is also some good theater history help here and some good old facts. If you have problems with the Oxford edition, then you'll have problems with this one. If you don't, then it should be fine. For what it's worth, I reallllly like that there are the three Lear texts. This is a volume than can just be read if you want to read Shakespeare. But it's also a book that will get you through the hard stuff and that is fit for scholarly work.

This complete Shakespeare takes the important Oxford edition of the late 1980s and adds annotations and notes by American academics. Page layout is ideal and makes for a highly readable edition. The only problem is the extremely thin paper used to make this 3420-page tome handy. Printing on the other side of the page shows through, and the paper curls or crumples with the slightest trauma. The included slipcase helps, but I managed to crumple a page the first time I slipped the volume back in. Keep the kids away!

I am currently using this edition for my University undergraduate course. It is simply the most comprehensive edition available in one volume. The introductions to each play offer stimulating views using modern, contemporary criticism and the 'scene-setting' introduction to the collection, by Greenblatt, is highly informative. The text is wonderfully readable and actually makes you want to pick it up (or lay it on a table given its size) and just read. I like the thin pages, although they are susceptible to creasing, as it makes it feel as though you're reading a Bible - a suitable analogy I think. Recommendable to anyone interested in Shakespeare - this is an edition which does justice to his greatness (anyway I'd better stop wasting time on the 'Net and get back to my essay on 'Othello'!).

At over 3400 pages, the Norton Shakespeare is not designed for lap reading, but as a single volume collection of Shakespeare's works it has a lot going for it. The page layout is comfortable with only one column per page rather than the two cramped columns of the The Riverside Shakespeare, 2nd Edition. The gloss for single words or short phrases appears near the right margin on the same line in which the troublesome word occurs. This practice allows for quick reference without losing your place in the text. Longer textual notes appear as footnotes at the bottom of the page. Without the clutter of the glosses, these notes can also be referenced quickly.

The support materials are helpful and accessible. Each play is prefaced by an introduction written by one of the four distinguished editors. Stephen Greenblatt's general introduction, though clearly reflecting his critical interests, sticks to the facts and is quite readable. Whether you accept his new historicist approach or not, Greenblatt is a fine writer and knows how to maintain reader interest. One omission in his lengthy introduction is detailed discussion of how Shakespeare could imagine such a rich cast of characters. Greenblatt does not discuss the four temperaments, perhaps because their universality weakens the cultural determinism that Greenblatt favors as an explanation. Nature, nurture, and dumb luck--all three play a part in shaping Shakespeare's characters.

Here is how the editorial duties are divided:

Jean E. Howard: Two Gentleman of Verona, Taming of the Shrew, 2 Henry VI, 3 Henry VI, 1 Henry VI, 1 Henry IV, 2 Henry IV, As You Like It, Winter's Tale, Cymbeline.

Katharine Eisaman Maus: Titus Adronicus, Venus and Adonis, Rape of Lucrece, Richard II, Merchant of Venice, Henry V, Julius Caesar, Measure for Measure, All's Well That Ends Well, Timon of Athens, Coriolanus.

Stephen Greenblatt: Richard III, Comedy of Errors, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet, Much Ado About Nothing, Hamlet, Twelfth Night, King Lear, Macbeth, Tempest.

Walter Cohen: Love's Labour's Lost, King John, Merry Wives of Windsor, Troilus and Cressida, Sonnets and Short Poems, Sir Thomas Moore, Othello, Antony and Cleopatra, Pericles, All is True (Henry VIII).

If you want to study a single play in great scholarly detail, you are probably better off using the Norton Critical Edition, the New Cambridge Shakespeare, the Arden Shakespeare paperbacks (not the complete works), or the Folger paperbacks. These have room for more support materials on each play. If you want the collected works, you will not be disappointed with the Norton.

If you are a college, student carrying this book around will be dreadful. I am almost done with my college career and I do not regret one bit having to buy this book. It is much more costly that the various other editions that exist. The Oxford edition is the best for any shakespeare course. The footnotes are exceedingly informative. It's as if you have an entire history lesson in each play. It greatly helped me in my shakepeare course. The pages are super thin and almost transparent so it's difficult to highlight or make marks in it. Although it is inconvenient to carry this book around it makes up for its burdensome structure by the knowledge you will attain from using this particular edition. Most editions don't have the proper footnotes, leaving its readers confused and learning nothing. I highly recomend this edition especially if you are an English or literature major. You could also try to buy indiviual "Folger Edition" plays or sonnets. Those are the best to use for a course as well.

It is excellent and much better than the Riverside, because the short phrase annotations are on the same line. You don't have to scan down looking for the translation unless it is a lengthy one.