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Hamlet: No Fear Shakespeare Side-by-Side Plain English Paperback – Abridged, July 31, 2003

4.7 out of 5 stars 2,300 ratings

Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. 100% Money Back Guarantee.
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ SparkNotes
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ July 31, 2003
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 340 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1586638440
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1586638443
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.4 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.52 x 0.71 x 5.31 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 out of 5 stars 2,300 ratings

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Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
2,300 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book's translation helpful, particularly for tricky passages, and appreciate its value, noting it's worth more than $3. Moreover, the story quality receives positive feedback, with one customer highlighting how it helps understand plot twists. Additionally, the book's readability is praised, with one customer mentioning it takes only a couple of hours to read.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

83 customers mention "Translation"74 positive9 negative

Customers appreciate the book's translation, finding it very good for understanding the text and particularly helpful for tricky passages.

"...one or two stars, my answer is that they are at least a door into the world of Shakespeare for those of us unable to navigate the originals on our..." Read more

"...It has the original version (which I teach from) and the plain English version for kids so they can understand the sldense verbage Shakespeare uses...." Read more

"Nice, heavy-duty book, easy to understand" Read more

"My son used it for class . He found it easy to follow ." Read more

35 customers mention "Book use"35 positive0 negative

Customers find the book very helpful and useful, particularly for students, with one customer mentioning it made their college essay possible.

"Lifesaver. Shakespearean language can be hard to decipher so receiving this book was such a relief that I literally kissed it...." Read more

"Grandson had to present project on quotes from Hamlet and this guide was wonderful putting the old English quotes into present day English for him...." Read more

"...attending plays, but this line-by-line translation is perfect for our high schooler in her Shakespeare lit class. Highly recommend!" Read more

"This is the most sensible thing I've ever gotten. Before getting this, I was so confused that I thought Laertes was in love with Ophelia...." Read more

13 customers mention "Value for money"13 positive0 negative

Customers find the book worth more than $3 and consider it a good buy.

"...The book only costs five bucks, so why not invest a couple of hours and read it?..." Read more

"...Additionally, they come at a great price!" Read more

"...He said it was valuable." Read more

"...Also, this book was very inexpensive compared to some editions of Hamlet...." Read more

11 customers mention "Story quality"11 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the story quality of the book, with several mentioning they loved it, and one customer noting how it helped them understand the plot's twists.

"I am pleased with the No Fear Shakespeare books. As homeschoolers, they have helped us understand the story's twists and turns...." Read more

"...This one is truly, absolutely, no fear. So glad we purchased it!" Read more

"...I found the modern version accurate. Most important, it maintained the spirit and soul of the original work." Read more

"I really like the No Fear version when reading any Shakespeare plays...." Read more

5 customers mention "Readability"5 positive0 negative

Customers find the book easy to read, with one mentioning it takes only a couple of hours to complete.

"...And they only take a couple of hours to read. It's not like this is a lifetime commitment or anything...." Read more

"...It saved a lot of time that would otherwise have been spent on reading from online "translation" versions with misaligned line numbers...." Read more

"...It is actually exciting because you can go through it quickly and not loose the dramatic build-up - glancing across at the poetic language actually..." Read more

"No fear is amazing. My book arrived in perfect condition and speedily. Also it is an amazing play." Read more

Excellent quality
5 out of 5 stars
Excellent quality
Arrived in a timely manner. Excellent quality. Having the page with pain English made it much easier to understand the play.
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2025
    good
  • Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2010
    I cannot more highly recommend this particular book, No Fear Shakespeare's Hamlet.

    I am approaching 50 years old and my only real experience trying to read Shakespeare was in high school where we were assigned roles in class and made to read, without comprehension, Romeo and Juliet and Julius Cesar. In the interim, I tried watching a few plays and dragged my kids to see the play Taming of the Shrew, which they hated because they couldn't understand the language nor the plot. Rather than becoming a Shakespeare hater, I've always felt inadequate and dumb for this huge hole in my education.

    My current inspiration to try Shakespeare again was my desire to try and help my high school aged son become more educated and cultured than I have been.

    I tried first with the Folger annotated editions of Shakespeare. They look excellent and define the unfamiliar words, but I still could not make sense of a substantial portion of the dialogue. I guess maybe I'm just dumb, I don't know.

    Anyway, I saw good reviews about this No Fear series, and I ordered several. So far I have read the modern English translations of Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, King Lear, and The Tempest. While I feel a bit like I'm 'cheating', I actually have really enjoyed all the plays and at least now I know the plots and the characters and even some of the more subtle themes. I can't answer the complaints that the translations don't adequately translate Shakespeare's meanings. There are a few side notes that point out double meanings and things like that, though there are not extensive footnotes or sidenotes.

    To answer those who rate these books one or two stars, my answer is that they are at least a door into the world of Shakespeare for those of us unable to navigate the originals on our own. And they only take a couple of hours to read. It's not like this is a lifetime commitment or anything. The book only costs five bucks, so why not invest a couple of hours and read it? And, for me, I liked the plays so much that I AM now going to dig out the Folger editions and read the originals, with the No Fear books available in case I get in trouble. These modalities of trying to appreciate Shakespeare are not mutually exclusive.

