William Shakespeare Complete Works (Modern Library)
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William Shakespeare Complete Works (Modern Library) Details
Review "The endurance of Shakespeare depends not only on the felt experience of good, vivid theater, but also on dynamic scholarship that reveals his living text."–Michael Boyd, RSC artistic director"Timely, original, and beautifully conceived, this is a remarkable edition, one that makes Shakespeare's extraordinary accomplishment more vivid than ever."–James Shapiro, professor, Columbia University and bestselling author of A Year in the Life of Shakespeare: 1599"The big book is a new one-volume edition of the complete works, commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company and published by the Modern Library. Two eminent Shakespeareans, Jonathan Bate and Eric Rasmussen, have applied modern editing techniques and recent scholarship to correct and update the First Folio, the first collection of the plays, published in 1623…. Mr. Bate writes… a superb introduction that deals with Shakespeare and his world as well as textual questions." –The New York Times“The excellent general introduction by Jonathan Bate and the essays and notes on each play are… a feast of literary and historical information.” —The Wall Street Journal“I look forward to using it over many years… enjoying Jonathan Bate’s perceptive comments, trusting Eric Rasmussen’s textual scholarship.” —Peter Holland, President of the Shakespeare Association of America, editor of Shakespeare Survey“Bate’s edition is incomparably superior to all the rest. His knowledge of textual problems and previous commentary seems to be prodigious in its detail and thoroughness…. And his comments on individual plays are unfailingly perceptive. He’s about equally fine as scholar and critic; few excel in both roles, with their very different requirements. Bate is like an all-star shortstop who can also serve as an outstanding relief pitcher…. No other edition has ever impressed me so much.” --Joseph Sobran, author of William Shakespeare, Alias Shakespeare: Solving the Greatest Literary Mystery of All Time Jonathan Bate is a passionate advocate of Shakespeare and his introductions to individual plays are full of striking and convincing observations…. The scholarly apparatus is discreet, elegant and pertinent. For each play, we get a set of ‘key facts’: brief accounts of plots, dates and sources, and useful statistics…. Footnotes are found snugly and legibly at the bottom of each page….There is a universe to be found in these annotations: the Renaissance world of power and fate, sex and death, language and philosophy. Jonathan Bate and Eric Rasmussen have given us an edition full of endless fascination.” —London Times Education Supplement"This is a glorious edition of one of the world's most important books. It's the essential reference book for anyone who's ever been in love, felt jealousy, fear, hatred, or desire. All human life is here-and every home should have one."–Dame Judi Dench, RSC honorary associate artist“Anyone who wants a good single volume edition of the plays…won’t do better than this.” —The International Herald Tribune“A magnificent new volume.” —A. N. Wilson, Daily Telegraph (UK)“A triumphant addition to our times.” —Fiona Shaw, The Times (London)"Thanks to Bate and Rasmussen, we now have a rendering of The Complete Works that, in a rare publishing achievement, would also give complete satisfaction to the author himself."–Robert McCrum, The Observer"A new and thoroughly radical edition…. The editorial decisions are argued in an impeccably informative introduction by Jonathan Bate that gives a comprehensive theatrical, social, political and biographical context to the plays. There are pithy essays, also by Bate, to introduce each play as well as exemplary notes at the foot of each page... incomparably useful ... a definitive edition."–Richard Eyre, Sunday Telegraph“A splendid edition. The general introduction is among the best 50-page guides to Shakespeare you could hope to find, while the short essays prefixed to each play are like the best kind of programme notes - informative, thought-provoking and humane.... The RSC's edition tells you all you need to know about the life, but also, vitally, allows you to lose yourself in the wonder of the works." –Colin Burrow, Evening Standard“Bate’s general introduction to Shakespeare’s life, stage and reputation is superb, and the short introductions to individual works, in particular, are among the best of their kind available.” —Michael Dobson, The London Review of Books“Excellent, succinct notes and introductions to each play.” —John Carey, The Sunday Times (London)“Professor Jonathan Bate has written thought provoking essays for each play, discussing the source material and its influence on the play as well as pointing out the familiarities [for] contemporary audiences… The