Shakespeare's Sonnets: Revised

A detailed book, but I was surprised to see how thick it was at 1 1/2inches. This, however was due to explanations on each sonnet. Overall it is a good book.

Shakespeare's Sonnets beggar praise. Anyone who can read English ought to read them--carefully! This is a beautiful edition. Each sonnet is printed on its own page, which makes it easier to focus on it; for one thing, you have the whole sonnet, never divided over two pages. On the facing page are annotations by the editor, which one can read when one wishes. As a bonus, the edition includes the poem "A Lover's Complaint." The 100-page introduction contains detailed discussion of the publication history and later reception of and responses to the Sonnets. There is a short section of critical discussion of the sonnets itself (85-103); even that section devotes many pages to relations between the sonnets and "A Lover's Complaint." This introduction is at a rather high level of philological detail, mostly of interest to experts and academics. The non-academic reader would be well advised to go straight to the sonnets and stay there, perusing the introduction only after thoroughly familiar with the sonnets and when moved by an interest in the more technical, philological issues. The book prints the sonnets in nicely legible type, and it is well bound. Some readers may prefer a smaller book, even at the expense of critical commentary and annotations. But I find this edition very satisfactory.

I liked the detailed information on the Sonnets. They fall into two sections: those written to a fair youth and those to a dark lady. The Sonnets suggest Shakespeare could have been bi-sexual and probably helped his income during plague years when the theatres were closed.

La consegna di questo libro è arrivata in tempi velocissimi e il libro è in perfette condizioni. In passato mi è capitato di vedere qualche graffio sulla copertina di qualche libro. In questo caso, davvero tutto perfetto!

Nec plus ultra