Once again Marlena de Blasi captivates with her revelations of life as she shares the stories of her Italian mates who create her “family”. Their history blends with the method they live—how they work, cook, love, and share. It’s a respect for life with its a lot of joys and disappointments. What may seem ordinary happenings become rituals, preserved and cherished by these wise people. Oh, to sit at their rustica for the foraged Thursday feast, both for the meal as well as the soul of living!

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I love all of Marlena's books. Makes me feel like I am really in Italy! I would recommend reading her earlier books about meeting her husband in Venice and then when they lived in Tuscany...before you read this one. Several of the characters create more sense if you know some of the background on them. I can't wait to test some of the recipes!

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I have read all of Ms. de Blasi's memoirs. I love them. Very relaxing and true feeling. Better than your average travel literature. She's a amazing writer. This particular book was not quite as compelling as the others. Some of the chapters I felt I had read before in the other books in her Italian series. Still it was like being with an old friend. I want she would write more!

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I could not obtain into this book at all. It kept going back and forth to all the people involved, which created it kind confusing . I also found it someone boring at times. It didn’t keep my interest for more than 15 mins at a time. Haven’t finished reading it. May or may not at this point .

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I just loved this book. The relationships between these women, the connections with their community and their love of amazing meal and wine create for a amazing read. I was transported to Italy as I read it and I have recommended it to a lot of female friends. It's a very unique book.

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Marlena de Blasi never disappoints! The beauty of her prose makes you feel as if you are in Italy, immersing yourself in the culture that she has embraced. I've read all of her books - recommended each one enthusiastically to friends, and anxiously await more!

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This book goes method beyond being an enjoyable read. It teaches one about a lot of life lessons. The greatest which was not to be judgmentalof others until you know the story of their life. Oh and the writing about the unbelievable dinners can create you angry that you are not there at the tablewith all your senses savoring every precious moment.

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Did I fall in love with Umbria? No matter, I fell in love with the story told by Marlena di Blasio. Maybe she doesn't end a sentence and start a fresh one in the appropriate method as another reviewer has suggested, maybe she doesn't give enough travel information or tell the story that you had in mind as others have complained. She's a story-teller, she tells it her own marvelous, unique, and captivating way. She's a gypsy in her heart and she digs into life with gusto. Read her and be inspired.

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This book is a beautifully and masterfully written memoir about living in Umbria. Any Italophile will relish this book and delight in its sensory indulgences.

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There are a number of unbelievable things about De Blasi's book and one somewhat irritating aspect. I'll slay off the irritating one first. For some reason, she uses a mechanism that works in speech but, for my taste, fails in writing. She ends a sentence and then finishes the thought in the next sentence without using a connecting word or phrase. An example: "Like the ladies up in Buon Respiro, we forage, too. For wild asparagus...or pirates beard...or the silky transparent cress..." At times, I found myself falling out of the enchantment of the writing as my brain searched for the connector. Shaking my head in irritation. (I'm sorry. Couldn't support it...)Otherwise, this is a attractive book. I was expecting another thin offering written by an enthusiastic ex-pat with marginal writing skills and was pleasantly surprised to obtain pulled into a skillfully crafted narrative. In short, the author and her husband find for a home in Umbria and search it, but the struggle to create it their own is long one. Along the method they bring together a set of people from various classes of Umbrian society and ply them with food, color, and music. Also, along the way, the author did just what a amazing author should—she created me wish to be Blasi is a first class observer of people and her descriptions of them are rich and earthy. She, herself, comes across as mildly eccentric and satisfied about it. She is willing to reveal some of her own private insecurities, but does not dwell on them, which i found to be an endearing trait. As the work progresses, she introduces other mild eccentrics, each with their own beauty, scars, and weaknesses. In the end, she brings the reader to a dinner party in their remodeled home (the ancient ballroom of a noble family near the duomo in Orvieto) and seats them around a table with pineapple legs. Around that table are a collection of persons that she was warned could not be brought together in Umbria...l in all, a amazing read.

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A delightful romp through the nuances of the rich (and to me, not famous) families of Orvieto. Having visited the "rock" several times for long periods, it was a very fun read. The attractive town and surrounding countryside came to life in Ms de Blasi's tale of moving to and renovating a home in ing on to her earlier book about Venice.

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These books are all very simple reading, particularly if you've been to Italy. You'll recognize the primary elements of the culture she describes, but be enlightened by her education in the regional ways of thinking, living, and cooking. She transports you to each region n which she lives. Magical! Occasionally her metaphors and adjectives obtain a litte blowy, so you have a hard time understanding her meaning, but that problem is completely outweighed by all pleasure you'll obtain from her. Prose,mthe evident live she has for the people, the food, the culture of Italy.

