"Richard II Without the Potholes" provides an updated version of Shakespeare's history Richard II. It makes the play more accessible by modernizing the outdated vocabulary and grammar, and by revising the more difficult passages, while retaining almost all of the poetic content. The series "Shakespeare Without the Potholes" is intended to provide updated versions of all of the 37 generally recognized plays of William Shakespeare. The series makes the plays more accessible to students encountering Shakespeare for the first time. It provides an easier reading experience by modernizing most of the archaic vocabulary and grammar, and by revising many of the more difficult passages that in the original can be understood, if at all, only by careful scanning of a footnote. The alterations attempt to retain the meter and maintain almost all of the poetic substance.
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About the Author
Jerry Rubin is a lover of Shakespeare who grew concerned when he found that esteemed friends and associates preferred reading Stephen King novels to Shakespeare's plays, claiming to be put off by the difficulties of the texts. Shocked by this revelation, he has spent several years producing the "Without the Potholes" series.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
A Surprisingly Good Rendering of Shakespeare,
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This review is from: William Shakespeare's Richard II: Without The Potholes (Paperback)
I had previously written a review of "The Tempest Without the Potholes". My analysis of that book suggested that Mr. Rubin had retained about 87% of the original language, and had changed about 13%. Most of the changes were trivial, such as substituting "you" for "thee", or "hereabouts" for "hereabout". Mr. Rubin had been careful to retain all the rhythm of the original language. After posting that review, I read "Richard II Without the Potholes", and then watched the BBC DVD version of the play. I selected Richard II because I hadn't read it before. I selected the BBC DVD because it is an uncut, 100% word-for-word rendering of Shakespeare's play. I wanted to see if I could follow the play after reading the "Potholes" version. I found the BBC DVD surprisingly easy to follow. The occasional unfamiliar words that cropped up didn't present any problem at all, because I knew beforehand what the conversation was about, and was mentally able to fit the unfamiliar words into their proper context, much as a child leans vocabulary by associating unfamiliar words with context, rather then trying to define them. I had given "The Tempest" 4 stars, mainly because I'm still a little uncomfortable with tinkering with Shakespeare's language. I'm giving "Richard II" 5 stars however. In reading, then watching the play I realized that this is great stuff - full of drama and raw human emotion, all beautifully expressed. By reading the "Potholes" version, you miss a few archaic words, but in return you get drawn much more fully into the world Shakespeare creates, and this is a worthwhile tradeoff.
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