    Well, hopefully that's helpful to someone. I wanted to write this so that people would know that these books are not just for lazy students hoping to avoid reading the originals or somehow 'cheat' in their English classes. I'm not a Shakespeare scholar or teacher and never will be, just an ordinary guy, but for me, these books were the window of opportunity that I had been searching for. Two thumbs up, most definitely.
    169 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2024
    I teach HS English and would recommend this book. It has the original version (which I teach from) and the plain English version for kids so they can understand the sldense verbage Shakespeare uses. We get both the famous quotes and passages and then the kids can have it "translated" for their understanding.
    3 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2024
    I am pleased with the No Fear Shakespeare books. As homeschoolers, they have helped us understand the story's twists and turns. Additionally, they come at a great price!
    One person found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on November 30, 2022
    A shame am not smart or pick up on things good enough to notice the message o themes on this play
  • Reviewed in the United States on March 31, 2024
    Good
  • Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2024
    Nice, heavy-duty book, easy to understand
  • Reviewed in the United States on February 21, 2023
    My junior in high school son asked for this. It was recommended by a fellow student to go along with the reading to help. He said it was valuable.

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English
  • jackiedee
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great item
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 15, 2025
    Great item
  • Ritwik
    5.0 out of 5 stars Reasonable price, error-free printing on good quality paper
    Reviewed in India on January 11, 2018
    Reasonably priced, printed on good quality paper with easy-to-understand modern day English translations of the original text. This will really make Shakespeare available to everyone's reach.
  • thiagoluzzi • com
    5.0 out of 5 stars Peça fantástica, edição muito útil
    Reviewed in Brazil on August 20, 2017
    (OBS.: 1- Esta avaliação foi feita por um leitor brasileiro e para leitores de língua portuguesa. 2- Aproveitei o começo de uma outra avaliação sobre as edições da Sparknotes; o final é específico sobre Hamlet)

    As edições da Sparknotes que colocam as peças originais de Shakespeare lado a lado com versões em inglês moderno das mesmas obras foram uma sacada e tanto. O livro fica editado como fosse uma obra "bilíngue", e contém ainda uma lista mais detalhada das personagens da peça, no início, bem como curtas notas explicativas que ajudam a entender alguns trocadilhos, alusões e outros produtos sutis do 'wit' shakespeariano (poderiam ser até mais numerosas essas notas, na minha opinião).

    Muitas das peças na versão 'No Fear Shakespeare' estão disponíveis online, mas gostei muito de ter comprado a versão impressa, que chegou rápido, apesar de ser importada, em bom estado e por um preço justo.

    Quem lê em português mas quer aventurar-se pelos originais do Bardo encontrará uma ferramenta de trabalho muito interessante. Depois de ler uma ou duas traduções de uma peça clássica como Hamlet, por exemplo, ir ao original pode ficar muito mais fácil se o texto moderno estiver logo à direita, ajudando no destrinçamento de passagens mais complicadas. Já se o leitor quiser conhecer a estrutura geral da peça sem ter a intenção, naquele momento, de ler Shakespeare no original, poderá seguir o texto em inglês moderno e só por curiosidade recorrer, durante a leitura ou em visitas futuras que faça à obra, ao belíssimo inglês shakespeariano.

    Quanto a Hamlet, é leitura obrigatória. O príncipe da Dinamarca é uma personagem muito bem-feita; inteligente e irônico, é também capaz de se mostrar bastante humano, de modo que podemos experimentar com ele o seu conflito, entrar um pouco na sua cabeça -- não é necessária uma "identificação" com ele, basta imaginar que o que ele faz, faz porque vive o problema de maneira séria, moral e intelectualmente séria.

    A peça é longa, mas é incrivelmente equilibrada. Depois de ter feito algumas releituras, concluo que não há nada que poderia ser cortado ou enxugado. Nem tudo é igualmente penetrante, há sutilezas que dialogam com um contexto social e mesmo linguístico que está bem distante do leitor brasileiro. Mas a leitura de Hamlet no original é muito acessível, principalmente porque somos recompensados tanto (i) por detalhes saborosos, como (ii) por cenas que se integraram ao imaginário da literatura e até mesmo correm na conversa popular ["Something is rotten in the state of Denmark], ou ainda (iii) pela forma total da peça, que só apreendemos bem depois que ela termina, um tanto aliviados por saber que há uma testemunha que contará ao povo dinamarquês exatamente como se chegou àquela "bloody question" que é a cena final da tragédia de Hamlet.
    Report
  • Amazon Kunde
    5.0 out of 5 stars very good
    Reviewed in Germany on September 6, 2021
    This series is amazingly good!!
    It turns a difficult reading into the pleasure of understanding Shakespeare by re-paraphrasing the utterances into Modern English.
    As a non-native speaker, I can only recommend all books from this collection.
  • Lorenzo V.
    4.0 out of 5 stars Ottimo libro per scuola
    Reviewed in Italy on October 15, 2013
    A scuola il nostro professore di Inglese ci fa leggere Shakespeare e questo libro è ottimo poiché ha contemporaneamente testo originale e una traduzione in inglese moderno per capire meglio.