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I agree with everyone who says this book is de Blasi's best yet. She seems to have settled into marriage with Fernando. In Venice and Tuscany everything seemed tinged with a lustful haze, but now they are working things out together, caring for each other - much more seemly behavior for a middle-aged couple!I was totally captivated by Marlena's struggle to fit in with her fresh neighbors. Fernando seems to provide minimal assistance. Also thrilled that Barlozzo appears in this book - he is such an endearing character!This book brought me to tears several times. Few books compel me to hold reading without a break until they are over. This was definitely one of those books. Days later I can close my eyes and picture scenes from the book, her writing is so vivid. My guess is that Marlena and Fernando will create another move before too long - they are both restless characters. Even if they stay place for a while, surely the story will be just as riveting. I eagerly look forward to the next chapter in their journey

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I really enjoyed this book because the author populates it’s pages with true people. She’s funny, interesting and she can cook...so it’s fun to spend time with her. The method she describes each stage is so complete, it makes me feel like I’m really there in Italy. I’d love to read her other books so I can hang out with her and Fernando a small while longer!

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Everything di Blasi writes is unbelievable if you like meal and have a genuine desire to know what it's like to become part of the locations where she and her blueberry-eyed Venetian husband, Fernando, travel. They worm their method into the bosom of each community in which they live (one per book), making friends, making a fresh home, and cooking whatever is new and ready to become a mouth-watering lunch or dinner. I highly recommend each of her books, of which this is the fourth. They can be read out of order but I think the reader will obtain more out of them if they're read in chronological order.

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Ms. De Blasi's writing style is warm and personal, tells the story so you feel as though you're there with her. My wife and I have been visiting Orvieto for 2 to 3 months at a time for several years now. After "trying it on" for a few years, we now have our Permessi di Sogiorni and an extendable 18-month lease on an apartment, also on the top floor of a palazzo in the centro storico of Orvieto, and are anticipating receiving our residence certificate shortly. Ms. De Blasi's story reflects what we hope our ecperience here will approximate over the next few years, and we look foward to, hopefully, meeting her soon.

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When I travel, I have fun reading novels about the put I'm going to - it adds an additional dimension to all of the fresh sights and cities. To this end The Lady in the Palazzo was a amazing book to read about Umbria, with lots of fun anecdotes about the towns and culture of the region. However the writing is run-of-the-mill and at times awkward. For example, in the middle of the book two chapters are devoted to the back stories of the novel's supporting characters. While flashbacks like this can be an interesting literary device, these chapters seemed like they were just randomly and clumsily pasted into the middle of the novel. What's more, the books finale seemed like it was more for the author's benefit than for the readers (I won't spoil it).

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I bought the paperback as a bonus for my granddaughter. She loved the book in school and her teacher told her this is the very best and most informative book on the Sonnets and that it's the only book to buy on the subject. My granddaughter was delighted to have and read it at home.

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There are lots of amazing shakespeare books. This is one of them. For a director or an actor, its a complete explication of sound, meaning and verse structure in Shakespeare. Very few books obtain this close to the text. The sonnets are always surprising and this books is not going to obtain rid of those jolts of recongnition that seem to happen year after year for me. This book gives one an simple familiarity with those info of rhetoric, purpose and voice that flow so smoothly together in Shakespeare. Vendler is popular for very close readings of poetry. For performance, such elucidation is invaluable. It goes into the back of your head and comes back to save [email protected]#$% when you are swimming in a pool of HIS words.

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This is a thoughtful, original and interesting ysis of Shakespeare's Sonnets based on a careful reading of the texts. Her approach - memorize each one, read out loud, identify key words, images, even the visuals of the facsimiles, whatever stands out, and point them out in the notes. The notes are well structured, and excellent; she seems to message so much that I have not seen anywhere else. This is also a attractive text, with facsimile of the original followed by a translation into modern English.

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Professor Vendler's special bonus here to all readers is not an attempt to produce the be all and end all of sonnet studies and should not be evaluated versus such a (an impossible) standard. More significantly, it has blessed us with a thorough exploration of the poetic process to which Shakespeare dedicated his passion and genius -- an exploration by a foremost scholar of poetry, an extremely respectful reader of these intimate versifications, and a scholar-student who has been immersed in The Sonnets' bounty for a the author acknowledges, this volume is meant to be absorbed gradually over an extended time and with an edition such as Stephen Booth's thoroughly annotated ver at one's side. This is not a deficit in this work but an appropriate and practical tactic that keeps this volume a thoughtful and manageable edition to enjoy, digest, and redigest a lot of times. It will contribute immensely to even the most advanced student's appreciation of these works and their creator's mind.

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I have just finished a research project for my Masters class. The project was about the Philosophies found in Shakespeare's Sonnets. Vendler's book was an extremely necessary tool in helping me learn to understand the Sonnets. First, this book includes all 154 sonnets, with each sonnet appearing on its own page with the sonnet number appearing in the upper right hand corner. This makes finding each sonnet easy and simple - very necessary when typing research papers. Vendler's description and ysis that follows each sonnet is highly detailed and exact, containing diagrams, links between words and puns, meanings behind the quatrains and the couplets, and even linking the connections between the groups of sonnets (such as the "young patron" and the "dark lady" sonnets). I was very glad to have this book at my finger hints for my project - in fact, every quote I used from the sonnets came from this book. Helen Vendler's The Art of Shakespeare's Sonnets is a unbelievable book and something that will enhance anyone's desire to know more about Shakespeare's Sonnets. For anyone that has studied Shakespeare or wants to know more about the sonnets, I highly recommend this book.

