Adam SextonRecensioni

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I really enjoyed this Manga. It stuck closely to the original but made it more accessible to reality anyone. The illustrations are superb and detailed.

Recommended.

To learn the art and craft of writing, one must do two things -- one must read and one must write. Both are far more complex than that simple statement can elucidate, but this book delves into those twin tasks with great skill and depth. Through a series of guided readings, Sexton takes us through works of masterful literature and helps us see what makes these particular works stand out. It isn't necessary that we like a particular work, only that we can look at it, grasp how it works, and take that information into our own writing. The essays exploring each work are far better than the usual creative writing class or literature class lecture -- accessible, interesting, light, occasionally humorous.

This is not a casual book, but a book that can easily fill a year with study, or even longer if attended to assiduously. It's a book worth reading many times.

I found this a great read - I miss studying English Lit and it felt like this was a good substitute with a lively expert for a teacher. The books discussed are a good mix but there is a strong bias to American literature which, to my detriment, I don't know so well (being a Brit).

An excellent resource for students who are already studying Shakespeare's Macbeth in its original form, and a great way to get students interested in the Bard's work, this resource would fall short if used as a stand alone. Although the illustrations are excellent and match the mood of the plot very well, too much of the text has been left out of this edition and readers may not understand all of the action. Additional resources, such as a reader's guide listing characters and their relationships would help to make the plot a bit more accessible to the reader.

Sexton, A., Grandt, E., Chow, C. Shakespeare's MacBeth--the Manga Edition (2008). New York: Wiley, John & Sons, Inc.

What would the Elizabethan bard say if, transported four centuries into the future, he was handed a copy of "Macbeth, The Manga Edition"?

As a once-in-mankind genius of the written word, William Shakespeare would surely have been surprised by this presentation of his tragedy rife with witchcraft, treachery and murder. Once over the initial shock, in my opinion, the bard of Avon would probably have been impressed by the dark and foreboding art work but dismayed at the seriously abridged text of his play.

Manga Macbeth is a book shaped, drawn (literally), and edited for the reluctant reader. Adam Sexton is a teacher of writing, an editor, and a well respected, veteran author; however, in my first exposure to his editing skill of a Shakespeare masterpiece, I believe he has fallen far short in imparting the meaning and force of this drama. Yet, for the young adult, raised on violent video games and television, these lines may appeal to one averse to the written word. Lines like this from Macbeth in the famous dagger scene, just prior to his murder of Duncan (p. 43):

"Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle
toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee."

Or, from Macduff, prior to his assault of Macbeth's castle and learning of the murder of his wife and children at the hands of Macbeth's henchmen (p. 154):

"O, I could play the woman with mine eyes and
braggart with my tongue! But, front to front bring
thou this fiend of Scotland and myself. Within my
sword's length set him -- if he 'scape, heaven
forgive him, too!"

The artists, Eve Grandt and Candace Chow, certainly draw a dismal, dreary, and scary portrait of Scotland in the middle ages. There's nothing bright and heartwarming about these illustrations. They are brutal, direct, and do not leave much to the imagination, but again, for a YA audience, they might be the right ticket to keep a reluctant reader reading.

So, is this great literature gone amok? Or, is it taking a great work and whittling it down to where anyone can enjoy a tragedy by William Shakespeare? I think the answer falls somewhere inbetween. For some, it's apostasy to the essence of great literature (I tend to fall in this category), but for others, unknowing of the bard's work, this could be the ticket to further exploration of other plays. This is certainly a feather in the cap to the manga genre.

The concept behind this book is that you can become a better writer by learning specific techniques from master writers. Writers write by mimicking other writers, writers get inspiration and ideas from other writers. Adam Sexton shows how aspiring writers can develop their skills from classic writers such as Joyce, Conrad and Nabokov.

Sexton divides his book into sections that discuss the various elements of fiction. We use Hemingway's stories for learning voice, Austen for characterization, etc. Each section focuses on one work, either a short story, long story, or novel. He tells you to "stop now and read...." So you've got an excellent guide to reading or re-reading some twentieth century classics.

I bought this (work)book with hopes that it would help me hone my skills as a writer. I can see how I will apply myself to the chapters of this book. I will have to identify the writers that I admire and I want to learn from, then use the book to examine how my favorite writers manage to shape their stories based on their own writing styles. Hopefully this would give me ideas on how to improve my own work and writing.