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Gertrude and Claudius : A Novel by John Updike (2001, Trade Paperback)
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Gertrude and Claudius by Updike, John May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less
- Buy It NowGertrude and Claudius by Updike, John
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About this product
Product Identifiers
PublisherRandom House Publishing Group
ISBN-100449006972
ISBN-139780449006979
eBay Product ID (ePID)1820149
Product Key Features
Book TitleGertrude and Claudius : a Novel
Number of Pages224 Pages
LanguageEnglish
TopicMashups, Literary, Historical
Publication Year2001
FeaturesReprint
GenreFiction
AuthorJohn Updike
FormatTrade Paperback
Dimensions
Item Height0.5 in
Item Weight7.8 Oz
Item Length8.2 in
Item Width5.5 in
Additional Product Features
Intended AudienceTrade
LCCN2012-372645
Reviews"A LIVING, POWERFULLY PHYSICAL WORK . . . UPDIKE IS A SUPERBLY SKILLFUL WRITER." --The Wall Street Journal "WHAT A PIECE OF WORK IS UPDIKE! Our own king of erudition has gone back to the Hamlet story to imagine its inception: its offstage pre-story, when Claudius fell in love with his brother's queen and that first dastardly deed in the garden was set in motion. Wickedly replete with allusions, weaving the history of ideas with the lustier possibilities of adulterous coupling, Gertrude and Claudius is an intelligent little novel of whimsy. . . . There is something delightful about following Updike down this path, seeing his sentiments and sympathies unfold." --The Boston Globe "WITTY . . . FRESH AND MOVING . . . Engrossing enough on its own terms to stand independently of Shakespeare's play." --Time "[UPDIKE] HAS MANAGED TO CREATE IN GERTRUDE A GENUINELY COMPELLING CHARACTER, a woman who is, by turns, vulnerable and outspoken, daring and naïve. . . . One of his most sympathetic and persuasive female characters." --The New York Times From the Trade Paperback edition., "Shakespeare's plays have had many offshoots. Gertrude and Claudius , though, stands in a class of its own: a superlative homage from one imaginative veteran to another." -The Sunday Times (London) "[A] pearl of a book . . . a game for real stakes . . . Updike has used Shakespeare to write a free-standing, pleasurable, and wonderfully dexterous novel about three figures in complex interplay." -The New York Times Book Review "A living, powerfully physical work . . . Updike is a superbly skillful writer." -The Wall Street Journal, "Shakespeare's plays have had many offshoots. Gertrude and Claudius , though, stands in a class of its own: a superlative homage from one imaginative veteran to another." --The Sunday Times (London) "[A] pearl of a book . . . a game for real stakes . . . Updike has used Shakespeare to write a free-standing, pleasurable, and wonderfully dexterous novel about three figures in complex interplay." --The New York Times Book Review "A living, powerfully physical work . . . Updike is a superbly skillful writer." --The Wall Street Journal, "A LIVING, POWERFULLY PHYSICAL WORK . . . UPDIKE IS A SUPERBLY SKILLFUL WRITER." --The Wall Street Journal "WHAT A PIECE OF WORK IS UPDIKE! Our own king of erudition has gone back to the Hamlet story to imagine its inception: its offstage pre-story, when Claudius fell in love with his brother's queen and that first dastardly deed in the garden was set in motion. Wickedly replete with allusions, weaving the history of ideas with the lustier possibilities of adulterous coupling, Gertrude and Claudius is an intelligent little novel of whimsy. . . . There is something delightful about following Updike down this path, seeing his sentiments and sympathies unfold." --The Boston Globe "WITTY . . . FRESH AND MOVING . . . Engrossing enough on its own terms to stand independently of Shakespeare's play." --Time "[UPDIKE] HAS MANAGED TO CREATE IN GERTRUDE A GENUINELY COMPELLING CHARACTER, a woman who is, by turns, vulnerable and outspoken, daring and naïve. . . . One of his most sympathetic and persuasive female characters." --The New York Times, "Shakespeare's plays have had many offshoots. Gertrude and Claudius , though, stands in a class of its own: a superlative homage from one imaginative veteran to another." --The Sunday Times (London) "[A] pearl of a book . . . a game for real stakes . . . Updike has used Shakespeare to write a free-standing, pleasurable, and wonderfully dexterous novel about three figures in complex interplay." --The New York Times Book Review "A living, powerfully physical work . . . Updike is a superbly skillful writer." --The Wall Street Journal, "Shakespeare's plays have had many offshoots. Gertrude and Claudius , though, stands in a class of its own: a superlative homage from one imaginative veteran to another." -The Sunday Times (London) "[A] pearl of a book . . . a game for real stakes . . . Updike has used Shakespeare to write a free-standing, pleasurable, and wonderfully dexterous novel about three figures in complex interplay." -The New York Times Book Review "A living, powerfully physical work . . . Updike is a superbly skillful writer." -The Wall Street Journal
Edition DescriptionReprint
SynopsisGertrude and Claudius are the "villains" of Hamlet: he the killer of Hamlet's father and usurper of the Danish throne; she his lusty consort, who marries Claudius before her late husband's body is cold. But in this imaginative "prequel" to the play, John Updike makes a case for the royal couple that Shakespeare only hinted at. Gertrude and Claudius are seen afresh against a background of fond intentions and family dysfunction, on a stage darkened by the ominous shadow of a sullen, erratic, disaffected prince. "I hoped to keep the texture light," Updike said of this novel, "to move from the mists of Scandinavian legend into the daylight atmosphere of the Globe. I sought to narrate the romance that preceded the tragedy."
LC Classification NumberPS3571.P4G47 2012
