Hamlet: Manga Shakespeare

William Shakespeare, Richard Appignanesi
Abrams Books for Young Readers (2007)
ISBN 9780810993242
Reviewed by Jessica Clark (age 17) for Reader Views (9/07)


This story starts off with the King’s death and Hamlet’s mother married to the King’s brother. Then it is discovered that the King was murdered by his own brother for his wife. Hamlet now has gone mad with revenge and wants nothing more then to seek revenge for his father’s untimely death. Hamlet undergoes many changes and pushes away his love, Ophelia, and sets to work on presenting a play similar to his father’s death to see his uncle’s reaction. As the story unfolds there are certainly more deaths and the return of loved ones to seek justice for those that were slain, and a brutal end for all those involved.

Although I have not read the original Hamlet, I decided to read this, and I am glad that I did.

This uses original writings from Shakespeare paired with beautiful illustrations.  I enjoyed reading this very much. I found it quite easy to follow and it was paired nicely with the correct drawings. I found this book to have everything storyline-wise. There was mystery, murder, romance, and action.  I believe it did Shakespeare justice. I am going to have to read the actual book now to see how it compares, but I believe that it will be very close. I highly recommend that everyone read “Hamlet: Manga Shakespeare,” whether they have read the actual book or not. For those that didn’t follow on certain things, there is also a plot summary at the back of the book, along with a brief summary of Shakespeare’s life.

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