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At the outset Vendler claims that any comment on Shakespeare's sonnets that could be applied to a prose paraphrasis is not worthy of the name "literary criticism." From this position she proceeds to give a jargon-free, yet exceedingly dense and technical, linguistic ysis of the sonnets. Her readings are informed by post-structuralist as well as formalist criticism. The latter critics, however, always sought to demonstrate how meaning is a function of form, whereas Vender's commitment to structuralist and deconstructionist positions about language forbids her to talk about the "meaning," or content, of the poems.And therein lies the problem. What if a movie critic elected to talk about a favorite auteur with no reference to the material that could be gleaned by reading the script as opposed to viewing the movie text? Imagine the result--an abundance of observations about shots and countershots, angles and focal distances, camera set-ups and lighting with no reference to anything but to the patterns and symmetry made by the combination of these signifiers. Without acknowledging the "metaphoric," "tropic" role of "content," a tool that enables us to talk about language in ways that create "sense," the critic is in danger of producing a study of language that is undermined by its own failure to accept the semantic and rhetorical uses of language.I'm cheered by a work of criticism that attempts to rescue art from the "sociological" and "political." But Vendler's book fails to rescue Shakespeare from tedium and irrelevancy. While the book is useful for occasional "dipping" (provided the reader knows both Shakespeare and post-structuralist theory), it could do more hurt than amazing if the intent is to support younger and less-informed readers bring the sonnets to life.

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This is a very useful edition of Shakespeare's sonnets. Helen Vendler's careful reading of each sonnet and her ideas on sonnet structure were quite helpful to me .

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Shakespeare uses words the method Mozart uses notes. See writing at the very highest pitch of which we are capable. Helen Vendler is a unbelievable tutorial who will support you find for the notice in The Bard's sonnets.

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The essays make a depth of understanding about Shakespeare's Sonnets that create the reading that more enjoyable. If you like Shakespeare, but wish to understand better, this is the book for you. GOOD READ. Keeping it for future reference.

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Though one might not agree with everything Helen Vendler says, this work does provide an poor lot of meal for thought. While bearing in mind that the intensive ysis runs the risk of over-interpretation, one should read to weigh and consider, but not to contradict.

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William Shakespeare was widely recognised as the greatest writer in the English Language and the Worlds pre-eminent dramatist. It is not surprising that a writer with such a keen knowledge of human behaviour and the beauty of language would also appreciate the poetic qualities of the feline. In fact, Shakespeare mentions the cats at least forty-four times during his plays, often using the qualities of the cat to illuminate the chacaters or actions of the people in the is book is a unbelievable collection of Shakespeares Poems (Sonnets) but what is so fascinating about the collection is that each Sonnet is followed by an interpretation of its meaning as well as a fact, making this the excellent tutorial for a Shakespeare enthusiastic, a student of Shakespeare or even just someone with an interest in poems and their meanings as written by the my view, a amazing addition to anyone's bookshelf.

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Unbelievable book. Does exactly what it says on the cover "32 sonnets created thoroughly accessible. Brings these gems right into my daily life. The online recitations are a large plus.

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xxix, 29 When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyesI all alone beweep my outcast state,And problem deaf heaven with my bootless cries,And look upon myself, and curse my fate,Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,Featur'd like him, like him with mates possess'd,Desiring this man's art, and that man's scope,With what I most have fun contented least;Yet in these thoughts my self almost despising,Haply I think on thee,-- and then my state,Like to the lark at break of day arisingFrom sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth bringsThat then I scorn to change my state with kings.IF that's not enough seecxvi, is that 116?cxxxv, is that 135?cxxxvi, 136cxxxviii, 138cxliv (what the hell is l in Roman numerals?)They're all amazing but 29 is best for me.

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I think this edition is best used for its perfect glossary. The print size is relatively little and line spacing is close, making notations to the actual sonnets difficult. I found myself reading the Vendler edition, which has spacious margins and generous room in between lines, along with wonderful commentary on the poetics of the sonnets, and using this edition for glosses.

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It looks just like the picture. The sonnets begin up immediately, with no copyrights page, title page, or table of contents, but at the end of the book, there are a few blank pages. Each sonnet is packed as efficiently as possible so as to chop down on the number of pages. This means that the only separation between sonnets is their names (no additional spacing). I'm not complaining, just stating what the book is. It is amazing if you are looking for the cheapest ver possible, but not if you are looking for an aesthetically pleasing book to sit on a display shelf.

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Love it!

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Perfect Seller, Amazing item, love it.

