MACBETH was the second Shakespeare play I ever read. It was the first one I taught -- to advanced students, traditional students, and remedial students. I think in some ways that experience with those struggling readers cemented my career choices. So, I have history with the play.This audible book was superb. Alan Cumming reading, giving the words a deeper meaning, made it even more fun...if reading MACBETH can be fun.We see Macbeth, Banquo, Lady Macbeth. We see Duncan and his toady sons. We are allowed inside their heads and hearts in ways that even the most gifted actors just can't pull off. We get back stories. These characters seem real...larger than life, for sure, but real.We understand why Lady Macbeth is so frustrated and resentful of Duncan, so quick to want him to suffer. We see this friendship between Macbeth and Banquo -- two warriors who really had no ambitions until the Witches enter the scene. They were proud of their abilities on the battle field and trusted each other implicitly. Since the reader is aware of how this will all end, it makes every scene with the two even more bittersweet.I think the power of the book rests in the fact we KNOW. There will be no surprises (except the lovely backstories, and the expanded roles of the Witches). The story moves toward its inevitable conclusion, one step, one decision, at a time.I appreciated the incorporation of many of the important lines from the play, not quoted, but woven into the story.That first time I taught the play, there were two moments I've never forgotten, both in the remedial class. We listened to the scene of Macbeth's men slaughtering McDuff's family, and his response...these kids GOT that kind of family horror at a personal level, and they cried with McDuff. And, when we finished the play, one of my boys said, musingly, "What if, when they do this on the stage, the director had the Witches back in the very back corner of the stage, up above the actors on the stage, just to remind the audience that this WILL happen again." Genius!Well, the authors do just that...they end with the Witches, completely blameless in their own minds, only revealing to humans what is already there in their hearts and heads. A quick read and a good retelling/expansion of the play many are so familiar with. I haven't read Macbeth (the play) in years, but as I was reading this book, the story came back to me and I could see where the authors of the novel picked up on some of the themes prevalent in the Shakespearean work but also allowed them to take a new direction. The dynamic between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth and their characterizations were especially interesting. I also liked how they incorporated a few key lines from the play without it throwing off the style of the narrative/dialogue that they had already established. The authors also include some historical notes at the end of the book which are worth the extra ten minutes or so of reading (for those of us who typically don't read afterwords and the like).
What do You think about Macbeth A Novel (2000)?
A fun read but hard to wrap your mind around it if you are a true fan of the real thing.
—mahmood98
I listened to the audio version --- loved Alan Cumming's accent!
—Garryg
Great novelization and great audio narration by Alan Cumming.
—Trisha
