Shakespeare Is Hard, But So Is Life – Fintan O-Toole

Published By: Apollo
Pages: 208
Released On: 06/06/2024

The works of Shakespeare have become staples of literature. They are everywhere, from our early schooling to the lecture rooms of academia, from classic theatre to modern adaptations on stage and screen. But how well do we really know his plays?

In this witty, iconoclastic book, the bestselling author Fintan O’Toole examines four of Shakespeare’s most enduring tragedies: Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello and King Lear. He shows how their tragic heroes have been over-simplified and moulded to fit restrictive, conservative values, and restores the true heart and spirit of the classics.

*****

Thanks to NetGalley and Apollo for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.

I had not heard of Fintan O’Toole before, but after some Googling I can see he’s a man of high esteem in the literary critique world so I was keen to read his thoughts.

Like any bibliophile, wordsmith or English student, I adore Shakespeare and am the proud owner of a very old, very beautiful leatherbound copy of all his works. I saw a First Folio last year and it nearly brought me to tears. And I’m also interested in how others see his plays and how they critique them, so I was very intrigued by this book. But to be honest, it wasn’t my thing.

I was confused as to what this book was. A piece of literary criticism? A non-fiction story? A piece for evaluating in an English class? An essay? Opinions or fact? I just couldn’t grasp what it was meant to be and what point he was trying to make with it.

Nothing felt new or fresh. I accept that everything that could be said about Shakespeare over the last 400+ years has been said, and so there probably isn’t anything new, but this felt really obvious, more like a regurgitation of opinions. And he is quite often dismissive of things that are important but don’t line up with the point he’s trying to make. There was nothing fresh to keep me interesting.

Whilst Shakespeare and English Literature scholars may enjoy it and get something out of it, in my option, for the average reader it just isn’t that great.

It is well researched, and it’s clear he has a passion for Shakespeare, I just felt it had all been done before.