March ShakespeareCAT: Book based on a Shakespeare Play

Welcome to ShakespeareCAT! For March we're reading books based on a Shakespeare Play. The book can be a retelling or a critical work or either one.

Suggestions are extremely welcome, I know very little about this topic.

Here's the wiki: https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/2022_ShakespeareCAT

One of the RT themes last year was Shakespears Children. Lots of suggestions here. https://www.librarything.com/topic/326994#n7428712

I'm going to finally get to New Boy by Tracy Chevalier which is a retelling of Othello.

I read These Violent Delights last month, which is a retelling of Romeo and Juliet set in 1920s Shanghai. So I may read the sequel for this challenge, Our Violent Ends.

"These violent delights have violent ends
And in their triumph die, like fire and powder
Which as they kiss consume."

I have one book left to go in the Hogarth Shakespeare series so I penciled in Shylock Is My Name for this month.

>4 JayneCM: I just finished These Violent Delights and I’m currently reading Our Violent Ends. 😊

I have to put in a plug for Speak Easy, Speak Love by McKelle George, which is a retelling of Much Ado about Nothing set in the 1920s. Would also love to hear about any other Much Ado retellings, since it's my favorite Shakespeare play!

I am reading Romeo's Ex which is about Rosaline, the girl Romeo left behind when he found Juliet.

I am here to endorse Hag-Seed, by Margaret Atwood, which I loved.

>9 rabbitprincess: ditto, probably the best in the Hogarth series

>9 rabbitprincess: >10 cindydavid4: Agreed! I also liked The Gap of Time quite a lot, but it's intense. Vinegar Girl is fun if you want something a little lighter.

I've read all of the Hogarth Shakespeare, so I'm going with The Storm by Frederick Buechner, which is apparently based on The Tempest.

I've been hearing a lot of good things about These Violent Delights lately, so maybe I will give that a try.

One that I read and enjoyed a few years ago is Miranda and Caliban by Jacqueline Carey which is based on The Tempest.

>9 rabbitprincess: >10 cindydavid4: >11 cbl_tn: I too recommend Hag-Seed. It is one of my favourite Atwoods, which is saying a lot, as I've loved so many of her books.

I'm planning to read All's Well by Mona Award, which is one of the 2022 Tournament of Books nominees, and I'm hoping to reread All's Well That Ends Well too.

I have one Hogarth Shakespeare to go which I'm hoping to read this month (Shylock Is My Name), but I'll also say Hag-Seed is my favorite!

I read New Boy, a retelling of Othello by Tracy Chevalier. The story takes place in a Washington DC school yard over the course of one day. The protagonists are 11-year olds. A great story of racism, bullying, and betrayal. This is part of the Hogarth series. 188 pages 5 stars I also hope to re-read Othello this month.

oh I read that too. really good!

>2 cindydavid4: Thanks for the link!
I have several non-fictions about Shakespeare's work but didn't think I had any fiction until I read the list at the top of that page and was reminded that I had Gertrude and Claudius buried way back on my shelf.

In addition to being a fine novel in its own right, A Thousand Acres was a pretty nifty spin on King Lear. As far as critical works go, Will in the World is excellent.

I found some lists of YA books based on Shakespeare plays and ended up reading Nothing Happened, which is Much Ado About Nothing set among summer camp counselors. It worked pretty well, since the plot machinations translate well to late teen drama and gossip, though it took me awhile to sort out and connect to the large cast of characters.

I tried Shylock Is My Name by Howard Jacobson, but it's too raunchy for me. I'll see if I find something different later in the month, but I wasted too much time on this one hoping the raunchiness was only momentary. Jacobson may have won a Booker, but I won't be reading anything else by him if I remember how awful this was!

The April thread is up: https://www.librarything.com/topic/340308

Finished Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood. I thought it was a really good retelling.

I finished Gertrude and Claudius by John Updike. It's the story of what happened before the writing of Hamlet, like a prequel. I can't say that I liked it, there were a couple of things that I didn't care for.

>22 Kristelh: That is my favorite in the Hogarth Shakespeare series.

I read Romeo's Ex: Rosaline's Story by Lisa Fiedler. This novel was aimed at young adults. I liked the basic premise of the story, and it moved along well until the ending. Then things became rather bizarre and unbelievable. The author skillfully used the Elizabethan style of Shakespeare, with some humorous tongue-in-cheek additions. Too bad the ending degenerated into weirdness.

I haven't been meaning to participate in this CAT, but I did read a book based on a Shakespeare play this month. Miranda in Milan is a continuation of The Tempest. It's a short book that focuses on the character of Miranda and her coming of age.

I have finished These violent delights which is Romeo and Juliet in 1926 Shanghai. I was a little underwhelmed.

Earlier this month, I finished All's Well by Mona Awad, which has elements of All's Well That Ends Well and Macbeth all mixed up in a modern comedy/fantasy/horror story.

I also decided to reread Shakespeare's play, which I did not like nearly as much as Awad's novel. I love many of Shakespeare's plays, but this one has the main character forcing an unwilling man (unworthy though he is) to marry her. This one just doesn't seem to have the enduring themes that Shakespeare's other plays have.

I also read These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong. It's quite different from the kinds of things I usually read, so I haven't really decided what I think. I'll probably go ahead and read the second in the duology (Our Violent Ends) to resolve the cliffhanger.