(Originally posted on LiveJournal)
Okay, so there was the banner ad on LiveJournal for Cliff’s Notes Manga Shakespeare. And me, loving good ole Shakes, just had to click and see what it was about.
Heh. I checked out the 8 page PDF of their Romeo and Juliet. Not bad all things considered. And they do use as much of the original language as they can fit.
All things considered, not bad. I might even get them for myself, just for the sake of amusement. And judging by the 8 pages I skimmed through… if there are those who get boggled and/or intimidated by trying to read Shakespeare-as-he-wrote, or have never had the chance to see a stage performance or film adaptation of his plays, these might just be the best introduction to Shakespeare in a long time.
I mean, heck, I was intrigued enough to consider them, and I don’t have any problem at all with Shakespeare!
But then, I grew up with an illustrated book of “Stories from Shakespeare”, which got me interested in his work at a young age. Combine that with having seen some performance of Hamlet on TV at an impressionable age, and I was hooked. I’m not sure what performance it was that I saw, except that I have this very vivid memory of a black and white checked floor as part of the setting, especially for the final scene with the duel. I’ve since come to suspect it was one where Richard Burton played Hamlet, recorded for British television, and probably an early television import to the US (it was a public television broadcast).
I am curious, though, about other people’s first encounters with Shakespeare, good or bad. And reactions to productions they’ve seen along the way (in any medium). Tell me, tell me!
Comments
sartorias – Mar. 5th, 2008
I remember the Zeffirelli production most fondly.
Where is the link for this manga?
scribblerworks – Mar. 5th, 2008
I like all of Zeffirelli’s Shakespeare films, although the one I’ve seen least often is Taming of the Shrew. Taylor & Burton were old for the parts, but still played them with zest – which was fun.
But much as I do like Zeffirelli’s Hamlet, the best I’ve seen of that play so far is the one Derek Jacobi did in the BBC Complete series (happily now available on DVD).
As for the link… well, the following takes you directly to Cliff’s Notes’ page for R&J –http://www.cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/CliffsTitle/Shakespeare-s-Romeo-and-Juliet-The-Manga-Edition.productCd-0470097582.html
(Hope the link works)
(Comment Deleted)
scribblerworks – Mar. 5th, 2008
Veeeeery interesting!
Seems like a lot of people are getting on the “graphic adaptation” bandwagon these days.
I think it’s fun. I like different adaptations of things.
