| Romeo and Juliet (No Fear Shakespeare) (No Fear Shakespeare) |  | Author: Sparknotes Editors
Publisher: SparkNotes
Category: Book
List Price: $9.95
Buy New: $3.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  11 reviews
Sales Rank: 500252
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5 x 1
ISBN: 1411400445
Dewey Decimal Number: 820
EAN: 9781411400443
ASIN: 1411400445
Publication Date: July 13, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: perfect condition----never used
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| Customer Reviews: Read 6 more reviews...
 Alternate version for teaching R&J June 12, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Graphic novels have often been thought of as less than appropriate in the high school classroom - but I say use whatever works to get students to read and pique their interest on a subject. Most high school students dread Shakespeare, even his best known work - Romeo & Juliet. Last year I used two graphic versions to teach the play, this one and a manga alternative. This graphic novel used a modern interpretation of Shakespeare's language - so it is easier to read and understand - great for a struggling class that might normally avoid reading the play altogether. We're ordering more for my school next year. The one thing that would help this version is having it in color - it is a black and white graphic novel. Students really responded and I was amazed how many actually read their homework assignments! A great resource, whether you use it to teach or have it for struggling students, it does the job well!
 No Fear Shakespeare May 20, 2008
This is an excellent book for anyone who has trouble with reading and interpreting shakespears work. My son's teacher recommended it.He had to read Romeo & Juliet but there are other books as well.
Romeo and Juliet; No fear Shakeapeare April 9, 2008
This book is great for anyone who loves shakespeare but has trouble understanding the old stlye language. A must have!!
 Caveat Emptor February 20, 2008
3 out of 6 found this review helpful
The concept of adapting a Shakespeare play into the graphic novel format is at the very least a worthwhile endeavor. A successful attempt could bridge the widening gap between the generation that read the works of the Bard in the classroom without any significant visual aid and those who are more attuned to visual accompaniment to their stories. Shakespeare never wrote his plays to be read as words on a page without a visual attached, so already this sounds like a good idea.
The illustrations are modern and accessible, and while the text isn't the same as what Shakespeare wrote, it is translated sensibly, and the edits are pretty smooth.
But who's this best suited for? The graphic novel format may lead one to believe that anyone who's capable of following illustrated stories (comic books, manga, animated programs, etc.) will be able to comprehend the story, but this is not the case. Despite a good translation, the story is still just as intricate, carefully crafted and multi-layered as the original. Perhaps a more "dumbed down" translation would have benefitted the graphic novel concept, since some of the longer speeches (including Queen Mab) are woefully ill suited to this type of format.
Also, and this is mostly a warning to parents of junior high and high school students, some of Shakespeare's bawdiest jokes and sexual puns are spelled out quite graphically in the translation. This book is not rated, but I would NOT recommend it be published with a warning about this!
Recommended only for fans of the play who want to see an old favorite from a different angle. NOT recommended for anyone who expects an easy path to understand the play (which should be seen live or via DVD, ideally--even a poorly performed play is better than a play without any performance at all) .
 I REALLY wanted to hate this, but.... February 7, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
I wanted to dislike this book. I mean, how can "But wait, what's that light in the window over there?" ever compare to "But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?" It can't, and the translator doesn't even try. The modern prose version is flat and unexciting, and when you compare it to Shakespeare's words it can lead to some good belly laughs.
I was prepared to come on line and write a scathing one star review- not just for the aweful 'translation', but for the lack of explanitory footnotes that makes other editions so useful. But then I read the other reviews.
One of the reviewers actually said that they read both the original text and the translation concurrently, and gained a greater appreciation for Shakespeare's actual words. For that, and that alone this book deserves more than the one star I had planned.
I still fear that most kids who read this will just read the translation and ignore the original text entirely- and lose out on some of the most perfect prose in the English language.
It's true, Shakespeare isn't easy for most people at first. I was lucky enough to have a teacher long ago who told us that Shakespeare was meant to be read aloud, and that you couldn't really appreciate it without hearing it aloud or at least imagining the words being spoken. Try doing that with this new translation though will just lead to boredom.
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