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A review by bgg616
Macbeth by David Hewson, A.J. Hartley
5.0
Who would you choose to narrate this novelization of Macbeth if you had your druthers*? Why Alan Cummings, of course! Who else could pronounce the word "crennalated" with the same Scottish panache? This is my favorite narration of the year.
What does a novelization of this well known Shakespeare play offer that makes it worthwhile? For me, the details of places in Scotland brought it alive - the Cairngorms, and the Grampian ranges, the inhospitable weather, the yearning of characters for the landscapes they love. The vivid, and over-detailed descriptions of the (many) murders, combat and battles were almost too much, but this is Macbeth and not A Midsummer Night's Dream. Macbeth is the fourth most violent tragedy with 8 bodies, coming in after Hamlet. But listening to the novelization, there are many bodies by the end of the final battle. Blood and gore indeed. As one webpage I saw stated, Macbeth gives Game of Thrones a run for its money. I have only seen Macbeth performed once, but references to the play are ubiquitous. I have always had the impression that Lady Macbeth was the instigator of much of the violence, yet in the novel, Macbeth certainly comes off as the most culpable.
I have many literary friends who are big Shakespeare fans. One even has an important position at the Folger Library in Washington DC. But I am not afraid to tell them that I'm not a Shakespeare devotee. I have seen performances I thoroughly enjoyed here in Washington of A Winter's Tale, and others that fell flat of Hamlet and Macbeth. But this novel with its rich description and narrative was a great read.
*This is an American phrase and not used widely elsewhere. People elsewhere in the world might want to know what druthers are, as the phrase conveys otherwise. Druthers is a shortening of 'would rathers'. The phrase originated in the late 19th century and is first cited in the January 1870 edition of Overland monthly and Out West magazine, in a story called Centrepole Bill, by George F. Emery...
https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/194850.html
What does a novelization of this well known Shakespeare play offer that makes it worthwhile? For me, the details of places in Scotland brought it alive - the Cairngorms, and the Grampian ranges, the inhospitable weather, the yearning of characters for the landscapes they love. The vivid, and over-detailed descriptions of the (many) murders, combat and battles were almost too much, but this is Macbeth and not A Midsummer Night's Dream. Macbeth is the fourth most violent tragedy with 8 bodies, coming in after Hamlet. But listening to the novelization, there are many bodies by the end of the final battle. Blood and gore indeed. As one webpage I saw stated, Macbeth gives Game of Thrones a run for its money. I have only seen Macbeth performed once, but references to the play are ubiquitous. I have always had the impression that Lady Macbeth was the instigator of much of the violence, yet in the novel, Macbeth certainly comes off as the most culpable.
I have many literary friends who are big Shakespeare fans. One even has an important position at the Folger Library in Washington DC. But I am not afraid to tell them that I'm not a Shakespeare devotee. I have seen performances I thoroughly enjoyed here in Washington of A Winter's Tale, and others that fell flat of Hamlet and Macbeth. But this novel with its rich description and narrative was a great read.
*This is an American phrase and not used widely elsewhere. People elsewhere in the world might want to know what druthers are, as the phrase conveys otherwise. Druthers is a shortening of 'would rathers'. The phrase originated in the late 19th century and is first cited in the January 1870 edition of Overland monthly and Out West magazine, in a story called Centrepole Bill, by George F. Emery...
https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/194850.html