Thursday, December 30, 2010

Macbeth The Young Reader's Shakespeare by Adam McKeown

Macbeth (The Young Reader's Shakespeare) by Adam McKeown is a retelling of Shakespeare's famous play, Macbeth, using easier language and illustrated by Lynne Cannoy. The story is about general Macbeth. Returning from a victorious battle, Macbeth and his friend (and fellow general) Banquo are visited by three witches who tell their future. Macbeth, having been an honorable, trustworthy man before, turns into a vengeful tyrant as he seeks out his future. He kills the king of Scotland so he can be named king himself. He kills the other generals who had been his friends and companions. He becomes so paranoid, he seeks out the witches again. Again, they foretell a prophecy, which Macbeth misunderstands making him beileve he in invincible. It is this belief that eventually causes his downfall.

I had never read Macbeth before, so I didn't know the story before reading this version. This was an excellent, quick read and made me want to read Shakespeare's own version! It is a bit on the mature side due to violence, however. I would recommend this version of Macbeth to anyone who is nervous about tackling Shakespeare, but wants to know the story!

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