Customer Reviews

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, US & Canada Ed.

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

 

 

I rather with they had went with a better cover.

It's a movie tie-in book, but something that emphasized the fact that the story is actually called "A String of Pearls" would've been lovely. When I first saw this book in the fiction section, I wasn't quite sure: is this one of those cheesy movie adaptations that I always try to avoid?

Fortunately, it wasn't.

I'm sure that there's some disappointed people out there. It seems to be human nature these days to only go for the familiar -- deviations from the comfort zone in the realm of entertainment is rarely accepted. This book really has very little in common with the movie. Of course, as the introduction explains, the musical was based on another theatrical version of the story -- but, knowing how many people I've been acquainted with react, they would absolutely hate this.

Can I deal with trickery to get them to read a classic? Maybe.

Despite the lack of the book's title on the cover and over-emphasizing the movie tie-in, I do enjoy the edition. If only it were available in hardcover.

The introduction is a great history of Sweeney. I know the author wrote an extensive history of Sweeney Todd, but after reading that introduction, I'm not sure if I would want to read more. It seems that all I wanted to know was included in that introduction.

As for the annotations, I wish they were not in the back of the book. It's such a chore to go back that many pages when the bottom of the page would've worked just as well -- most of these annotations aren't so long that they wouldn't fit in a quarter page or less. I do disagree with the other reviewer on these annotations. Despite the sound, most of the annotations are rather helpful to the modern reader. Sure, there's a few that should be common sense (especially if you're old enough to be reading a book like this), but most of them actually do help -- and sometimes, the ones that explain plot points are rather helpful.

It's easy to get lost in what's happening at times. This was a "penny dreadful," so it was probably read by the middle to lower class citizens. Therefore, you really get the sense that it was written in a way to make the reader feel that they got the most words for their money. Dialog is often over-dramatic and repetitious. It's probably a bit of an acquired taste for this type of writing, but it does serve as a great historical curiosity.

That's one of the things that are the key to enjoying the work of all the writers that joined to create this story: historical appreciation.

Actually, I find Sweeney Todd to be the best-written character of the book. Reading his lines and actions, it's easy to see why Johnny Depp was a great choice. Other characters were hit or miss in characterizations.

As I said, the book has little to do with the movie. The book was in the 18th century, the movie in 19th century Victorian England. Sweeney Todd was a lot more sinister -- he was clearly a villain. Johanna has a mother and a father - neither were Sweeney Todd. Mrs. Lovett is quite a hike from Sweeney Todd's, not so conveniently below the shop.

Many modern readers who are only reading this because of Johnny Depp may be disappointed with other details. For example, Sweeney Todd, while being the focus of the story, doesn't play out as the main character. The story is about Johanna and her lost love, not Sweeney Todd (or his vengeance). They also may be disappointed in a lot of passages about sailing and other flashbacks that don't really move the plot along. Or numerous plot points that get started and never finished.

So, remember -- if you're not familiar with the book and why it's written the way it is, read the introduction first.

I am very happy that they didn't try to cheap out by merely giving us the text. Historical notes and essays are a must when it comes to works such as this.

Overall, I'm happy with the book. It's not going on my top list, but it does (usually) hold my interest. Since it was a serial, it's a great book to read when you don't have much time to read.

This novel is an example of the "penny dreadful" genre that was so popular in Victorian England, and it is an easy, fun, enjoyable read, even today, over 150 years after its first publication. I have never seen the musical version by Stephen Sondheim and don't know how close it is to this one, but whether you are a fan of the musical or not, you will likely enjoy this book.

I do have a few problems with this edition, though. First, the book's title is "The String of Pearls"; this edition calls it "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" (presumably to capitalize on the musical's success). Also, the back cover and the introduction give away almost any surprise there might have been in the book for those not familiar with the story. If you do not already know the whole plot of the book, I suggest you avoid reading the introduction or back cover until you have finished the novel.

Finally, I found the edition's use of annotations rather annoying. These are indicated with an asterisk (*) in the text and are given in the back of the book. Some of them are absolutely asinine. For example, on page 148, "Hamlet's grave-digger" is annotated as follows: "a reference to Hamlet's exchange with the gravedigger in Hamlet." Thank you, Captain Obvious. Or, for the line "his month is up today, and I must get rid of him," the editor tells us, "Oakley has obviously engaged Sam to work in his shop as a mere employee, and for a trial period." For "cacchinatory", we have, "i.e. cachinnatory"; "tip-top" is given as "excellent"; and fortunately we are notified that "Madagascar" is an "island located off the south-eastern coast of Africa."

Not that the idea of endnotes in general is bad, but there are too many unnecessary ones here, which interfere unnecessarily with an otherwise great read.

I'm a huge Tim Burton and Johnny fan and can't wait for the movie to come out, and a friend of mine said the book was worth checking out.

The Verdict? The book was really spellbinding. The plot twists kept me guessing and I was anxious for the next page - and there was some lively humor in there too. It had a rich Gothic mood, like Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, yet was thrilling and a fast read. And unlike some 19th century stories, the book is not a chore for the modern reader.

I hope the movie can match up!

In Victorian England, a customer steps into Sweeney Todd's barber shop and appears never to step back out. Edited and standardized, this volume presents The String of Pearls, a 1846-7 penny dreadful which was the literary debut of Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Don't let the movie tie-in cover fool you into thinking this is a film novelization or a quick and dirty imprint. It's a classic text, and while it may aim to feed off the popularity of Burton's version of Sondheim's play, it's edited by a Sweeney Todd scholar and offers an introduction and footnotes which make it accessible and informative. It's a fine imprint, and of interest therefore to those that want to explore earlier versions of Sweeney Todd's story.

And while fans of the Burton or Sondheim productions may be disappointed to find different plot and characterization, The String of Pearls a.k.a. Sweeney Todd remains an enjoyable tale in its own right. The book, aided by the footnotes, stands the test of time and is accessible to a modern audience. There is one drawback: readers will doubtless be familiar with the secret of Todd's practice and Lovett's pies, but the book depends upon the shock of these revelations--and so the climax, and the end of the book, is somewhat deadened. It's a tolerable disappointment, but a disappointment nonetheless. Still, Sweeney Todd offers just the sort of fearful pleasure that a penny dreadful promises. Todd's characterization is menacing and vibrant, the story moves at a rapid pace while still indulging in the gothic joys of atmosphere and suspense, there's gleeful horror and morbidity (and plenty of delicious pie puns), and while the writing may not be brilliant it is consistently good. Simply said, this is a fun read: sometimes delightfully dark, occasionally authentically creepy, morbid and vivid, accessible and entertaining, interesting both as a classic text and an engaging story, and a surprisingly good edition to boot. It may not be as complex or popular as modern reinterpretations of Todd's story, but it remains a pleasure to read. Whatever aspects draw you to this text, I recommend it.

When I first saw this book I was happy seeing so many pages thinking it was an extended version of the movie with Johnny Depp. It even has the cover from the movie and all.
Instead it was very different and much of the book was spoiled because of the Introduction and all.
I didn't like all the asterisks popping up in my face.
I'm trying to read and get into the mood for Pete's sake.

I will be keeping this book, but I will be buying the other one done by Mark Salisbury and Tim Burton.

I would recommend it but I seriously think the title and cover should be changed so as not to confuse any other readers

This version of the popular Sweeney Todd horror story is prefaced by an introduction to the curious life of the story. Written anonymously and, supposedly, by several different authors, the introduction suggests that the author(s) borrowed heavily from Dickens's tales and used it as a template for the story itself. It, therefore, expertly blends humor, drama, and horror with a touch of romanticism and romance, two very separate things, into one. Originally the story was supposed to be a love story, about two destined and fated lovers that are torn asunder by an ill plotted destiny. It was entitled The String of Pearls and was supposed to center around the iconic piece of jewelry, but that was not to be. Written in installments, the public audience was swept up with intrigue around the singular and peculiar character of Sweeney Todd, a genius stuck in a barber's position and employed on Fleet-Street, across the street, ironically, from a church.

Johanna Oakley and Mark Ingestrie are pushed aside as lovers and are replaced by the juggernaut Sweeney Todd and his accomplice to murder, Mrs. Lovett. I would even hazard to say that Todd's hired boy, Tobias Ragg, has more interest to the reader than Johanna or Mark. Perhaps it's the double consonant endings of their last names. Regardless, Todd is a quick-tongued, clever, crazy haired man whose genius lies within his ability to lie seamlessly and without pause. Meanwhile, Mrs. Lovett is a woman that eludes most critique as she is borderline Todd and borderline desperate. Todd never seems desperate, but Mrs. Lovett seems in need of an end to their particular handiwork. However, she is a very self-sufficient woman, defined more so by her self-sufficient machines that crank out the meat pies than by anything else.

The tale truly lends itself to the time period where urbanization was of major concern and marked the psyches of many Londoners. The city is sprawling, growing, and expanding so quickly that it's easy to lose oneself to the hustle and bustle of the world. In a few words, the city eats you alive. You are a consumer and the consumed, rivaled by your fellow man into extinction or otherwise. This is, by far, the best critique of urbanization put into horror form that has been written in a while.

Along the lines of critiques, the story not only critiques city life but church life and psychiatric care as well, all of which fit into the story snugly. For the sake of your eyes, you can decide on the harbor of those thoughts upon reading.

If it were possible to make the last star a half star, I would. The reason for an empty half-star is that it's often difficult to get through. The first half of the book is a slow haul to a conclusion that makes it almost painstakingly boring for an audience approved horror story. It's also written in the 1800s where people apparently used semi-colons in their vocabulary as often as they use vowels, making speeches long, tedious and tiring. The writing style itself is hard to get used to unless you are familiar with such works as Dickens. If you can push past this, though, it's a good read with many footnotes to help you understand certain aspects of life. It's always interesting to learn where cultural icons are born and Sweeney is certainly one of those icons.

"Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street," a book by Robert L. Mack, who's evidently an expert on the subject of Sweeney Todd, as he's also author of The Wonderful and Surprising History of Sweeney Todd: The Life and Times of an Urban Legend, comes to us as a rather odd tie-in with the recent major movie on the subject, Tim Burton's, starring Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. And, it does tie in with the subject of the infamous Sweeney Todd, in fact. Just not in the way a reader might anticipate.

For the author has edited the earliest-known major literary treatment of the subject. That happens to be an anonymously-written Victorian-era British "penny dreadful," published as an 18-part serial that ran from November 21, 1846 to March 20, 1847, called, "The String of Pearls: A Romance." And the very modern horror tale of the murderous barber and his partner in crime, the cannibalistic Mrs. Margery Lovett, who owned a meat pie shop, is but a subplot in a fusty, melodramatic, rather conventional tale of the romance of Johanna Oakley and Mark Ingestrie.

However, as the writer Mack points out in his very interesting introduction, before the serial had even been completely published, the story of the barber and the pie shop owner had already been lifted from it and used for a wildly popular stage play that would be followed by many more such throughout the Victorian era. And these, of course, were followed by the 1979, multi-award winning, landmark Broadway musical production, by Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler, that was the basis for Burton's recent movie musical. Mack also tells us that, though there is some slight documentation that a somewhat similar crime might have been committed in 18th century Paris, the story of Sweeney Todd might, at that time, be considered more a rural legend than an urban one: apparently many countrymen, in the big smoke of London for the day, selling livestock or whatever, scared themselves to sleep with tales of a big city barber who would murder them for their money.

The tale itself, which owes a lot, around the edges, to the Charles Dickens' novel also being serialized at the time, is fun to read, although the story is, certainly, told Victorian-style, and therefore won't be to everyone's taste. But the reader can, to a degree, share in the author's thrill of discovery, as Todd and Mrs. Lovett walk right out of this silly romance, into our imaginations, and onto the world stage. Mack has also footnoted the book for its modern-day readers: as several other reviewers have complained, the footnotes are somewhat inconveniently located at the back of the book, rather than on the page, and vary from the informative, to the self-explanatory, to the extraneous.

But it helps to know, in understanding the emergence of these early 19th century icons of horror, that London at the time was a place we'd consider fairly horrible today, stinking, dirty, and unsanitary. And the Fleet Street area, as I mentioned in my review of the recent movie, was particularly bad. Before it was covered over, the Fleet River had become so polluted that it burned, and became known as the Fleet Ditch, an open sewer. The network of underground caverns used by the sinister pair to conduct their business was undoubtedly what remained of that troubled body of water.

All in all, it's got to be highly interesting for those who like to know the background of what they're seeing.

Having already watched the movie version and Broadway production, I was ready to delve into the story of Sweeney Todd. Knowing that the versions would be quite different, I also chose to avoid reading the introduction and anything else irrelevant to the actual story (which I might suggest to anyone who wants to read this version as well). In choosing to disregard everything I gathered from the movie and Broadway versions, I was able to fully encompass the story of "The Strong of Pearls: A Romance." I absolutely enjoyed the book and would classify this story with a rating of 4.5 because there were definitely moments in the book that became tedious to get through at times.

The story follows multiple characters' lives that become intertwined when the mysterious disappearances of people continues. There is the nervous Tobias, who is unfortunate enough to work for the cruel Sweeney Todd but smart enough to know that Mr. Todd is performing questionable things. Sweeney Todd, who is wicked, is the barber who takes a liking to expensive items. There are the victims of which Mr. Todd happens to gather their belongings after they visit him which is how the reader becomes familiar with the clever Johanna. Johanna happens to spin the story together and brings multiple characters to the story as well. And somewhere, we learn of Mrs. Lovett who plays the devilish role of constantly flirting with her male customers and never allowing more than one cook! The end was a miraculous surprise to me and would make any reader giggle with pleasure!

It's unfortunate that the reviews are casting this story in a bad light and I would like to again mention that this is NOT the Sondheim version people are learning to appreciate firstly. With regards to the asterisks, I simply ignored them for the sake of not wasting time. Should you have already seen the movie/Broadway production, I would recommend you disregard any of that information; it will not be useful to you and makes reading the story more pleasurable. With that said I do hope people enjoy the story and not criticize the fact that it is not the movie version Tim Burton, Johnny Depp, and Helena Bonham Carter made so infamous.

This book was in my opinion marketed under false pretenses. I did enjoy it, but like a lot of people quickly realized this was not the story we saw in the movies.
It's a chopped and edited story from over a hundred years ago, so right there the structure was hard to identify with. I've read plenty of classics, but I feel that this book was purposely misleading, especially for people who aren't used to this type of stylized writing.
The original story was called 'The String of Pearls'. The relationships between the characters weren't even the same, and I felt that although the story itself was good, I couldn't identify with it.

K.K. Jolliffe

This is one of the 1800's Sweeney Todd stories, originally titled, "The String of Pearls". It has 39 chapters, and although a good story, different from the Sondheim version. The Johnny Depp movie poster bookcover is very misleading. You can get this story free online because it is in the public domain.