glossary includes much that has been ignored in the past …. This volume is an invaluable resource to anyone interested in or simply in love with Shakespeare.” —Speech and Drama“Bate provides excellent introductory essays to each play and his terrific introduction, simply and effectively summarizing everything you need to know about Shakespeare, man and work, is alone worth buying the edition for.” —The Daily Express (UK)“Jonathan Bate and Eric Rasmussen have bravely gone where no Bard editors have gone before, basing the entire edition on the First Folio, the rehearsal room version authorized by actors John Hemmings and Henry Condell after Shakespeare’s death. For the first time, the Royal Shakespeare Company has been closely involved in the developing of a collected works, including photography of RSC productions and insights into staging decisions… this is Shakespeare as you like it.” —What’s On Stage Read more About the Author About the EditorsJonathan Bate is professor of Shakespeare and Renaissance literature at the University of Warwick. Widely known as a critic, award-winning biographer, and broadcaster, Bate is the author of several books on Shakespeare, including Shakespeare and Ovid and The Genius of Shakespeare, which was praised by Peter Hall, founder of the RSC, as “the best modern book on Shakespeare.”Eric Rasmussen is professor of English at the University of Nevada. He is co-editor of the Norton Anthology of English Renaissance Drama and of the works of Christopher Marlowe in the Oxford World’s Classics series as well as individual plays in the Arden Shakespeare series, the Revels Plays series, and the Malone Society series. Since 1997, he has written the annual review of editions and textual studies for Shakespeare Survey.The RSC (Royal Shakespeare Company) is a world-renowned ensemble theater company in Stratford and London, dedicated to bringing the works of Shakespeare and his contemporaries to a modern audience. Read more
Reviews
Due to Amazon's inability to keep reviews for each edition of Shakespeare separate from one another (for example my review of this one also appears as my review for the Arden Shakespeare Edition...insert eye rolling here), therefore each section will be a separate review for each edition that I have purchased (including future purchases).I will start by clarifying that this first review is for the KINDLE version of "William Shakespeare Complete Works (Modern Library)", edited by Jonathan Bate and Eris Rasmussen and having the ASIN: B00BO4GSA2.William Shakespeare Complete Works (Modern Library)Normally I read from a hard cover copy of the Shakespeare Head Press Edition (1938), but let me just say I love this edition (Modern Library) on my KINDLE! Proceeding each play is a commentary, plot synopsis as well other interesting bits of information, and the plays themselves are so abundantly filled with helpful footnotes to help anyone who has never read Shakespeare before, and even those who have.Also, another selling point for me was that this edition does not, like other kindle editions I have seen, use abbreviated names to identify the speaking character. Personally, I just do not care for it and was glad to see that this edition did not do that.The table of contents lists the plays into three categories Comedies/Histories/Tragedies rather than in order of "authorship", with some wonderful additions there after. Including the Sonnets and the plays Pericles and Two Noble Kinsman. From what I understand, this edition is taken from the Folio.Also, it should be noted that the table of contents does not link to specific acts within a play, which may bother some. Personally, I find the addition of such links to "over-clutter" a table of contents and so I was glad to see it was kept simple.The physical copy version (hardcover) is just as good an edition, one main difference being the notations are on the bottom of each page. The text is also decently sized and like its kindle version, the names are not abbreviated.The one drawback to the KINDLE edition is the price. It is a bit high for a ebook.This next section is a review of "The Arden Shakespeare Complete Works" published by Bloomsbury and having the ISBIN's: ISBN-10: 1904271030/ISBN-13: 978-1904271031. https://www.amazon.com/Arden-Shakespeare-Complete-Works/dp/1904271030/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1481567378&sr=1-3&keywords=arden+shakespeare+completeAs for the physical copy of Arden Shakespeare Complete Works Revised Edition, I found that despite giving it the thumbs up for the text, it lacks the foot notes/notations/essays/commentary present in Arden's individual publications of the plays and that the font seemed a bit too small in comparison to the previous (and much larger) edition of Arden Shakespeare Complete Works. For me, the text was harder to read. It is not a bad edition in itself and the glossary does help.