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The Sonnets to Orpheus was written by Rilke over a few days' period during his winter visit to Switzerland. It came to form almost magically, "with no doubts in any of the words" in Rilke's e Sonnets tell the classical Greek tragedy of Orpheus, who with his bonus of melody on the lyre charmed death to give his love back from the underworld, only to lose her forever when he broke his promise and looked back to see if she was still with is work is considered an interesting development in German poetry because of its improvisational creativity of the author, and is difficult to translate because of the liberties taken in the writing. In my opinion this translation is best one to date: in contrast to the famous translation by M. D. Herter Norton, which strived for accuracy at the cost of arming, entertaining, bittersweet, and always the contradiction between optimism and tragedy in a fatalistic touch, this is one of my favourite literary work to date.

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Rilke is generally regarded as Romantic so the use of "mystic" in describing this work slightly misuses terms. But I use it to describe his "inspired" groping towards something "beyond". This specific translation may not appeal to everyone as it is firmly couched within the academic style of its period, and being thirty-eight years removed from the original publication, admirably expresses the original's language. C.F. MacIntyre's introduction is both scholarly and contextualizing, de-mystifying Rilke's prophetic-like "entrustment" of these songs by linking them up to a larger contemporary literary context.

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It looks just like the picture. The sonnets begin up immediately, with no copyrights page, title page, or table of contents, but at the end of the book, there are a few blank pages. Each sonnet is packed as efficiently as possible so as to chop down on the number of pages. This means that the only separation between sonnets is their names (no additional spacing). I'm not complaining, just stating what the book is. It is amazing if you are looking for the cheapest ver possible, but not if you are looking for an aesthetically pleasing book to sit on a display shelf.

0  

I'm a fan of the layout of Folger Shakespeare Library. The covers are also beautiful, but the play on the right, explanation of archaic terms on the left style is very helpful to the reader and makes getting into Shakespeare much e book of Sonnets is a amazing addition to any Shakespeare collection. Beautifully written by the master.

0  

It is there, the sonnets, all for one to relish the words that ooze with their meaninsg. Wha is missing is the intrepretations....perhaps, the books intends to show the originals and origal as possible, leaving the meanigs and imagery to formed as the readers visualise. An perfect book indeed.

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My students found this book to be very helpful.

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Very simple to read and comprehend.

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Since reviews for different editions of Shakespeare's sonnets are lumped together on Amazon, I'll start by saying that I am reviewing Shakespeare's Sonnets (Folger Shakespeare Library) published on Aug.16, 2016, and selling today for $4.99, and I am reading it on my Kindle Keyboard. I am very, very happy with this version! All the links work well, the font is clear and attractive, and the formatting is just fine.When you go to the Table of Contents, you will see that the edition begins with the following commentary: the Editor's Preface; Shakespeare's Sonnets; Reading Shakespeare's Language: The Sonnets; Shakespeare's Life; An Introduction to the en you will see the sonnets themselves: Text of the Poems With Commentary. Each sonnet can be accessed individually by an active link, and each has links throughout the text with annotations. I like being able to just click on a phrase or word as I am reading in order to access extremely helpful ter the individual sonnets, you will see the following listed: Two Sonnets from The Passionate Pilgrim; Longer Notes; Textual Notes; Appendix of Intertextual Material; Shakespeare's Sonnets: A Modern Perspective by Lynne Magnusson; Further Reading; Index of Illustrations (there are many, and each has an active link which will take you to it); Index of First Lines.I looked at a lot of versions on Amazon before making my selection. True, there are others which cost just one or two dollars, but they lack access to each individual sonnet and/or textual annotations. They don't have all the other interesting material included here. If you wish to read the sonnets on your Kindle, you really can't do better than The Folger Shakespeare.

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This ver is very simple to read and feels like a quality-made book. My only complaint is how huge it is. It's almost like reading a magazine. I [email protected]#$%! were smaller, such as the size of a paperback dime shop book. All in all, it's nice.

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Perfect definitions and amazing illustrations and useful short summaries create this a splendid edition of the Sonnets; even better in the Kindle edition.

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Since reviews for different editions of Shakespeare's sonnets are lumped together on Amazon, I'll start by saying that I am reviewing Shakespeare's Sonnets (Folger Shakespeare Library) published on Aug.16, 2016, and selling today for $4.99, and I am reading it on my Kindle Keyboard. I am very, very happy with this version! All the links work well, the font is clear and attractive, and the formatting is just fine.When you go to the Table of Contents, you will see that the edition begins with the following commentary: the Editor's Preface; Shakespeare's Sonnets; Reading Shakespeare's Language: The Sonnets; Shakespeare's Life; An Introduction to the en you will see the sonnets themselves: Text of the Poems With Commentary. Each sonnet can be accessed individually by an active link, and each has links throughout the text with annotations. I like being able to just click on a phrase or word as I am reading in order to access extremely helpful ter the individual sonnets, you will see the following listed: Two Sonnets from The Passionate Pilgrim; Longer Notes; Textual Notes; Appendix of Intertextual Material; Shakespeare's Sonnets: A Modern Perspective by Lynne Magnusson; Further Reading; Index of Illustrations (there are many, and each has an active link which will take you to it); Index of First Lines.I looked at a lot of versions on Amazon before making my selection. True, there are others which cost just one or two dollars, but they lack access to each individual sonnet and/or textual annotations. They don't have all the other interesting material included here. If you wish to read the sonnets on your Kindle, you really can't do better than The Folger Shakespeare.

