About this title: Using details of the ancient Scandinavian legends that were the inspiration for Hamlet, John Updike brings to life Gertrude's girlhood as the daughter of King Rorik, her arranged marriage to the man who becomes King Hamlet, and her middle-aged affair with her husband's younger brother. As only he could, Updike recasts a tale of medieval violence and presents the case for its central couple that Shakespeare only hinted at. Gertrude's warmth and lucidity, Claudius's soldierly yet peaceable powers of command are seen afresh against a background of fond intentions and familial dysfunction, on a ...
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Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Date Published: 02/2000
ISBN-13:9780375409080ISBN:0375409084
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 224 p. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Knopf
Date Published: 2000
ISBN-13:9780375409080ISBN:0375409084
Description: Good in Good jacket. 28-Z Ex-library. Books rated "Good" may have some notes, underlining, or highlighting. These books also may contain the previous owner's name, stamp, sticker, or gift inscription, or may be library discards. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Knopf
Date Published: 2000
ISBN-13:9780375409080ISBN:0375409084
Description: Good. First Edition. 245-X Ex-library. Books rated "Good" may have some notes, underlining, or highlighting. These books also may contain the previous owner's name, stamp, sticker, or gift inscription, or may be library discards. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Fair. Dust Cover Missing. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Knopf
Date Published: 2000
ISBN-13:9780375409080ISBN:0375409084
Description: A wonderful copy with some minor edgewear to the cover. Dust Jacket has some edgewear present. -, Hard Cover, Very Good / Very Good. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Knopf
Date Published: 2000-02-08
ISBN-13:9780375409080ISBN:0375409084
Description: Very Good. Hardcopy, some cover and edge wear, tight binding, x-library bookVery Nice Condition. Tight Binding, clean pages. Some shelf and mild cover and edge wear. Thank you for your purchase, which helps the inner city youth. Satisfaction Guaranteed or Your Money Back! Thousands of satisfied customers. Selling books for 20 years. read more
Description: Acceptable. Former Library book. Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Date Published: 2001
ISBN-13:9780449006979ISBN:0449006972
Description: Good. Standard used condition. May have light reading or storage wear All orders processed within 2 business days. Ships from Foxboro MA. read more
"Gertrude and Claudius is a prelude/backstory to Hamlet, and Updike really imagines what might have been. His attention to detail - like skin tone and clothing makes the characters lifelike. Even knowing the ending, it became a real page turner toward the end of the book."
"I read this book while traveling through Denmark, which was pretty much the perfect setting. There were numerous references to the places that I was visiting at the time, including the Jelling rune stones (seriously, how cool was it that on the same day I saw those famous stones, I was reading about them in a novel?
I think it was a really good book! Makes me want to re-read Hamlet. It was my first John Updike book to read."
"I've not read Updike before; it was the subject of this novel that intrigued me. Updike's usual topics don't interest me, but I now much appreciate his way with words and drama.
The term prequel has become odious through overuse, but I can't deny that this is indeed, and beautifully done at that. Knowing well the story that Shakespeare gave us in his Hamlet, I was wary of this backstory but hoped for something as delightful as Stoppard's R and G, etc. I was not in any way disappointed, especially the last scene which leads directly into Shakespeare."
"I read Updike for the first time when I was a freshman in college in 1969. He was funny and shocking and very much an American writer! He reminded me why I wanted to live a life with books."
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