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Shakespeare's sonnets are among the most famous love poems in the English language. Beautiful, poignant, and intriguing, they describe the poet's passionate friendship with a young man, his friend's seduction by the poet's own mistress, his friend's relationship with a rival poet, and his dalliances with "a woman colored ill." Performed by Elliott Gould, Vanessa Redgrave, Alfre Woodard, Michael York, and others. 2 cassettes.Amazon.com Review
A sonnet is a structured poem of 14 lines written in iambicpentameter. William Shakespeare is the acknowledged master of thismedium, turning each set of 140 syllables into miniature dramas aboutlove, lust, betrayal, shame, and death. Shakespeare's sonnets tend tobe overshadowed by his plays, but these poems are often considered tobe among the greatest of all time. The 154 sonnets in this collectionare joined by "A Lover's Complaint" and 20 songs, including "The Windand the Rain" and "Willow Song." Read by Minnie Driver, KelseyGrammer, Vanessa Redgrave, Julian Sands, and others, this recordingwill make even a reluctant listener wonder, "O, from what power hastthou this powerful might?" Listen to Julian Sands read "Oh,from What Power Hast Thou This Powerful Might." Visit our audio helppage for more information. (Running time: 3 hours, 2 cassettes)--C.B. Delaney ... Read more

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""As You Like It" can be enjoyed on different levels. On the surface, it is an idyllic romance, full of happy love and an optimistic philosophy of simple goodness. Life in the forest is a perpetual picnic with few outward signs of the winter's wind. Lovers are reunited, a wronged duke is restored to his rightful dukedom, wicked brothers are instantaneously converted to contrite penitence. All of which is as it should be. But yet it may be that Shakespeare had a private wink for the more sophisticated; for among the denizens of the forest he included Touchstone, a professional cynic, and Jaques, the disillusioned epicure of sensation! Both are caustic observes to whom youthful romantic love is a silly illusion." - G.B Harrison, Editor of texts for the Shakespeare Recording Society. ... Read more

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Aesop's fables present examples of selfishness turning to generosity, deception evolving into honor, and gloom unfolding to pleasure. These are moral tales which have survived since the life of Aesop and have traveled by language and distance. Celebrity performers include Harvey Fierstein, Sharon Stone, Michael York, Eddie Albert, Glenda Jackson, Rod Steiger, Gregory Hines, Cathy Moriarty, Stephanie Beacham, Elliott Gould and Vanessa Redgrave. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Star-Studded
Performers:
Eddie Albert, Stephanie Beacham, Harvey Fierstein, Elliott Gould, Joel Grey, Gregory Hines, Kevin McCarthy, Vanessa Redgrave, Jean Stapleton, Ernie Hudson, Glenda Jackson, Cheryl Ladd, Kevin McCarthy, Cathy Moriarty, Sharon Stone, Burt Reynolds, Rod Steiger, Alfred Woodard, Michael York, Ephram Zimbalist, Jr.
Original poems and introduction written by Judith Cummings.

If you like straight Aesop's fables, this is ok
This is a CD of straight Aesop's fables followed by the narrator trying to turn the moral into common language. Aesop's read better than they listen - at least for me. My kids really didn't like it because the stories are short (only about 1 minute) and the "real life applications" didn't make sense to them or me. Overall, I wouldn't recommend it unless you just want somebody to read the stories to you. ... Read more

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Eight audio cassettes of these four classic works of literature portrayed/ read by famous actors. "Wuthering Heights" is portrayed by Dame Judith Anderson, Claire Bloom, James Mason and cast; "The Red Badge of COurage" is read by Edmond O'Brien; "As You Like It" is a Dramatic Performance of the complete play starring Vanessa Redgrave, Stanley Holloway and cast; "The Misanthrope" is presented by Richard Eaton and the APA-Phoenix Repertory Company. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (29)

Abstracted Benevolence
I've waffled between three and four stars for this book, and I've ultimately decided on very nearly four stars. This was my virgin voyage into the literature of Paul Auster, who came highly recommended as an unfairly overlooked genius in the world of novels. The post-apocalyptic theme of The Country of Last Things intrigued me, as I've recently read two other books in the genre.
There is some excellent prose here, and that is what kept me going. This is a dismal tale yet somehow did not feel as dismal as it should have. Anna Blume's journey into this unnamed and awful city to search for her brother reminds me of something I might have done at her age (19). There is something medieval about the constant and desperate bartering/trading/selling yet totally modern in the disposal/use of dead bodies (fuel). Anna 's quest for survival in a world where everyone and everything is dwindling away into a shell of the past seems hopeless. In many ways it is not so different from our current times. Auster's story has stripped everyone down to survivalist mode and so the true characters of folks are exposed. There are madness and mayhem and touching moments of humanity.
I felt a bit detached from the story and was unable to become fully engaged with any of the characters. Perhaps this was Auster's intent, as the characters themselves had to become detached from the horror around them in order to survive. In any case, it is an easy, fast and intelligent read which may give you pause to consider what really is or is not important in the big scheme of things. On this note, I do recommend it.
P.S. The title for my review is taken from this line on page 40 of the novel: "...He made me think of my grandfather: overworked,...exuding an air of abstracted benevolence that seemed tinged with cunning, a pleasantness that masked some secret edge of cruelty...".

