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The Dead Dane
For students and lovers of 'Hamlet' everywhere.
Two out of work actors - Will Shakespeare and Kit Marlowe - are asked to investigate the circumstances behind a Norwegian Prince's inheritance of a castle and lands near Helsinore in Denmark. Who is behind the deaths of five members of a noble family - and will they discover the truth before they, too, fall victim?
Having spent 30 years teaching Shakespeare's great play, Steven Duggan has written a bawdy, irreverent reimagining of 'Hamlet' as a murder mystery, asking what would have happened if Horatio had been killed before he could give his story of events?
"The greatest novel since 'Edmund: A Butler's Tale' by Mildred Perkins" - E. Blackadder
Two out of work actors - Will Shakespeare and Kit Marlowe - are asked to investigate the circumstances behind a Norwegian Prince's inheritance of a castle and lands near Helsinore in Denmark. Who is behind the deaths of five members of a noble family - and will they discover the truth before they, too, fall victim?
Having spent 30 years teaching Shakespeare's great play, Steven Duggan has written a bawdy, irreverent reimagining of 'Hamlet' as a murder mystery, asking what would have happened if Horatio had been killed before he could give his story of events?
"The greatest novel since 'Edmund: A Butler's Tale' by Mildred Perkins" - E. Blackadder
245 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 30, 2013
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26 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 15, 2014
Right off the bat I ought to say that Hamlet is probably my favorite Shakespearean tragedy (and yes, I love The Lion King), and the spin-off play, as it were, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard might just be my all-time favorite play. I mean, come on. Word play, breaking the fourth wall, puns!! That is the stuff of dreams for the linguistically inclined. With that in mind, I was rather excited when I came across the title The Case of the Dead Dane by Steven Duggan because I just KNEW that Hamlet was going to be given new life and I was eager to find out just how.
To read this, and other book reviews, visit my website:http://jenpaul13.wix.com/makinggoodst....
In this alternate envisioning of the chaos that Hamlet causes, Christopher Marlowe and Will Shakespeare are English actors hired by Prince Fortinbras of Norway to investigate the murders committed by Amleth (aka Hamlet) as well as Amleth's own death. The boys begin their investigation into Amleth's character by gleaning information from Amleth's former schoolmates Rosenberg and Gildenstein. Soon, they meet Ophelia, Amleth's cousin and love interest, who also provides our investigators with information to discover the truth behind the chaos.
There were some instances of grammar that caught my eye, particularly comma usage, and a consistency issue that irked me the most is the renaming of characters from Hamlet. Some are given an alteration to their name when others, such as Ophelia and Laertes, weren't. For consistency's sake, they all ought to have had their names altered or none of them ought to have. A mixture of different names and original names was throwing me off of which character was which. For instance, I thought Klaus was Claudius but then there was a mention of Claudius and I became confused if that was supposed to be Polonius, Ophelia's father, since there was no use of Polonius's name anywhere in the text.
Given that this is the first of multiple volumes, I can understand that there is an element of building the backstory of an arguably fascinating character of Shakespeare; however, it seemed a bit disjointed to have so much of Will's backstory with Anne thrust at the end of the volume when the investigation was just starting to pick up. While I adore both speculation and fact about Shakespeare's life, I wanted to get to the crux of the Hamlet story.
Overall, I'd give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars.
To read this, and other book reviews, visit my website:http://jenpaul13.wix.com/makinggoodst....
In this alternate envisioning of the chaos that Hamlet causes, Christopher Marlowe and Will Shakespeare are English actors hired by Prince Fortinbras of Norway to investigate the murders committed by Amleth (aka Hamlet) as well as Amleth's own death. The boys begin their investigation into Amleth's character by gleaning information from Amleth's former schoolmates Rosenberg and Gildenstein. Soon, they meet Ophelia, Amleth's cousin and love interest, who also provides our investigators with information to discover the truth behind the chaos.
