Macbeth 3 CD set (New Cambridge Shakespeare Audio)

by William Shakespeare

[sa090]

This is actually my first time ever reading Shakespeare and the second time I’ve ever read something like this... tbh there are some things that are better watched or heard than read despite the source being really good.

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I don’t come from an English speaking country, the literature taught at school were classics and acclaimed pieces of writing from my own language, so while I’ve always been intrigued by William Shakespeare’s fame, I have never actually gotten the chance to read any of his plays before this week. To summarize my experience, I can say this: “Reading Macbeth was easy, understanding Macbeth was challenging.”

Given the old English language used in this book, it took me a little while to try and piece together what he’s trying to convey to me with his words, but rereading passages isn’t something I despise despite it becoming somewhat tiring after a bit. Nonetheless I was interested to read how Macbeth’s story unfolded in front of me, despite the abundance of these stories these days, it’s still interesting to see an early example of fighting over a throne, how greed in that regard plays out, the fantasy side to it and obviously the different personalities when they’re all being in the same setting. I also didn’t expect that little spell there but it was a very nice throwback to see where She got it from.

That being said, a play is still a play. There aren’t that many details to grasp at when reading it on paper, it’s not like the Cursed Child’s script where I’m revisiting an old world I have previously read thousands of pages about and watched films about it. This is all new despite the similarity of the elements to other things but without the extra visual and auditory touches, it feels lacking despite the content not being so at all. Reading through the play easily shows how amazing William Shakespeare is because of how he was able to basically show the story of any Game of Thrones in what is probably a handful of chapters in any of those other books that will probably drawl on and on about the exact base plot line.

After I finished the book, I went on to Youtube to see if I can find an uploaded full play or an audio book or something so I can see the difference in mediums and I did. Better yet, I found an audio book that was read in a dramatic way, with different voices for different characters and all of that which made the experience a lot more entertaining than reading the book itself. Audio books don’t always work for me (hence why I stay away) because I have difficulty listening for more than a few minutes if the voice isn’t entertaining enough for me but the Dramatic Reading version I found was thankfully a very enjoyable experience.

If I’m ever attempting Shakespeare again it’s probably going to be either going to see a play myself or hearing another dramatic reading from the same people, since as a person who rates things by enjoyment and frankly only values that in entertainment, it’s more entertaining for me to consume it with the extra touches than not.

Final rating: 3/5