blonde_byfrankocean's review
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
rainbow1218's review
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
gio_shelves's review
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
3.0
beltonpham's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars
There's a certain genre of Korean dramas that are known as "makjang," which is a sort of genre that is insane and wild. The characters in these tv shows disregard all moral standards and just do bizarre things. If you've heard of the kdramas such as "penthouse," "the world of the married," or "sky castle," they are all makjangs. secret children, divorce, car crashes, babies swapped at birth, revenge, murder, adultery, all of these crazy things make up a makjang kdrama. also, it's freaking good. it's one of my favorite genres. i love how intense and crazy the shows are LOL.
anyways, this play is literally a makjang. every single character in this book does such bizarre things it's actually insane and i ate it up. like for example the main character literally killed two men and baked a pie out of their blood and bones and served it to their mother. it's disgusting but oh my god how cool is that. i literally live for drama. also the whole revenge thing????? absolutely living. i freaking love revenge dramas. so. much. death. i was surprised the entire cast didn't die. no bc this book was actually so violent my stomach had a reaction to it. but it was so. good. i literally ate it up so hard. this is probably the most i have ever been hooked on a Shakespeare play. i finished it so quickly too bc i just couldn't put the book down. wow. just wow.
the writing is, well, a typical Shakespeare play. i did feel like the writing from his other plays are definitely better tho, such as Macbeth or Hamlet. i felt like the lines in those other plays are much more elegant and impactful, but that doesn't mean i didn't like the writing in this book too. i found the lines still to be captivating and great. there were some pretty great quotes in here too. i don't have the book with me right now but when Titus Andronicus was going on about how sad he was about Lavinia, i ate all of that up. there was more but i cant seem to remember any at the moment. i really appreciated that this play was fast paced. none of it was boring or slow at all. i just flipped through the pages. it was wonderful. honestly this play is great for someone whos trying to get into Shakespeare for the first time. i just think the content is interesting enough for someone to actually get hooked (lol) only bc there's a lot of killing and inhumane acts involved. i personally didn't think the language was that difficult either. or maybe I'm just saying that bc I've read like 5 other shakepeare plays before this one. but it is a wonderful play. this is the first time I'm reading Shakespeare for fun and not for school and I'm glad i picked this one. this one got me more excited to read more Shakespeare plays now. i do lowkey wish that i read this in class or something tho, so i could talk to other people about it. you can probs go really in depth with this book but honestly it was just a good book for me to cuddle into my blanket and relax to LOL. oh i didn't really like all the lowkey racist lines in the book but i cant really complain. i mean this book was written a long time ago so i guess it's whatever. the reason i took 0.5 stars off is bc there's just something about it that isn't 5. 5 indicates that the book/play is perfect and this is not perfect. yet idk why. maybe it's the writing, bc I've read other plays with better writing??? idk. it just didn't sit right with me to give it 5 so i gave it 4.5 instead. I'm really glad i read this play. and I'm really glad i ate it up. whew. you should go read it. maybe you'll like Shakespeare after it lol. ok bye!!!
There's a certain genre of Korean dramas that are known as "makjang," which is a sort of genre that is insane and wild. The characters in these tv shows disregard all moral standards and just do bizarre things. If you've heard of the kdramas such as "penthouse," "the world of the married," or "sky castle," they are all makjangs. secret children, divorce, car crashes, babies swapped at birth, revenge, murder, adultery, all of these crazy things make up a makjang kdrama. also, it's freaking good. it's one of my favorite genres. i love how intense and crazy the shows are LOL.
anyways, this play is literally a makjang. every single character in this book does such bizarre things it's actually insane and i ate it up. like for example the main character literally killed two men and baked a pie out of their blood and bones and served it to their mother. it's disgusting but oh my god how cool is that. i literally live for drama. also the whole revenge thing????? absolutely living. i freaking love revenge dramas. so. much. death. i was surprised the entire cast didn't die. no bc this book was actually so violent my stomach had a reaction to it. but it was so. good. i literally ate it up so hard. this is probably the most i have ever been hooked on a Shakespeare play. i finished it so quickly too bc i just couldn't put the book down. wow. just wow.
the writing is, well, a typical Shakespeare play. i did feel like the writing from his other plays are definitely better tho, such as Macbeth or Hamlet. i felt like the lines in those other plays are much more elegant and impactful, but that doesn't mean i didn't like the writing in this book too. i found the lines still to be captivating and great. there were some pretty great quotes in here too. i don't have the book with me right now but when Titus Andronicus was going on about how sad he was about Lavinia, i ate all of that up. there was more but i cant seem to remember any at the moment. i really appreciated that this play was fast paced. none of it was boring or slow at all. i just flipped through the pages. it was wonderful. honestly this play is great for someone whos trying to get into Shakespeare for the first time. i just think the content is interesting enough for someone to actually get hooked (lol) only bc there's a lot of killing and inhumane acts involved. i personally didn't think the language was that difficult either. or maybe I'm just saying that bc I've read like 5 other shakepeare plays before this one. but it is a wonderful play. this is the first time I'm reading Shakespeare for fun and not for school and I'm glad i picked this one. this one got me more excited to read more Shakespeare plays now. i do lowkey wish that i read this in class or something tho, so i could talk to other people about it. you can probs go really in depth with this book but honestly it was just a good book for me to cuddle into my blanket and relax to LOL. oh i didn't really like all the lowkey racist lines in the book but i cant really complain. i mean this book was written a long time ago so i guess it's whatever. the reason i took 0.5 stars off is bc there's just something about it that isn't 5. 5 indicates that the book/play is perfect and this is not perfect. yet idk why. maybe it's the writing, bc I've read other plays with better writing??? idk. it just didn't sit right with me to give it 5 so i gave it 4.5 instead. I'm really glad i read this play. and I'm really glad i ate it up. whew. you should go read it. maybe you'll like Shakespeare after it lol. ok bye!!!
ferna's review
4.0
I still have to read some analysis, but, yes. Just imagine this directed by Tarantino, all the fake blood in the world would not be enough!
missamandamae's review
4.0
I’d never read or seen this play before. Yes, it’s incredibly bloody. I don’t know that I especially want to see it performed for that reason. But WOW some really amazing and beautiful speeches throughout. Not so much the usual play or words that I enjoy finding in Shakespeare, but genuine sorrow, and other deep emotions played out in words that can’t always be found in real life. This was one I found myself surprised that I really did enjoy reading it.
omelas33's review
3.0
I am not even remotely brilliant enough to comment on this piece (and honestly I only read it cuz it was mentioned on Psycho pass) BUT I wanna ask you as respectfully as possible, what crap is this? Sir, you might wanna see someone about your passive aggressive issues. I totally understand and believe humans are capable of doing this kind of brutality but where are you going with this? I’d rather read a non fiction about all the endless wars, if the perverseness of human mind is what you wanna portray. At least I’ll be spared all “dramatics”. Having ranted thus, I wanna end by saying that back in the day it would have made for an amazing play on stage, hands down. So, you’ve my respect there. I don’t get all the hype though.