Customer Reviews

Spark Notes No Fear Shakespeare Othello (SparkNotes No Fear Shakespeare)

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The Play, the Book, the Format---all outstanding, absolutely outstanding...With the original text on the left page and a modern easy to read and understand text on the right, Shakespeare reads like a Vince Flynn novel--well, almost. It really opens up the story, the ideas, the characters and the struggles. (Iago is still reprehensible! In any time, in any format!!) And in Act 5, "Othello" turns into a page turner, like a modern day novel. Who would have ever thought it!!! Good way of doing it, well done. The Bard is alive and well...And we are all the better for it.

As my first introduction to Shakespeare working in a senior high school collaborative English class, this book helped me enormously with its Modern Day English interpretation on one side of the book and the Shakespearean writing on the other which follows the regular novels. This proved to be a lifesaver!

I purchased this book knowing from the past that I had difficulty comprehending Shakespeare. This book is about 300 pages long, and on the right side page there is standard english, and on the left the older english (still considered modern, but confusing). I was able to read through the book and actually enjoy what I was reading by simply reading the new english side of the book. Then when I go back for excerpts or pages assigned by a teacher I can look at the English translation along with the original text. It is a little bit of a bad way to learn it, but starting with the original text has put me no where, i simply don't comprehend what I am reading.

I had an English Lit test on Othello and was having a bunch of trouble understanding the original writing. I ordered this book and found myself actually enjoyin the play. I recommend this to anyone having trouble understanding the story. It was in everyday English and made a bunch of sense. I plan on checking out the other No Fear products for my other reading assignments in college.

My high school honors student says this is an indispensable aid for his English class. He wouldn't read Shakespeare without it. We have purchased other 'No Fear' Shakespeare titles and they are all worth while.

Shakespeare meant for the general public to enjoy his plays -- not dread them or struggle to understand them. The way English speakers sounded well over 400 years ago is certainly not the way we sound now and I feel certain if "Will" could be in the audience these days, he'd be applauding "No Fear Shakespeare"!
A 60-years-young English teacher

My son hates Shakespeare but always loves a good story. This allows him to get the story and why the original terminology compared to the interpretations have more strength in conveying depth and purpose to the original prose. A great tool to educate your 15 year old in the beauty of Shakespeare if he's not in the Arts.

I purchased this for my son who had to read Othello in an AP English Lit class. He was very pleased with the book as it helped him better understand the play. Some of his classmates saw the book and purchased it also. It definitely makes Shakespeare's work more accessible and has prompted my son to read more of his plays in this format. I would definitely recommend this series of books.

I was off to see Othello and had bought the tickets. The No Fear Shakespeare books are the only ones i will read now. They make the story line so much easier to follow.