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xxix, 29 When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyesI all alone beweep my outcast state,And problem deaf heaven with my bootless cries,And look upon myself, and curse my fate,Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,Featur'd like him, like him with mates possess'd,Desiring this man's art, and that man's scope,With what I most have fun contented least;Yet in these thoughts my self almost despising,Haply I think on thee,-- and then my state,Like to the lark at break of day arisingFrom sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth bringsThat then I scorn to change my state with kings.IF that's not enough seecxvi, is that 116?cxxxv, is that 135?cxxxvi, 136cxxxviii, 138cxliv (what the hell is l in Roman numerals?)They're all amazing but 29 is best for me.

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The original work is met on the facing page with what I call a "Hey Dude" paraphrase. Which is a fast method to grasp the Bard's intention should a turn of phrase in the original escape you.

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This line of books was recommended by the older sibling of our child's squad mate. She is in high school and the No Fear Shakespeare books are being used to support teach Macbeth. I purchased this as a first step into the whole line. I love it. It does not diminish the attractive poetry of Shakespeare's sonnets, but it enhances them by providing straight forward explanations in modern English on the facing page. I feel more able to absorb and appreciate these works now. We will be purchasing more of these unbelievable books.

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Great

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Sonnets to Orpheus, is a masterpiece of the first order. I've known this book since I was 17 and first tried to wade through it in the German original. (This volume includes English translations facing the original German for each poem.) Only in Neue Gedichte, does Rilke occasionally surpass the sheer strength and beauty of these poems...not counting the completely exceptional and beyond the pale Duino Elegies (I am about to review that one in a few moments...). The translator has done an impeccable job of making this volume accessible to modern day American English speakers. If you love poetry, or know someone who does, please consider buying this book for yourself or as a gift.

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It is there, the sonnets, all for one to relish the words that ooze with their meaninsg. Wha is missing is the intrepretations....perhaps, the books intends to show the originals and origal as possible, leaving the meanigs and imagery to formed as the readers visualise. An perfect book indeed.

0  

I downloaded what is clearly offered on this page as the Kindle ver of this “Shakespeare’s Sonnets (Folger Shakespeare Library),” thinking, as anyone would, that it was the same as the print ver of the book offered on the same page, only readable on the pe. It’s a completely various book, one that has nothing to do with Folger. The first line in it says, “This Etext is an independent production presented as Public Domain.” And that line is the only text in the whole book besides the sonnets themselves. There is no introduction and no discussion of any kind of Shakespeare, of the sonnets separately or together or of their ere is one feature that is so dumb it could victory awards: you can click on any word in any sonnet and obtain a dictionary definition, but it’s a MODERN definition! Consider, say, the first line in sonnet 2: “When forty winters shall besiege thy brow.” Someone fresh to Shakespeare might wonder what he meant by this use of “besiege.” Click on the word and the lazy plug-in dictionary will tell you: “surround (a place) with armed forces in order to capture it or force its surrender; lay seige to.”In other words, this Kindle edition, clearly place together by an algorythm, is a excellent example of Artificial Low Intelligence. The price is $0, as it should be.

0  

This ver is very simple to read and feels like a quality-made book. My only complaint is how huge it is. It's almost like reading a magazine. I [email protected]#$%! were smaller, such as the size of a paperback dime shop book. All in all, it's nice.

0  

What I need to understand the sonnets

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I'm a fan of the layout of Folger Shakespeare Library. The covers are also beautiful, but the play on the right, explanation of archaic terms on the left style is very helpful to the reader and makes getting into Shakespeare much e book of Sonnets is a amazing addition to any Shakespeare collection. Beautifully written by the master.

0  

I downloaded what is clearly offered on this page as the Kindle ver of this “Shakespeare’s Sonnets (Folger Shakespeare Library),” thinking, as anyone would, that it was the same as the print ver of the book offered on the same page, only readable on the pe. It’s a completely various book, one that has nothing to do with Folger. The first line in it says, “This Etext is an independent production presented as Public Domain.” And that line is the only text in the whole book besides the sonnets themselves. There is no introduction and no discussion of any kind of Shakespeare, of the sonnets separately or together or of their ere is one feature that is so dumb it could victory awards: you can click on any word in any sonnet and obtain a dictionary definition, but it’s a MODERN definition! Consider, say, the first line in sonnet 2: “When forty winters shall besiege thy brow.” Someone fresh to Shakespeare might wonder what he meant by this use of “besiege.” Click on the word and the lazy plug-in dictionary will tell you: “surround (a place) with armed forces in order to capture it or force its surrender; lay seige to.”In other words, this Kindle edition, clearly place together by an algorythm, is a excellent example of Artificial Low Intelligence. The price is $0, as it should be.

