"Othello: No Fear Shakespeare Series, Volume 9" by SparkNotes

Emma: I got this book on accident and ended up keeping it and I’m so glad I did! I have been using it to teach my high schooler’s Othello. They find it so much easier to read than the original and I don’t feel guilty about it with the OG text right next to it! This was my first time with a No Fear book and I now completely understand the hype around it. The only thing I dislike from a teacher’s perspective is that the book translates every single joke! No chance of them going over kids’ heads anymore! I’ve had to white out a few things before sharing it with my students. Overall though I love this book and will definitely be using these again in the future!

United States on Sep 25, 2023

Miz: Was required for school, cheapest I found it here, thank you!

Australia on Aug 07, 2023

M.E: I Recommend this to read

Germany on May 07, 2023

Rata de Cloaca: Lo que esperaba de un libro. Buena tapa blanda.

Spain on Mar 19, 2023

Dan: Good! Just what we need!

United States on Feb 27, 2023

Amazon Customer: A bit of wear and tear. Ok quality.

United States on Jan 16, 2023

Fee Marshall: Bought it for my a level but not gonna lie I never used it. It's probably good. Hell would I know. I passed, by the way, ta for asking.

United Kingdom on Nov 30, 2022

Random somebody: This is a pretty good book series of Shakespeare’s speech translated into modern English. I first found out about it when I borrowed the play of Hamlet from someone who gave me it to me from the “No fear Shakespeare” series so I know from reading that that these books are good. I was a little disappointed at first about getting that book instead you know a regular book of the full play of Hamlet with no modern translation or anything (at the time I probably thought the translation might be bad or not so accurate) but it managed to be just as enjoyable with the modern English text by the side. I didn’t even have to look at it that much when I read it because I’ve already been exposed to Hamlet at a younger age. All this series fine.

United States on Sep 25, 2019

Sylvain Thi: Pour avoir essayé de lire Roméo et Juliette il y a quelques années, je n'avais vraiment rien compris à l'intrigue... (je pense pourtant avoir un niveau respectable en anglais, j'ai lu par exemple les principaux livres de Tolkien en langue originale).

Avec cette édition, la traduction en langage courant permet de lire Shakespeare comme n'importe quel livre. Certes, on n'appréciera pas toutes les envolées lyriques, mais au moins on comprend et (surtout) on apprécie l'histoire. C'est quand même ça le principal non ? Si on reste tous rebuter par le texte original, Shakespeare se limiterai aux "élites" ?

Il y a également des notes bien venues qui permettent d'expliquer des sous-entendus, ou préciser le contexte de l'époque.

Bref, pour des gens avec un bon niveau, ça sera une horreur de ne pas lire le texte original, et toutes les traductions seront imparfaites... Mais pour un lecteur du dimanche, ça permet de bien aimer Shakespeare :)

France on Apr 02, 2018

The Writer Mo Ibrahim: In The Allure of Nymphets I shared the following sonnet from William Shakespeare, which is about a disappointing love affair with a young girl. The sonnet extols the wonders of youth:

Crabbed age and youth cannot live together:
Youth is full of pleasure, age is full of care;
Youth like summer morn, age like winter weather;
Youth like summer brave, age like winter bare.
Youth like full of sport, age’s breath is short;
Youth is nimble, age is lame;
Youth is hot and bold, age is weak and cold;
Youth is wild, and age is tame.
Age, I do abhor thee; youth, I adore thee...

In addition, Shakespeare extols the wonders of youth in Othello via an age-discrepant marriage between Othello, a North African general of the armies of Venice, and Desdemona, the "exquisitely beautiful" young daughter of Brabantio, a Venetian senator.

Shakespeare doesn't give the exact ages of Othello and Desdemona, but Othello is described by Iago, the villain of the play, as an "...old black ram..." while Desdemona is described as a "... little white lamb...[with] beautiful skin, whiter than snow and smooth as the finest marble."

Othello and Desdemona feared...

United States on May 17, 2014