William Shakespeare the Complete Works (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "ECONOMIC REALITIES determined the theatrical world in which Shakespeare's plays were written, performed, and received..." (more)
Key Phrases: fairy queen, fain obliged, passing across the stage, Sir John, Julius Caesar, Mistress Ford (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Penguin Putnam shows true strength of Will by gathering all the titles in its Pelican Shakespeare line into a single, beautiful volume, complete with cloth covers and a ribbon marker. (LJ 11/15/02)
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Review

"The most ambitious edition of the works ever attempted."--Times Higher Education Supplement
--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 1248 pages
• Publisher: Random House; 1 edition
• ISBN-10: 0517209764
• ISBN-13: 978-0517209769
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (59 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,806,372 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

108 of 109 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Still the Best, November 26, 2002

By	Wuddus (Columbus, OH USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete Pelican Shakespeare (Pelican Shakespeare) (Hardcover)

The two reviews below (as of this posting) are so complete and useful that I won't bother repeating what they've so articulately said. Both of them, however, express disappointment with the paucity of introductory material in the Pelican. Initially, I agreed with them. After the fullness of biography and background in the previous edition--not to mention the wonderful illustrations of the Globe by C. Walter Hodge--the cursory intros in the new Pelican took me as rather much of a letdown. (And why weren't the brief essays signed?) Part of the fun of any new Shakespeare, after all, is in the editorial bells and whistles!

On further thought and reading, however, I've changed my mind. The introductions to the individual plays and poetry continue to be full, thoughtful, and elegant (especially John Hollander's essay on the sonnets), and the annotations are clear and well-placed. The brief essays at the beginning of the volume provide only the essential background that the individual intros really can't. In that context, their "just the facts, ma'm" approach is refreshing and bound to be less intimidating to the first-time reader. I mean, how many students have been put off Shakespeare by the lengthiness and detail of preferatory material? Don't all the bells and whistles of other volumes imply to the fearful that one has to become a scholar simply to enjoy the show? One does need help, of course, but not a scholastic cloud. (The Norton is especially horrifying in this vein; woe to the 101 student whose instructor has chosen this for the class.)

The new Pelican does seem somehow "thinner" than its predecessor--but we might just as well say "sleeker." This is still by far the friendliest one-volume Shakespeare out there. In twenty years, this will be just as beloved as the first edition!

119 of 121 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Overall, the one to buy, October 23, 2002

By	Stanley Hauer (Hattiesburg, MS USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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This review is from: The Complete Pelican Shakespeare (Pelican Shakespeare) (Hardcover)

Like many English majors in the sixties, I grew up reading this edition. The old one had a distinguished roster of editors and was pleasant to hold and read. In the latter category this new edition is a noble successor: clear type, full names of characters (no more "1 Serv."), and notes indicated by line numbers. This new edition fails however in its skimpy (9 pages!) of introductory matter and a masthead of editors who are fairly obscure. Still, I would award the plume to this volume for the first-time reader who wants a complete Shakespeare. The pleasant appearance that I mentioned above is important--we want a volume easy to handle and read. The editing is conservative and non-controversial (no more of the Oxford/Norton kinky titles--"The First Part of the Contention," sheesh--that's Henry VI, Part 2 to us plebians). And it's not as bulky as the power-lifter's Riverside and other editions. To sum up: if you have in your family or acquaintance a budding Shakespearean, this is still the one to buy. Seeing this book in the shop was like greeting an old friend. I look forward to hundreds of wonderful hours with it.

134 of 144 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent edition of the complete works, with a few quirks, March 9, 2000

By	C. Hulshof "Sic transit gloria mundi" (Enschede, OV Netherlands) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: William Shakespeare: The Complete Works (The Oxford Shakespeare) (Hardcover)

In contrast to some of the other editions of the complete works of Shakespeare, this book really is value for money. All plays (and poems, etcetera) are printed in a lavishly, pleasing way, very easy to the eye (one of the biggest drawbacks of some editions is that they use a very small font to keep the number of pages to a minimum). As others have commented, not much can and should be commented on the works themselves, they have stood the test of time, and the (normal) spelling that is used in this edition makes each reading an enjoyable experience. All the plays are given a brief (and somewhat succinct) introduction, which is, at best, okay. The strange things, in this book, are, for example, the order of the plays, the way King Lear is printed in two versions (that differ only in small details), and the inclusion of fragments that are attributed to Shakespeare (a bit controversial to say the least). Still, if you want to buy a good, thorough, and well-researched edition of the complete works of Shakespeare, you will not go far wrong with this book.