0  

I think this edition is best used for its perfect glossary. The print size is relatively little and line spacing is close, making notations to the actual sonnets difficult. I found myself reading the Vendler edition, which has spacious margins and generous room in between lines, along with wonderful commentary on the poetics of the sonnets, and using this edition for glosses.

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Yes, I love Shakespeare. Especially Sonnet 116."...let me not to the marriage of real minds admit impediment. Love is not love, which alters when it alteration finds, or bends with the Remover to remove. Oh no! it is an ever-fixed mark, looking on tempests and is never shaken..."

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Poetry is not much my cup of tea, I gave this book a test because Shakespeare work is astonishing. His work makes our reality richer than the worlds imagined in previous and posterior mythology. I started the book thinking it at first just poems about love, but there is a story, with deep observations and intense feelings. They create you feel, without filters, love as if you yourself were feeling it. You can begin a Shakespeare book not knowing what to expect but it ends being spectacular.About the AmazonClassics edition you cannot search better ones for books written in English and without drawings. They have the useful X-Ray, impeccable formatting, modern typography and clean of misspellings. Other advantage is that it has not studies by intellectuals, prefaces nor introductions, only a biography of few words at the end about the author. The book is as pure as if it had been written this morning; the only defect is the reader, as I have not enough knowledge of poetry to notice, beyond evident rhyme and alliteration, the poetic structure donned by Shakespeare.

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Yes, I love Shakespeare. Especially Sonnet 116."...let me not to the marriage of real minds admit impediment. Love is not love, which alters when it alteration finds, or bends with the Remover to remove. Oh no! it is an ever-fixed mark, looking on tempests and is never shaken..."

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By far the worst book that I've purchased in the No Fear series. I'm not sure what to say, except, you would probably obtain a better understanding of Shakespeare's sonnets by just Googling interpretations of the few you need.

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So far, so good. Not the best Shakespeare book I've read, but interesting.

0  

This is a classic. However, the layout is r me the single largest tag versus it is that the find function borders on the useless. When a reader cannot search classic quotations, something has BADLY he works deserve 6 stars! This format deserves 1.

0  

The writings of Shakespeare will always be relevant. There is a timeless quality to his works because humans haven't changed so much in the centuries that have passed. We are complex, evil, good, intelligent, ignorant, biased, open-minded, fearful, brave, loving, cowardly, loyal, funny, sad, violent and gentle. It's all here in his works in different forms. Awesome that this all came from one mind.

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No point in reviewing the content, as everyone already knows the content - the format leaves a small to be desired. When I first opened it, it went to a Table of Contents which only included the comedies. This page included a 'link' to "Table of Contents" but that only came back to THAT page. Moving forward page by page I was taken to 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' (they're alphabetical by title) and once there the only ToC I could obtain was the listing of Acts/Scenes for that play! I was finally able to access other works by searching for 'Hamlet', which included a link to the FULL Table of Contents.I can't complain about the price ($.99) and I'm glad to have a reference copy of the complete works, but it's hardly user-friendly, hence the middling rating.

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Always amazing to have a compilation of Shakespeare on hand -- but this particular edition doesn't really work well on a Kindle. Don't obtain me wrong -- it is, indeed complete, just no footnotes or line numbers and other kinds of annotations you'd expect to come with reading Shakespeare. Haven't seen this book in a hard copy, but I don't recommend it for Kindle.

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This contains all the plays that I was wanting, but there are frequent mistakes, particularly when the wrong words are used, that you would have to detect and correct on the fly if you are using it for a cold reading.

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it would be nice to have a title before each play. I do like it but i do not know what play is being read.

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It never ceases to amaze me how close the Bard's characters are to people we meet in the here and now. Who will be the Bard of current times? We need someone like him to support us understand our humanity, today, to support us laugh at our pride and egotism, and to support us cry for our hatefulness.

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Cannot tell which play I am reading once I pass the title page. Difficult to navigate to table of contents to search out; must hold paper notation to hold track.

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This review probably isn't going to change anyone's mind about The Bard, the stories are worth reading, and re-reading, and interpreting with friends, etc. They've also proven to be worth retelling and reinterpreting in other mediums than as plays, given the number of paintings, stories and dramatic works which borrow so heavily from them.

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Shakespeare's writing is great, of course. We had a print copy of his works, but my husband and I both wanted to read The Tempest for a discussion group, so I ordered the ebook version. It was better than most free ebooks: Someone really should proofread those visually, not just by spellcheck, but this was fairly accurate. However, during the discussion, frequent comments demanded turning to standard Acts and lines by number, and those were not referenced in the ebook ver I downloaded, so I required to borrow our print ver to hold up with the discussion.

