SparkNotes

Found it difficult to be inspired by, instead of annoyed by all the mishaps in the story. Also the nature of "Romantic" love during this time period is somewhat unbelievable to me. The theme of holding grudges and how that can be passed on to hurt future generations is a good one though. Will reread at some point.

I'm all for this series, not just for students. For anyone who wants to get into Shakespeare, it's great to have some help and not miss anything that is going on. I recommend reading Shakespeare's language first and then (when needed) the explanation (given side by side for every page). After a while you get used to the original language and you don't need the explanations as often. You'll feel comfortable enough with archaic words and phrases. For me Romeo and Juliet is at least as much a show more comedy as it is a tragedy. For the silly aspects of love - intoxication, unstable emotions, overly dramatic responses - R and J are a celebration and a parody. show less

The Much Ado About Nothing volume of the series is my first experience with the No Fear Shakespeare books. For those unfamiliar with the concept, the “No Fear” books are aimed at students and readers who sometimes find reading Shakespeare to be a bit of a challenge. In my own case, after reading one of Shakespeare’s plays, no matter how well I felt I understood it, I still wondered what I had missed. These little books make sure that I do not miss a thing.

The concept is a simple one. show more The play is presented in Shakespeare’s words on the book’s odd-numbered pages, and the even-numbered pages present the same material “translated” into everyday English. I chose to read Shakespeare’s words first, and then read the translated version of the same section of the play before I moved on to the next odd-numbered page. Within just a few pages, I found myself falling into Shakespeare’s rhythms and I needed the modern version less and less to understand the various comings and goings of all the characters.

But even at that point, the No Fear Shakespeare book remains a useful tool to readers because it explains all the relatively obscure references that Shakespeare makes throughout his work to Greek and Roman mythology. These little asides, almost throwaway references though they may seem, often add depth to characters that otherwise likely would have gone right over the heads of most readers. Too, the book explains the slang terms used in the many risqué conversational back-and-forth jabs between characters that may have remained meaningless to those unfamiliar with the language of the day (language that would likely earn Much Ado About Nothing at least a PG rating if it were a modern movie). The No Fear books also include a helpful listing of all the play’s main characters, complete with a description of each character’s background and how they all relate to each other.

Best of all, the books are a confidence-builders for readers who want to read Shakespeare but have often been disappointed with the results of their efforts. They are training-wheels that can be discarded as soon as a reader feels comfortable doing so, or those who want to wring every little detail and nuance from their reading can continue to use them. It is all up to the individual reader. show less

A Bluffer's Guide to Atwood's The Testaments
Review of the SparkNotes Kindle eBook edition (2022) of the original SparkNotes paperback (2020)

I didn't enjoy The Testaments in 2019, but my QCC Book Club had it scheduled as the BotM for February 2o22. I wasn't up for a re-read, but I still wanted to participate in the group discussion and be able to understand the opinions of others. Luckily there was this quite extensive guide to the plot with an analysis of the structure, the motifs and show more themes, a character guide and a glossary of literary terms.

I didn't hide my use of the guide from the others and explained about my disappointment with the original book as well. Generally there were few in the group (of 14) who enjoyed the book. I was actually surprised that many had not read The Handmaid’s Tale (1985) previously [the group has struck me as well read generally] so that they were especially confused by this sequel and by its episodic switching of PoV between Aunt Lydia and Angie and Jade (Nicole). Most of us had not watched the TV series either, saying they had either not heard of it (it is on the Hulu streaming channel) or simply expressing distaste for a show about the repression of women in a future (some might say current) dystopian society. The group did feel that Atwood was prescient in portraying a future world where environmental toxicity affected birthrates and about hypocritical theocratic governments controlling women's education, roles in society and birthing.

I did note from additional Wiki research that the current TV-series of The Handmaid's Tale will conclude with its upcoming 6th season (late 2023?) upon which there is a plan to continue with a TV-series of The Testaments. Apparently Atwood has cooperated with the TV-series production in aligning the characters for the sequel. I am now somewhat curious as to the character arc of Aunt Lydia in the TV versions because of this.

I felt that this SparkNotes Guide gave me a very thorough background for the Book Club discussion so I rate it highly because of that. The final 20% of the Guide was a generic plan for how to write a student literary essay for a class assignment. This wasn't of use to me, but I thought the Guide did lay out a plan quite well. It ended by warning against plagiarism and saying to always acknowledge your sources 😊. show less