Its themes of enslavement and exile make it one of Shakespeare’s more disturbing plays. I’ve read and seen The Tempest a few times. Although it’s been done before, in the 1956 movie Forbidden Planet. But a retelling of The Tempest seemed a much more challenging task, with magic and fairies, enslavement, goddesses and goblins. Certainly, there are some good ones: A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski, Bridget Jones Diary by Helen Fielding. An author retelling a classic has a set of plots and characters they have to include, which often don’t make much sense in a modern context. I was skeptical about this book because I’m not a huge fan of retellings of classics, because they tend to feel forced. Hag-Seed was nominated for the Bailey’s Women’s Prize for Fiction, but sadly it was not included in the shortlist (I haven’t yet read any of the shortlisted books, so can’t compare). It’s part of the Hogarth Shakespeare project, a collection of modern-day books that re-imagine works of Shakespeare (others include Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler and New Boy by Tracy Chevalier). Hag-Seed is a re-telling of Shakespeare’s The Tempest. She’s combined two things I love (Shakespeare and the power of education) into an entertaining and thoughtful story.
And by the end of it, I was in awe of the great Margaret Atwood’s skill and talent. Once I gave this book a couple of chapters, I was hooked. I should have realized that Margaret Atwood wouldn’t write a pretentious book. I suppose a story about a theater director seemed like it might be pretentious. For some reason I started this book several times it didn’t quite grab me at first.
0 kommentar(er)
