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Shakespeare’s Sonnets, Retold

By: William Shakespeare,James Anthony,Stephen Fry - foreword
Narrated by: Stephen Fry,Paapa Essiedu,James Anthony
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Publisher's Summary

Random House presents the audiobook edition of Shakespeare’s Sonnets, Retold by William Shakespeare and James Anthony, with a foreword by Stephen Fry. Read by Stephen Fry and Paapa Essiedu.

Rediscover the greatest love poetry ever written.

Shall I compare you to a summer’s day?
You’re more delightful, always shining strong;
High winds blow hard on flowering buds in May,
And summer never seems to last that long....

Shakespeare’s sonnets are some of the nation’s favourite lines of verse, but the Elizabethan language can make it difficult to really understand them. Many guides offer to clarify the meaning but lose the magic of the words by explaining them away. 

James Anthony has done something boldly different.

He has rewritten the whole series of poems as sonnets using modern language while retaining the rhythm and rhyme patterns that gives them such power. In doing so he breathes new life into the original poems and opens them up for a modern readership, demystifying Shakespeare’s eternal poetry with provocative new translations and delightful new lines. 

©2018 James Anthony (P)2018 Random House Audiobooks

Critic Reviews

"James Anthony has done something I would have confidently stated to be impossible. He has 'translated' Shakespeare’s sonnets and he has done so with an insolent, loveable charm.... A dazzling success." (Stephen Fry)

What listeners say about Shakespeare’s Sonnets, Retold

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Why,why,why does anyone need this?

A sad indictment on our modern language and those modern wordsmiths who wish to co-opt greatness. Mr Fry should not have played into this however I fear this is his true respect for his literary betters. I hope this is never attempted again. Shame on all involved.

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Good Sonnets

James Anthony could use more practice telling Sonnets. Stephen Fry does a brilliant job telling the Sonnets though.

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