There were some instances of grammar that caught my eye, particularly comma usage, and a consistency issue that irked me the most is the renaming of characters from Hamlet. Some are given an alteration to their name when others, such as Ophelia and Laertes, weren't. For consistency's sake, they all ought to have had their names altered or none of them ought to have. A mixture of different names and original names was throwing me off of which character was which. For instance, I thought Klaus was Claudius but then there was a mention of Claudius and I became confused if that was supposed to be Polonius, Ophelia's father, since there was no use of Polonius's name anywhere in the text.
Given that this is the first of multiple volumes, I can understand that there is an element of building the backstory of an arguably fascinating character of Shakespeare; however, it seemed a bit disjointed to have so much of Will's backstory with Anne thrust at the end of the volume when the investigation was just starting to pick up. While I adore both speculation and fact about Shakespeare's life, I wanted to get to the crux of the Hamlet story.
Overall, I'd give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars.
April 23, 2015
As with any play, there's typically an Act II. In the case of the Shakespearean spin-off of the previously reviewed The Case of the Dead Dane by Steven Duggan, there's a second act in The Case of the Dead Dane: Volume 2. Will and Kit are back in the second installation of their investigation into the deaths of Amleth, his family, and Ophelia's father with questions aplenty to solve for the verdict in Amleth's innocence.
To read this, and other book reviews, visit my website: http://makinggoodstories.wordpress.com/.
For anyone who has studied Shakespeare, it is commonly debated whether he is the true author of all the works he published. It was, therefore, interesting to see the concept of Shakespeare stealing his words in Dead Dane: Volume 2. This installation read quite a bit like a detective novel and ends of a good suspenseful note and included the contrary argumentation that was prevalent between Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in the Tom Stoppard play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. The integration of Anne and Will's story with that of Will and Kit's investigation into Amleth was far better handled in this volume through Will's reminiscences that directly relate back to an element of the case being discussed.
There were quite a few grammatical issues throughout the text despite the attempt to incorporate the language appropriate to the time period. Additionally, there was a rather confusing moment when Amleth appears to have been referred to as "Hamnett," which is the name of Shakespeare's son, albeit spelled with only one "t," and made me question whether I was reading about Amleth or Will's backstory. It was also strange to read about an Ophelia with a backbone--it was interesting and disorienting all at the same time as her agency was a frequently discussed matter in my Shakespeare courses.
Overall, I'd give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars.
To read this, and other book reviews, visit my website: http://makinggoodstories.wordpress.com/.
For anyone who has studied Shakespeare, it is commonly debated whether he is the true author of all the works he published. It was, therefore, interesting to see the concept of Shakespeare stealing his words in Dead Dane: Volume 2. This installation read quite a bit like a detective novel and ends of a good suspenseful note and included the contrary argumentation that was prevalent between Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in the Tom Stoppard play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. The integration of Anne and Will's story with that of Will and Kit's investigation into Amleth was far better handled in this volume through Will's reminiscences that directly relate back to an element of the case being discussed.
There were quite a few grammatical issues throughout the text despite the attempt to incorporate the language appropriate to the time period. Additionally, there was a rather confusing moment when Amleth appears to have been referred to as "Hamnett," which is the name of Shakespeare's son, albeit spelled with only one "t," and made me question whether I was reading about Amleth or Will's backstory. It was also strange to read about an Ophelia with a backbone--it was interesting and disorienting all at the same time as her agency was a frequently discussed matter in my Shakespeare courses.
Overall, I'd give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars.
April 4, 2014
A rose by any other name
I enjoyed this book, but I had one problem with this book and that was it just ends before it ends. What I mean is I was reading along and it just stopped with basically a to be continued. It is still a good read as a what if story. To any who are looking for a whimsical idea of where Shakespeare got his ideas for plays then get a copy and enjoy.
I enjoyed this book, but I had one problem with this book and that was it just ends before it ends. What I mean is I was reading along and it just stopped with basically a to be continued. It is still a good read as a what if story. To any who are looking for a whimsical idea of where Shakespeare got his ideas for plays then get a copy and enjoy.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews