Customer Reviews

Understanding Great Literature - Hamlet

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One of the best books available about Hamlet for general readers. The author explains the plot, charactrs and themes very clearly and makes the play highly accessible to anyone. A terrific little book that should be used in all high school English classes. If I had seen it when I was in high schol I proabably would have liked Shakespere a lot more than I did in those days.

Wow! This is the best brief study of HAMLET I have ever seen, and I have seen many in almost five decades of reading about the Bard. Students will benefit immensely from the author's ability to convey a huge quantity of facts about a long, complicated play without boring, confusing, or talking down to them. The plot, characters, themes, and much more are covered with care, attention to detail, and enthusiasm, revealing what must be a life-long love of Shakespeare. Indeed, Nardo, a historian by trade, and quite a good one by the way, seems equally at home in the world of Shakespearean criticism, which turns out to be fortunate for all the rest of us! So, I say "get thee to a library" and take out this marvelous little book!

Millions of words have been written about Shakespeare's "Hamlet." Why not a few more?, especially if they're good ones. And these most definitely are. The author has captured the essence of this timeless play in a few short, but extremely well-crafted chapters. The chapter dissecting the characters is especially well-written and insightful. And the bibliography is first rate. English teachers in high schools and junior colleges will be remiss if they pass up the chance to use this remarkable volume in their classes. I highly recommend it to all those who wish to be, or claim to be, educated.

I have always loved Shakespeare, including Hamlet. And I have seen numerous versions of this great play, as well as attended a college seminar about it. So I naturally figured that I knew it extremely well. Here is a short but simply wonderful book that has reminded me that there are always new things to learn about Hamlet. It's aimed at young readers, but is so well written and insightful that an old hack like me could not put it down. I wish this author would write a volume like this about every one of Shakespeare's plays. I've never seen the Bard explained better than this.

This little companion book to Hamlet written for students can only be described as outstanding in all respects. It covers the plot and characters and themes and so forth, all in very thoughtful and easy to read prose. My first introduction to Hamlet was the movie with Mel Gibson that came out a few years back. In the book, the author, Don Nardo, talks about how a person's first Hamlet stays with him and colors the way he sees the play ever after, and I have to agree that he's right. Later I went out and rented the version with Laurence Olivier, which by the way is a really great film, and while I was watching it I found myself comparing it to the one with Mel Gibson. Anyway, Nardo's book is crammed with interesting information and well worth looking for at your local library.

A really fine overview of the play, including its plot, characters, and themes, as well as a good deal of discussion about various actors who have played the role over the years and their personal interpretations. Young people and older people alike can't help but walk away from reading this book with a clear idea of what the play is about and its importance in the annals of Western literature. It brings Hamlet, which some people assume is dry and unintersting, to life, and I recommend it to anyone interested in Shakespeare and in fact anyone who thinks they aren't interested in Shakespeare.

I can't say enough good things about this terrific little book that tells so very much about the play that many people consider the greatest ever written. Nardo, a noted historian and literary scholar, provides loads of valuable information about Shakespeare and his times, about the background of HAMLET (including the sources on which Shakespeare based it), the plot, a really fascinating chapter dissecting the characters (including several of the minor ones), and a chapter discussing the main themes, all in a very straightforward, easy to understand style. The bibliography is also first rate, pointing the way to most of the best sources out there about the play. This book is "must read" for students, but believe me, adults will get a lot out of it too, espcially those who don't think they're very much interested in Shakespeare. This book will open wide the door to enjoyment of Shakespeare for such people. I have noticed that Amazon lists several other Shakespeare volumes by this author. I have not read any of them yet, but I fully intend to.

I had to do a report on "Hamlet" for a college class and remembered seeing this book in the juvenile section at my local library. I figured "what the hell?" and gave it a look, not expecting much, since after all it was written for kids. But I was wrong, at leat partially. It WAS witten in such a way that kids will get a lot out of it. But actually ANYBODY will get a lot out of it because it is loaded with information about just about every aspect of the play. In fact, I would say that even though the book is short, I got more useful information out of it than from some of the more advanced ones I looked out. The author writes in very clear language and covers all the main points, and also makes the reader understand why the play is so good and so famous and important. So I am giving the author five stars for a first-rate job of explaining a difficult subject.