Welcome to Litsy!

In McEwan's work the narrator Hamlet is the unborn child of Trudy, herself involved in an affair with her brother-in-law Claude. Tired of the Villanelles & Pantoums of her husband, poet John, they begin plotting his demise. The narrator is a wine enthusiast who is also socially aware. Thoughts of revenge are tempting. This is one of the most lyrical novels I have read all year. I loved this version of one of my favorite Shakespeare plays!!

I feel like our entire society would be SO much better if everyone did A LOT more of this. Just putting that out there.
#WilliamShakespeare #Hamlet

I was into this audio at the beginning but I found it to drag on the middle—so much so that I found myself skipping and I NEVER do that. I could have missed something vital, so take this with a grain of salt. I know theater doesn‘t work for me in literature so it‘s my fault. I loved the MC‘s backstory and the set up: Sonia returns to her home to discover so much has changed: grandparents have passed, houses sold. Timely: Palestinian experiences.

A retelling of Hamlet told from the POV of an unborn baby. A bit odd but also pretty good!

#bookspinbingo - got a bingo!
#pop25 - book under 250 pages

A complicated novel about a complex topic - lots of characters and identities in the Middle East. A great reflection on identity and resistance.

I was so excited when I realised this was a retelling of Hamlet (my favourite Shakespeare play). I was very disappointed almost immediately. The main character is 11, but his thought processes seem much younger. He throws around words like “fatso” because he‘s impatient with a bank teller, and his friends are stunningly and disturbingly misogynistic for prepubescent children. He repeats words over and over like a kindergartener.
👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻

Really excited to take this one for a spin.
#MattHaig #TheDeadFathersClub #audiobook

I saw part of the 1948 Olivier Hamlet last night, and it gave me the urge to reread this. It's been a few years, but it's one of my favorite Shakespearean plays. Nothing like a reread of an old favorite on a cold winter's night!

#Shakespeare #Literature #Hamlet

I'm a sucker for stories that delve into the internal politics of relatively insignificant groups (town councils, offices, or in this case, the residents of the Emma Lazarus retirement home and their upcoming production of Hamlet) and elevate them to epic proportions. A witty, comic novel that transforms into something heavier and darker by the end, a meditation on trauma and guilt that chimes beautifully with the play at the center of the story.

At the start of the last 4 years, I've taken a picture of my TBR shelf to track how it's changing over time. It's clearly expanding for one thing 🤔 And there is some overlap between years: even though it's not too much to read in a year, there's still e-books and others I read right away for challenges or readalongs. I try to read everything within 2 years, but Jim Crace's The Devil's Larder has remained for 3, so I'll have to get to it soon!