Hamlet: No Fear Shakespeare Side-by-Side Plain English

Hamlet: No Fear Shakespeare is an excellent companion for students and young readers exploring one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays. Designed to make the language of the Bard more approachable, this edition presents the original text alongside a clear, modern translation making it easier to follow the story and grasp the meaning behind the words. The side-by-side format allows readers to build confidence as they move between Shakespeare’s poetic language and the plain English interpretation. Complex themes like family, revenge, and identity become more accessible, while still preserving the drama and intensity that make Hamlet such a powerful play. Ideal for classroom use or independent reading, this edition is a valuable tool for kids who are new to Shakespeare. It encourages curiosity, improves comprehension, and helps young readers discover that classic literature can be both understandable and enjoyable.

I teach HS English and would recommend this book. It has the original version (which I teach from) and the plain English version for kids so they can understand the sldense verbage Shakespeare uses. We get both the famous quotes and passages and then the kids can have it "translated" for their understanding.

I cannot more highly recommend this particular book, No Fear Shakespeare's Hamlet. I am approaching 50 years old and my only real experience trying to read Shakespeare was in high school where we were assigned roles in class and made to read, without comprehension, Romeo and Juliet and Julius Cesar. In the interim, I tried watching a few plays and dragged my kids to see the play Taming of the Shrew, which they hated because they couldn't understand the language nor the plot. Rather than becoming a Shakespeare hater, I've always felt inadequate and dumb for this huge hole in my education. My current inspiration to try Shakespeare again was my desire to try and help my high school aged son become more educated and cultured than I have been. I tried first with the Folger annotated editions of Shakespeare. They look excellent and define the unfamiliar words, but I still could not make sense of a substantial portion of the dialogue. I guess maybe I'm just dumb, I don't know. Anyway, I saw good reviews about this No Fear series, and I ordered several. So far I have read the modern English translations of Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, King Lear, and The Tempest. While I feel a bit like I'm 'cheating', I actually have really enjoyed all the plays and at least now I know the plots and the characters and even some of the more subtle themes. I can't answer the complaints that the translations don't adequately translate Shakespeare's meanings. There are a few side notes that point out double meanings and things like that, though there are not extensive footnotes or sidenotes. To answer those who rate these books one or two stars, my answer is that they are at least a door into the world of Shakespeare for those of us unable to navigate the originals on our own. And they only take a couple of hours to read. It's not like this is a lifetime commitment or anything. The book only costs five bucks, so why not invest a couple of hours and read it? And, for me, I liked the plays so much that I AM now going to dig out the Folger editions and read the originals, with the No Fear books available in case I get in trouble. These modalities of trying to appreciate Shakespeare are not mutually exclusive. Well, hopefully that's helpful to someone. I wanted to write this so that people would know that these books are not just for lazy students hoping to avoid reading the originals or somehow 'cheat' in their English classes. I'm not a Shakespeare scholar or teacher and never will be, just an ordinary guy, but for me, these books were the window of opportunity that I had been searching for. Two thumbs up, most definitely.

Grandson had to present project on quotes from Hamlet and this guide was wonderful putting the old English quotes into present day English for him. He also had to memorize some quotes that he was allowed to say in present day English. Wish had been available when I had to do a project on Shakespearean plays!

This is a very good plain English "translation" of Hamlet, but was bummed there were no essays or commentary other than a brief description of the characters. I have bought several other volumes of the No Fear series and have been impressed with the additional material included about the play. This one contains none of that. Perhaps due to the length of the play? I don't know, but certainly they could have added another 40-50 pages to allow for this.

good

I am pleased with the No Fear Shakespeare books. As homeschoolers, they have helped us understand the story's twists and turns. Additionally, they come at a great price!

For the experienced Shakespeare reader, the modern language version gives an easy reference point. For the new, it holds your hand and walks you through Shakespeare’s genius. I found the modern version accurate. Most important, it maintained the spirit and soul of the original work.

Bought it for a school project, and I ended up loving the story.

Reasonably priced, printed on good quality paper with easy-to-understand modern day English translations of the original text. This will really make Shakespeare available to everyone's reach.

(OBS.: 1- Esta avaliação foi feita por um leitor brasileiro e para leitores de língua portuguesa. 2- Aproveitei o começo de uma outra avaliação sobre as edições da Sparknotes; o final é específico sobre Hamlet) As edições da Sparknotes que colocam as peças originais de Shakespeare lado a lado com versões em inglês moderno das mesmas obras foram uma sacada e tanto. O livro fica editado como fosse uma obra "bilíngue", e contém ainda uma lista mais detalhada das personagens da peça, no início, bem como curtas notas explicativas que ajudam a entender alguns trocadilhos, alusões e outros produtos sutis do 'wit' shakespeariano (poderiam ser até mais numerosas essas notas, na minha opinião). Muitas das peças na versão 'No Fear Shakespeare' estão disponíveis online, mas gostei muito de ter comprado a versão impressa, que chegou rápido, apesar de ser importada, em bom estado e por um preço justo. Quem lê em português mas quer aventurar-se pelos originais do Bardo encontrará uma ferramenta de trabalho muito interessante. Depois de ler uma ou duas traduções de uma peça clássica como Hamlet, por exemplo, ir ao original pode ficar muito mais fácil se o texto moderno estiver logo à direita, ajudando no destrinçamento de passagens mais complicadas. Já se o leitor quiser conhecer a estrutura geral da peça sem ter a intenção, naquele momento, de ler Shakespeare no original, poderá seguir o texto em inglês moderno e só por curiosidade recorrer, durante a leitura ou em visitas futuras que faça à obra, ao belíssimo inglês shakespeariano. Quanto a Hamlet, é leitura obrigatória. O príncipe da Dinamarca é uma personagem muito bem-feita; inteligente e irônico, é também capaz de se mostrar bastante humano, de modo que podemos experimentar com ele o seu conflito, entrar um pouco na sua cabeça -- não é necessária uma "identificação" com ele, basta imaginar que o que ele faz, faz porque vive o problema de maneira séria, moral e intelectualmente séria. A peça é longa, mas é incrivelmente equilibrada. Depois de ter feito algumas releituras, concluo que não há nada que poderia ser cortado ou enxugado. Nem tudo é igualmente penetrante, há sutilezas que dialogam com um contexto social e mesmo linguístico que está bem distante do leitor brasileiro. Mas a leitura de Hamlet no original é muito acessível, principalmente porque somos recompensados tanto (i) por detalhes saborosos, como (ii) por cenas que se integraram ao imaginário da literatura e até mesmo correm na conversa popular ["Something is rotten in the state of Denmark], ou ainda (iii) pela forma total da peça, que só apreendemos bem depois que ela termina, um tanto aliviados por saber que há uma testemunha que contará ao povo dinamarquês exatamente como se chegou àquela "bloody question" que é a cena final da tragédia de Hamlet.

Great book. Very handy edition. But came smelling like a 15yr olds boys PE class - showered in cheap bodyspray. Had an oily film on it too. Whoever packed this, lay off the Lynx Africa. So weird and yuck. Both books i ordered, both no fear Shakespeare, in the same package, are the same.

This series is amazingly good!! It turns a difficult reading into the pleasure of understanding Shakespeare by re-paraphrasing the utterances into Modern English. As a non-native speaker, I can only recommend all books from this collection.