Shakespeare is Hard, but so is Life

Fintan O'Toole

$29.99

Hardback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Bloomsbury
30 July 2024

Literature, Poetry & Criticism; Literary studies: c 1500 to c 1800; Shakespeare studies & criticism

The works of Shakespeare have become staples of literature. They are everywhere, from our early schooling to the lecture rooms of academia, from classic theatre to modern adaptations on stage and screen. But how well do we really know his plays?

In this witty, iconoclastic book, the bestselling author Fintan O’Toole examines four of Shakespeare’s most enduring tragedies: Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello and King Lear. He shows how their tragic heroes have been over-simplified and moulded to fit restrictive, conservative values, and restores the true heart and spirit of the classics.

'I've never read a book like this before: it's challenging, irreverent and funny.' Roddy Doyle

By: Fintan O'Toole
Imprint: Bloomsbury
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 216mm, Width: 135mm,
ISBN: 9781035908738
ISBN 10: 1035908735
Pages: 208
Publication Date: 30 July 2024
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Fintan O'Toole is the bestselling author of We Don’t Know Ourselves, Heroic Failure, Ship of Fools, A Traitor's Kiss, White Savage and other acclaimed books. He is a columnist for the Irish Times and advising editor of the New York Review of Books. He has received the Silvers-Dudley Prize for Journalism, the Orwell Prize and the European Press Prize.

Reviews for Shakespeare is Hard, but so is Life

I’ve never read a book like this before: it’s challenging, irreverent and funny. * Roddy Doyle * Convincing, incisive and stimulating. * Independent on Sunday * A brilliant and extremely readable distillation of some of the current thinking about Shakespeare’s tragedies. * Irish Times * A lively and intelligent work of criticism...Shakespeare is hard, and O’Toole has valiantly refused to simplify him. * Michael Caines, TLS * A useful corrective to the philistine notion that Shakespeare must be simplified and domesticated so that people can understand him. * Steven Poole, Guardian * You’ll look at Shakespeare with new eyes after reading this book. * Sunday Herald *