11:120 Nutshell: A Novel by Ian McEwan

A retelling of Hamlet but told in modern times with the unborn Hamlet as the narrator.  Trudy is late into her third term and her lover and husband's brother, Claude, has convinced her they must kill John, her husband, so they can sell the family house and live in luxury together after the baby is born and sent away.  The baby describes all he hears and imagines he sees and tastes as the plot unfolds since he is privy to all their plans although powerless to do anything from inside the womb.


No, just absolutely freaking no!  I tried to like this book, I really did but there could be no suspension of disbelief for me and as we got further into it the more I screamed and raged at it until the birth scene when I actively wanted to start throwing things, many things, all the things because it was so freaking ridiculous.  I will grant that the prose is beautiful and would have been amazing from another narrator but as an unborn baby it just simply did not work for me in any way.  Basic biology was completely against all of it and there was nothing to help me get past it.  Would I read this author again?  Maybe. It would really depend upon the subject and especially, the narrator.

Page count: 208p/2,654p ytd/277,129p lifetime

10:120 Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood

Felix has been cast aside.  No, not just cast aside! His place in the theater that he has worked so hard for, put all his dreams into, has been stolen from him by the one he thought he was mentoring.  Now he is an out-of-work director/actor with no prospects with his life in shambles as this came on the heels of the death of his young daughter.  So he goes into seclusion coming out only when a unique opportunity to ply his trade, as a teacher of a drama class for a correctional facility where he might be able to enact revenge on those that have wronged him.  Several years pass and the time is finally upon him and what play would he have his group put on but The Tempest, the one he was working on when he was thrown out.  What play could be more perfect?!

This is almost a retelling of The Tempest while still using the original play itself as a focal point.  The weaving of the two tales is wonderfully done and there is enough explanation that you can see the similarities even if you aren't familiar with the original Shakespeare play (and I only had a passing knowledge of it) but it doesn't seem heavy-handed and doesn't bog the story itself down.  I really enjoyed it and am now interested in seeing what some of the other authors in this series have done with their stories.


Page count: 324p/2,446p ytd/276,921p lifetime

42:120 Macbeth by William Shakespeare

Ok, this is a simple story.  Macbeth is told by three witches that he will be king but Banquo's children will be kings for generations.  Macbeth isn't even king yet but hey, a few well placed daggers takes care of that problem.  Hey, kind of worried about Banquo and his kids so hire some murderers to take him and his kid out except they miss the kid.  Hire those same murderers to take out Macduff and his family only they let him escape and only take out his wife and kids which is enough to piss anyone off so of course, he gets some friends and their armies and kill Macbeth.  Self-fulfilled prophecy done.

I think this is definitely one of those plays that works better in a stage setting because reading it was boring and predictable.  I have a couple of different theatrical productions that I now just need to find time to watch.  I will grant that there are definitely some great lines from it even if the plot was tired.

Page count: 132p/10,113p ytd/191,105p lifetime