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Everything arrived on time and as advertised. There is a sonnet in here about a mother bird abandoning her young chasing after a fresh life. Once she gets this fresh life the baby bird just wants her to turn back to him. Heartbreaking.

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......of the luminating - makes the Sonnets & plays much deeper & more resonant Now I only need 5 more words.

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I'm a fan of the layout of Folger Shakespeare Library. The covers are also beautiful, but the play on the right, explanation of archaic terms on the left style is very helpful to the reader and makes getting into Shakespeare much e book of Sonnets is a amazing addition to any Shakespeare collection. Beautifully written by the master.

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Since reviews for different editions of Shakespeare's sonnets are lumped together on Amazon, I'll start by saying that I am reviewing Shakespeare's Sonnets (Folger Shakespeare Library) published on Aug.16, 2016, and selling today for $4.99, and I am reading it on my Kindle Keyboard. I am very, very happy with this version! All the links work well, the font is clear and attractive, and the formatting is just fine.When you go to the Table of Contents, you will see that the edition begins with the following commentary: the Editor's Preface; Shakespeare's Sonnets; Reading Shakespeare's Language: The Sonnets; Shakespeare's Life; An Introduction to the en you will see the sonnets themselves: Text of the Poems With Commentary. Each sonnet can be accessed individually by an active link, and each has links throughout the text with annotations. I like being able to just click on a phrase or word as I am reading in order to access extremely helpful ter the individual sonnets, you will see the following listed: Two Sonnets from The Passionate Pilgrim; Longer Notes; Textual Notes; Appendix of Intertextual Material; Shakespeare's Sonnets: A Modern Perspective by Lynne Magnusson; Further Reading; Index of Illustrations (there are many, and each has an active link which will take you to it); Index of First Lines.I looked at a lot of versions on Amazon before making my selection. True, there are others which cost just one or two dollars, but they lack access to each individual sonnet and/or textual annotations. They don't have all the other interesting material included here. If you wish to read the sonnets on your Kindle, you really can't do better than The Folger Shakespeare.

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I downloaded what is clearly offered on this page as the Kindle ver of this “Shakespeare’s Sonnets (Folger Shakespeare Library),” thinking, as anyone would, that it was the same as the print ver of the book offered on the same page, only readable on the pe. It’s a completely various book, one that has nothing to do with Folger. The first line in it says, “This Etext is an independent production presented as Public Domain.” And that line is the only text in the whole book besides the sonnets themselves. There is no introduction and no discussion of any kind of Shakespeare, of the sonnets separately or together or of their ere is one feature that is so dumb it could victory awards: you can click on any word in any sonnet and obtain a dictionary definition, but it’s a MODERN definition! Consider, say, the first line in sonnet 2: “When forty winters shall besiege thy brow.” Someone fresh to Shakespeare might wonder what he meant by this use of “besiege.” Click on the word and the lazy plug-in dictionary will tell you: “surround (a place) with armed forces in order to capture it or force its surrender; lay seige to.”In other words, this Kindle edition, clearly place together by an algorythm, is a excellent example of Artificial Low Intelligence. The price is $0, as it should be.

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Perfect definitions and amazing illustrations and useful short summaries create this a splendid edition of the Sonnets; even better in the Kindle edition.

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I am a confirmed Oxfordian who was eagerly anticipating learning this author's discoveries regarding the obtuse sonnets. Unfortunately, upon a review of the photos of Countess Southampton, the theory collapsed. The Countess Southampton as depicted in contemporary paintings, possess the same long narrow face, and exceptionally high forehead as her son. That killed the theory for me. Both Southampton and his mother have very distinctive and unusually high foreheads. However, other aspects of this treatise, particularly those dealing with the underlying structure of the sonnet sequence are well argued, and worthy of regard. I believe Alexander Waugh's ysis is much closer to the truth.

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I will just come out and say it: despite my amazing love of Shakespeare's plays, I am not at all a huge poetry person--even when that poet is THE Poet. I like a amazing story rather than a smattering of beautiful thoughts and usually poetry does not quite create the cut.And yet the hopeless romantic that lies within me was entranced by the beauty and passion of Shakespeare's sonnets. Probably because there is actually something of a plot in the order of the poems, one of love and betrayal and all that amazing stuff. I understand that a lot of scholars test to create it an autobiographical account, but either method the sonnets are ese are for anyone who likes Shakespeare, poetry, amazing writing, or just romance.

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It looks just like the picture. The sonnets begin up immediately, with no copyrights page, title page, or table of contents, but at the end of the book, there are a few blank pages. Each sonnet is packed as efficiently as possible so as to chop down on the number of pages. This means that the only separation between sonnets is their names (no additional spacing). I'm not complaining, just stating what the book is. It is amazing if you are looking for the cheapest ver possible, but not if you are looking for an aesthetically pleasing book to sit on a display shelf.

