Shakespeare in Love

Tom Stoppard has always had an ear for the Bard, stretching back to his surreal and hilarious early plays Rosencrantz and Guildernstein are Dead and Dogg's Hamlet and Cahoots Macbeth. For those who have already seen the film of Shakespeare in Love, this screenplay offers a chance to savour Stoppard's exuberant collaboration with the renowned screenwriter Marc Norman. The result gives us amongst many other things a dog, Hamlet, Kit Marlowe, Elizabeth I and probably one of the best screenplays based around Shakespeare in modern cinema.

The pace of the script, from its opening long shot of London in 1593, to the final shot of Viola (played in the film by Gwyneth Paltrow) walking off into her brave new world, is breathtaking. The verbal fireworks and Shakespearean borrowings are not only worthy of the Bard himself, but perfectly recreate the conditions of the Elizabethan theatre. The jokes and allusions fly thick and fast, often straining the agility of even the most nimble Shakespeare scholar, but at the heart of the screenplay is both a compelling love story and an ingenious perspective on the inspiration behind both Romeo and Juliet and Twelfth Night. A wonderful piece of writing--long may Shakespeare in Love keep the Bard in fashion! --Jerry Brotton

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amazing book, amazing writter - Rated
I love it! Its really well presented in a small paperback book, it contains pictures from the film "Shakespeare in Love" in a soft grey colour. The fonts are old english and they go well with the style of the pictures. As for the actual content they have picked all the best love scene speechs from the plays and also some of the best sonnets and songs. I just loved the style of the whole thing, it would be a perfect present for someone who loves costume dramas and things like that, or as a romantic gesture to a partner!!! 10 out of 10

In Love with Shakespeare - Rated
"Shakespeare in Love" owns a radiating warmth, a wonderful sense of wit and humour and at the same time draws you into its spell by being breathtakingly romantic. So if you want to read only one book this year, make it this one. The same applies for the movie: Go and watch it and you will definitely fall in love with Shakespeare just as much as I did!

Fabulous... - Rated
...particularly if you are one of those people who think Shakespeare is boring or too difficult (most of us remember the NIGHTMARE of getting through one play at school, right?). Well, kiss boredom goodbye, banish your nightmares and prepare for a TREAT! This is funny, intelligent, fast-paced and heartbreaking, all at same time - rather like Shakespeare, in fact!