King Lear (No Fear Shakespeare)

As a retired English teacher I found this book to be gem when trying to sell Shakespeare to kids who are really not all that interested. The modern translation followed by the original prose is really helpful for kids who must study English as a compulsory subject but who interests lie more in the maths and science field. I wish this book had been in my possession when I was still teaching.

First off, King Lear has always been my favorite play, followed closely by Othello and After The Fall. I like comic books, but I'm skeptical of the "Illustrated Classics" approach. So I was a bit leery buying this (pun unintended, but not bad).

It's fantastic. The art is lovely and has a timeless, surreal quality. The stylizations only enhance it. Especially watch the Fool: he's always been one of the best of Shakespeare's characters, and the capering, size-changing, conjuring presence Ian Pollock has granted him lifts him above and beyond. This artist knows what he's doing and is worth watching.

As for the writer: well, I know he's got name-recognition, but people often wonder if he's any good. But this Shakespeare guy, I think he's got potential. I mean, the slant rhyme and Jedi syntax bugs me sometimes, but otherwise, he has skills worthy of his art.

I purchased this book for a class. However the latter was not the correct version, so I purchased another King Lear from a local bookshop. This book was brand new, and the shipping time was reasonable.

This is a mostly engaging and interesting book. The middle is fuzzy and too complicated. On the whole, high quality of writing and humor, with some (spoilers) tragic (and hilariously drawn-out) deaths. Act 4 is lackluster and oh-so-convoluted. Act 3 never ends. Four stars out of five.

This book is fantastic. I absolutely love that they used the complete and unabridged play. Ian Pollack's illustrations are amazing, and perfect for the tone and mood of this play. I would like to purchase more plays from this series, however the only two I can find are King Lear and Macbeth. If there are others, please let me know!

Side by side pages of Shakespearian text and modern interpretation make for interesting study. I purchased this book for my child who has little or no background in Shakespeare. She found it a very helpful means to prepare for a visit to Ashland, Oregon for the Shakespeare Festival and a performance of Lear.
I didn't give it four or five stars because there were points in the text where I thought that the interpreter got it wrong. That's a subjective judgement, but so is an interpretation or a translation.

The title says "(Annotated)". I have it on my Kindle reader, and I haven't seen any annotations yet. I gave it 2 stars rather than 1 because it's only $0.99, so at least I didn't spend much money on it.

Reading both the original and then immediately the modern on a line by line basis made it so much easier to understand this play. After reading it in the line by line comparison I was able to read both the complete original and complete modern and straight through for final comprehension. I found this book to be extremely beneficial.

Reading both the original and then immediately the modern on a line by line basis made it so much easier to understand this play. After reading it in the line by line comparison I was able to read both the complete original and complete modern and straight through for final comprehension. I found this book to be extremely beneficial.

This paperback is a handy edition of Shakespeare's great play, useful for students on all levels. The critical essays in the back are helpful, though one or two more recent ones could have been included.

The Cambridge School Shakespeare series offers great classroom activities for teachers. They are useful to both theatre and English classes, as they really help students to understand and enjoy the material. King Lear is always my favorite, but the entire series is equally useful.