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xxix, 29 When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyesI all alone beweep my outcast state,And problem deaf heaven with my bootless cries,And look upon myself, and curse my fate,Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,Featur'd like him, like him with mates possess'd,Desiring this man's art, and that man's scope,With what I most have fun contented least;Yet in these thoughts my self almost despising,Haply I think on thee,-- and then my state,Like to the lark at break of day arisingFrom sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth bringsThat then I scorn to change my state with kings.IF that's not enough seecxvi, is that 116?cxxxv, is that 135?cxxxvi, 136cxxxviii, 138cxliv (what the hell is l in Roman numerals?)They're all amazing but 29 is best for me.

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I love Shakespeare and I bought this as a bonus for an acquaintance who also loves the Bard but had never read his Sonnets. It was a amazing price and I can't complain about the quality of the book, because despite its inexpensive cost it belied its price!

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“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet.” This remarkable and slender book is my rabbit hole into the fascinating warren of the Shakespeare authorship question. It examines the sonnets from an entirely fresh angle that is, “…guaranteed to blow your mind”. It renders familiar Elizabethan poetry into an intellectual catalyst that is capable of changing the meaning of not just the sonnets, but of the method you can search context in the entire Shakespeare canon. Highly recommended reading if you wish a amazing small detective story or even better, if you are up for upsetting the entire apple cart of your Bardic preconceptions.

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Anyone who has a kid and who really studies the sonnets will reallize that these poems could only be written by a father about his son. In the entire world, what man other than a father gives one whit whether another man marries or not. This is an perfect summary of the well-researched work Whittemore detailed in his 900 page ysis of the sonnets. It is not a novel, though, and requires thoughtful study.

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A very enlightening commentary about why Shakespeare doted in his sonnets so strongly upon this younger aristocrat. Makes the best sense of all the Shakespearian sonnets. Shakespeare was not !

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This book is far from "crystal clear." To me it seems a hash, especially in the early chapters, whose sundry headings do small to present any truly coherent development of the argument. After reading numerous other books about the authorship (among them Looney, Nelson's negative biography, and Poe's latest unbelievable Shakespeare Tutorial to Italy), I'm still enthusiastic about the de Vere theory of authorship, less so of the paternity of Southampton, and I would have bought Whittemore's The Monument except the print price is out of my onlooker's range and the length is greater than I wish to read on-screen. I hope this short work isn't really a real reflection of how well or ill the longer ver is written. However, in later chapters where the author deals with one sonnet at a time, the gist is clearer.Apart from that, I must say I'm skeptical that de Vere would had been keen to have his son marry his daughter (whether or not de Vere was her biological father) as Whittemore suggests.

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"A book for all seasons."You have to read this amazing reads like a fairy tale. And Mr Whittemoreis a master actor when his topics needsa touch of art and ademics, please: learn a bit from other'sminds outside your palaces...A amazing huge hand for this book.

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I think this edition is best used for its perfect glossary. The print size is relatively little and line spacing is close, making notations to the actual sonnets difficult. I found myself reading the Vendler edition, which has spacious margins and generous room in between lines, along with wonderful commentary on the poetics of the sonnets, and using this edition for glosses.

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Yes, I love Shakespeare. Especially Sonnet 116."...let me not to the marriage of real minds admit impediment. Love is not love, which alters when it alteration finds, or bends with the Remover to remove. Oh no! it is an ever-fixed mark, looking on tempests and is never shaken..."

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Shakespeare's sonnets are even more genius than time has given them credit. If I had to choose between Hamlet and The Sonnets.. it would be a very difficult choice. Shakespeare re-invented the sonnet, gave it a more mainstream structure. Each one tells a brief story, a super mini-play, an inner monologue, an ode to love, betrayal or wisdom, etc. I have fun 21st century poetry from time to time, but this is the items you can sink your teeth into. I like the structure and its limits. Shakespeare takes complicated life experiences and explains them in 140 syllables and a catchy rhyme scheme. Modern poets have fun making life sound even more complicated than it really is.Every reader far and wide should read Shakespeare's Sonnets. Your IQ will rise before your eyes. You should also check out The Death Sonnets (Halloween Library Edition) which is a modern collection of spooky poetry written in the Shakespearean Sonnet structure.

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I was quite surprised at how lovely this book was when I opened the package. I am torn about giving it as I think it is a fine edition to have on my shelf. Alas I must do the right thing and test to obtain another copy for myself. It is well laid out and quite special. I highly recommend this edition of the Sonnets.

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It is a very amazing book. That should be read with an begin mind. I diffinetly enjoyed is and so should you.

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This "Shakespeare's Sonnets: The Complete Illustrated Edition" is terrible. The illustration is not similar to the text, just some random not good quality pictures. I think that's why there is no look inside for this book. All those amazing reviews are refer to Shakespeare's sonnets. Amazon should fix the problem.

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Brilliant. So good, I bought the 700 page book called the monument.

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This is an original and thought-provoking work that arranges the sonnets to help Oxford as their author, with the poetry keyed to his life.

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bravo!

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