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Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead
Rosencrantz Guildenstern Are Dead
Author: Tom Stoppard
This is a most remarkable and thrilling play. In one bound Mr. Stoppard is asking to be considered as among the finest English-speaking writers of our stage, for this is a work of fascinating distinction...the play of Hamlet not seen through the eyes of Hamlet, or Claudius, or Ophelia or Gertrude, but a worm's-eye view of tragedy seen from the b...  more »
ISBN-13: 9780802130334
ISBN-10: 080213033X
Pages: 126
Rating:
  • Currently 4.3/5 Stars.
 5

4.3 stars, based on 5 ratings
Publisher: Grove Press
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover
Members Wishing: 0
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

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jeffp avatar reviewed Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead on + 201 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
Somehow I found the movie a while ago and I love it. The extras on the DVD told me it was a play first, so I dug up a copy of that. It's quite good.

For me, though, reading a play - any play - is tough. There's less context than in a novel, so (of course) more depends on the dialog. For me to really understand a play requires reading it many times, preferably aloud, and with different people on different parts if that can be arranged.

In this case I never got that far. I did read the play twice, and though I really enjoyed it and can clearly see at least some of the evolution from play to movie, I still don't get a couple of things. More re-reads - particularly good ones as described above - would help.

If you haven't seen the play or the movie, you're in for a treat when you do. Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead is the story of two characters from Hamlet, entirely from their point of view. They are minor characters - almost bit parts - in Shakespeare's masterpiece, so we have very little to go on for background and their actions when they are off stage in Hamlet itself.

What we get is an existential romp, almost a farce. No one - not even Rosencrantz & Guildenstern themselves - can remember which is which, for example. They have no history, and the world is strangely out of kilter for them. There are interesting discussions of death and musings on just how predetermined things are. Of course, since we know what happens in Hamlet, their futures are ordained to end in a particular way, but the play is a discussion of our own futures too, and to what degree we are stuck playing parts.

The dialog is quick and witty, and the ideas presented are interesting and challenging.

I think everyone should become familiar with this one. See it in a theater, read it, or watch the movie. Whatever it takes. It's both funny and deep. Highly recommended.
reviewed Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead on + 813 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Meet the Marx Brothers

This is about as esoteric as "Waiting for Godot" and "Gravity's Rainbow." Something that only an academic could love. Shakespeare (figuratively) must be dead. So are Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Too bad they waited until the end of the last act.
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reviewed Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead on + 11 more book reviews
I couldn't get into it, of course I have never been one to enjoy "absurdism"
dnhowarth avatar reviewed Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead on + 174 more book reviews
Definite farce; definitely absurd; at times, hard to follow; at times, it fits-right-into scenes of "Hamlet" (which, in itself, is a frequently hard-to-follow absurd drama); at times, "R&G" is brilliant, clever, funny.
tiffanyak avatar reviewed Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead on + 215 more book reviews
This is the only play we have read this semester for my Intro. to Drama class that I really was not able to get into much at all. I wouldn't say it felt like a chore to read it. It just wasn't my cup of tea, so I didn't care for it much. That being said, there was definitely some good humor involved, and the ending seems like it would be quite chilling and surreal live on stage. So, not great, in my opinion, but certainly okay.
aaron19 avatar reviewed Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead on + 8 more book reviews
This is the version of HAMLET that you have never seen... until now (or until it had been published, if you happened to be around in the late '60s). The story starts off with the two main characters playing with coins. From there, it gets weirder. The end is something to be expected if you have read HAMLET (which is how Stoppard got the title for his play; for those curious as to the source, check V.ii, line 400). It helps if you read HAMLET before you read this play. But you can read this first and then look at the original source; it's up to you. This is a play you'll wish you had seen when it was playing in the theatres.

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