{"id":5852,"date":"2016-07-06T06:35:57","date_gmt":"2016-07-06T10:35:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/?p=5852"},"modified":"2016-07-06T06:35:57","modified_gmt":"2016-07-06T10:35:57","slug":"hamlet-prince-of-denmark-a-novel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/?p=5852","title":{"rendered":"*****Hamlet, Prince of Denmark: A Novel"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Hamlet,

Kenneth Branagh as Hamlet<\/p><\/div>\n

By A.J. Hartley and David Hewson, narrated by Richard Armitage \u2013 Ok, Ok, before you say \u201cbeen there, done that Hamlet thing\u2014five times, maybe ten!\u201d this is another Hamlet animal altogether. As an inveterate audiobook fan, I will say that the Hartley\/Hewson Macbeth<\/em>, narrated by Alan Cumming (be still, my heart) was one of the best audio books I\u2019ve ever \u201cread.\u201d So, I was eagerly anticipating listening to the their Hamlet<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Perhaps this Hamlet doesn\u2019t quite reach the stratospheric genius of Macbeth<\/em>, but it gives the listener plenty to chew on. I think Hartley (a Shakespeare scholar) and Hewson (a mystery\/thriller writer, interviewed here<\/a>)\u2014an inspired pairing if there ever was one\u2014have truly done it again. They fill in the leaps and gaps in the Bard\u2019s plot, they provide background information that heightens appreciation of the stakes and therefore the tension, they infuse the text with modern psychological insights. In short, they have made Hamlet more real than perhaps you have ever felt him before.<\/p>\n

No need to dwell on plot. We all know it. But what they have done in novelizing Shakespeare\u2019s text is brilliant. First, they\u2019re fleshed out some (potential) action scenes. The play\u2019s glancing reference to pirates receives a full treatment here, which shows Hamlet to be more a man of action than the black-garbed, skull-staring\u00a0 brooder we have come to associate with the Danish prince. Ophelia\u2019s death also has a much more robust development than the usual wan, flower-strewn suicide.<\/p>\n

Perhaps Hartley and Hewson\u2019s cleverest stroke was in creating a son of Yorick to be Hamlet\u2019s constant friend and goad, to share and prompt him with the lines of the famous soliloquies. I was so taken with this creation that I didn\u2019t fully appreciate its subtle origins and intent until the story\u2019s conclusion. Listening to the interviews with Hartley and Hewson that follow the novel explains how and why they arrived at this fictional device.<\/p>\n

Purists, take note. There is nothing here that is not fully suggested or believable in the context of the play. Before you get your doublet in a knot, recall that the play itself was not created out of cloth entire, but built on folk tales and previous works. The authors are merely taking the creative armamentarium of Shakespeare himself and aiming it at 21st century sensibilities.<\/p>\n

Hamlet is a ghost story; it is a murder story; it is a tale of guilt and revenge; it is about treachery and lust. Everything that makes a good crime thriller!<\/p>\n

Richard Armitage is well suited to take on the narrative challenge. He has appeared in numerous television and film roles and played John Proctor in The Old Vic\u2019s production of Arthur Miller\u2019s The Crucible<\/em>, where he earned an Olivier Award nomination. He won the 2014 Best Audiobook of the Year Award for this rendering of Hamlet<\/em>. While it\u2019s also available for the Kindle, let Armitage tell you the story.<\/p>\n

This review appeared on CrimeFictionLover.com<\/a>.
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