The assignment is this: We have to choose a book to read and write a paper on that is a contemporary re-telling of a classic we've read this year. The example the teacher gave was "Beowulf" that we read earlier, and "Grendel" as the contemporary. The problem is this: I don't know of any contemporary re-tellings. So I turn to you, Hatrackers, the literary geniuses of this day and age.
Anyone know of any GOOD contemporary re-tellings of any of the following books? Beowulf The Canterbury Tales Utopia Jane Eyre Frankenstein The Inferno THe Tempest Hamlet MacBeth King Lear
There are probably a few more, but that's all I can remember right now. I'm debating asking my teacher if I can use "Enchantment" as a contemporary for Sleeping Beauty, but as we didn't read Sleeping Beauty, I think that's stretching it. So help me, Hatrack! What books of this type do you like?
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
quote:The Canary Trainer, Nicholas Meyer -- fun retelling of The Phantom of the Opera -- one of his delightful Holmesian pastiches ...
The Wide Sargasso Sea, Jean Rhys --Jane Eyre from a different point of view ... A Thousand Acres, Jane Smiley -- King Lear in Middle America
The Wide Sargasso Sea is short and a classic, but it doesn't so much retell Jane Eyre as prequel it, IIRC.
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Edited to add: I wonder if you could make a claim for Card's Lovelock being a modern Frankenstein tale?
Posted by Tinros (Member # 8328) on :
I've never read Lovelock, but I might think about it.
Posted by littlemissattitude (Member # 4514) on :
Well, there's Inferno, by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. It is, of course, a retelling of Dante's Inferno. Not a bad little book, and not an overly long read, if that's a consideration. Posted by ricree101 (Member # 7749) on :
Eaters of the Dead by Michael Chrichton was a retelling of Beowulf. I'm not entirely sure that I would call it good, but it at least qualifies as half-decent. Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett is MacBeth...sort of. Told mostly from the witches' point of view.
There are a bunch of other Shakespeare allusions in there too.
Plus it's fun to read.
The follow-on Lords and Ladies completes the story arc. If you need to bargain with the instructor to let you read comedy, you could do both books.
Posted by Friday (Member # 8998) on :
Rosencrance and Guildenstern are Dead (sp?) is an interesting and humorous retelling of Hamlet from the point of view of the two title characters.
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
And Wyrd Sisters is a whole lot of fun to read, besides. That gets my vote. Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
Darn you, Friday. You stole the only one I knew.
I too highly recommend the play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard. It's also a great movie which you should watch whether you study the play or not.
However, the play isn't really a modern retelling as much as another perspective. It is modern though, as in, it was written by a modern writer.
Posted by Dragon (Member # 3670) on :
There's a modern movie version of Macbeth that takes place in a fast food restaurant (we watched it in English class - highly disturbing actually), but I can't really think of any in book form that haven't already been mentioned.
Sorry, good luck finding one!
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde. And no, I didn't misspell "Fforde". He does.
It takes place in a contemporary alternative reality, and it is a hoot. Read it for fun, not just for English class.
Posted by Tinros (Member # 8328) on :
Actually, my teacher suggested "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead." I'm going to write down these titles and head up to Barnes & Noble or Border's tomorrow after school to see what I can find.
Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :
Poul Anderson's "A Midsummer Tempest" uses a lot of the characters from both "The Tempest" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream".
Posted by Princess Leah (Member # 6026) on :
quote:The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde. And no, I didn't misspell "Fforde". He does.
It takes place in a contemporary alternative reality, and it is a hoot. Read it for fun, not just for English class.
Read it for fun, yes very much do! But don't read it for English. It's not even close to a retelling. It's more of a...Behind the Scenes in Jane Eyre, with the actual story being such that it would make a really good action movie if all the jokes weren't literary. So, sadly, it doesn't fit the assignment.
Argh. I'm trying to remember a Macbeth retelling but can't. Hmm, I'm very helpful. /pointlessness
edit cuz I also fail at quoting.
Posted by MandyM (Member # 8375) on :
A modern Hamlet. I have not read it so I can't vouch for how good it is but I have read and liked other works by Updike.
Supposedly A Thousand Acres is based off King Lear but I have read both and I don't see it. I must admit I didn't hear that until after I had read the book so maybe I would see more if I read them together or something. Either way, it is probably one not many people will do. It's an easy but slightly boring read.
Posted by Orincoro (Member # 8854) on :
IMO, any attempt to "modernize" Shakespeare is a disaster, since every "improvement" is most often a butchery. In part this is because we are so attached to our tried and true Shakespeare, but also because he is of course too good for anyone to attempt to match him in.
I hate "adaptions" of Shakespeare partly because I've been to the globe and RSC, and have seen how innovative and fresh a performance of any of his plays can be. Next to these incredible productions, Hollywoodized or Indie versions are about as fresh and new tasting as a Reject Can of Tuna from 1972.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Does The Legacy of Heorot count as "contemporary"?
Posted by Princess Leah (Member # 6026) on :
quote:IMO, any attempt to "modernize" Shakespeare is a disaster, since every "improvement" is most often a butchery. In part this is because we are so attached to our tried and true Shakespeare, but also because he is of course too good for anyone to attempt to match him in.
*gasp* West Side Story! No? How can you be so cold!
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