Horror tale with a twist
In the Country of Last Things is pure allegory, but such is the force of Auster's writing that the reader is prepared to suspend disbelief.

It is a unique characteristic of the industrial world that none of us has a complete vision of how it works, and it is easy to imagine that what we don't understand, let alone control, could suddenly cease to function; Auster plays on this basic fear to weave a morbid, often horrific tale.

The heroine, in search of her brother, finds herself trapped in a city that we recognise as having once been 20th century American, but has now become a crucible of destitution, savagery, and violent struggle for survival. This grim novella describes a society which has ceased creating or even producing, and is thus reduced to consuming what is left... until that runs out. It holds a mirror to our own compulsory consumption, waste and greed, and it forces us to consider the actual value of modern material comfort. It also lets Auster exploit on a grander scale his pet themes of decay and degradation, of homelessness and its impact on identity.

Post-modern decay apparently isn't pretty. It is a place of book burners and ghouls, of cannibals and suicidal fanatics, of pathetic attachment to the most miserable objects, and of general disregard for human life and dignity, even if hope and love aren't entirely missing. But it makes for a fascinating read, one that it is difficult to complete in anything but a single, mesmerising sitting.

Austere Auster As Always
Mr. Rogers never lived in Auster's neighborhoods. This dystopian tale of an unidentified city falling apart and reverting to anarchy will leave you shivering. We don't know if this societal breakdown is really a world wide phenomenon or if it only affects this one city.

My enjoyment was from the people, and their means of coping with continuing worsening of conditions. Nothing ever got better yet some still clung to hopes that tomorrow would be brighter; while others had totally given up.

Auster wants you to have to think while reading his books and they are short enough for you to maintain your concentration. This was quite enjoyable.

The Power of Hope
Paul Auster presents us with yet another must-read.This novella takes place in an unnamed city that has suffered complete ruin.There is no consistent government to speak of and anarchy rules supreme.But, the fascinating premise is that this is not a world problem, this is a city problem.It is a land cutoff from the world, and the world seems to have forgotten about it.Sound familiar?(Keep in mind this book was first published in 1987.)However, newspapers are still trying to get the scoop on what's going on, and so reporters are occasionally sent in, though most never return.

One such reporter who never returned left behind a younger sister who has traveled to the country of last things in order to find him.From a privileged family, it takes her a surprisingly short amount of time to adapt to the horrific conditions under which she must survive.She is primarily the narrator of her story, and we follow her as she experiences tragedy, death, suffering, but also, as impossible as it may seem, love and hope.

I've heard this book is about everything that can go wrong in a society and how it can leave the reader with a sense of despondency; however, I found the book to be a testament to the power of hope and love.

To touch upon Auster's style: I've read many of Auster's books, and while he explores similar themes, I've never read two books that were written in the same manner.Auster gives us something fresh and artistically progressive with each book he writes.In the Country of Last Things is virtually a how-to for any budding writer as it uses sparse detail and very limited dialogue to completely drive home the potency of the theme.

I've yet to read a book I did not like from Paul Auster, and In the Country of Last Things is certainly no exception.

~Scott William Foley, author of Souls Triumphant

Setting Trumps Character and Plot
The setting provides some wonderfully lurid details in Paul Auster's futuristic narrative and will keep readers turning the pages of his dystopian novel, but the so-so character development of IN THE COUNTRY OF LAST THINGS ultimately prevents this echo of Orwell from receiving the 4 stars it flirts with.There's no question that Auster is creative and compelling in describing a city gone mad with hunger, crime, and want, but once you go beyond the protagonist Anna Blume, you run into characters who are poorly developed and of little interest to the reader.

One of the book's strengths is in describing the futuristic world.It is powered by factories that burn human waste and human cadavers for energy needs, for starters.The streets are wild and dangerous, as scavengers battle over food and objects.Rife with corruption, citizens wheel and deal under a police state that often looks the other way as they break the "law."Beyond hope, many citizens choose death in interesting ways.The Leapers jump off of building roofs.The Runners run themselves into a frenzy until they collapse dead on the streets. And the Assassinators stalk people who want to die at an unknown time by an unknown method, so pay the assassinators to perform the function.

This setting and these conditions provide momentum for the book's plot as anything can happen.The "country" of the title, then, is the book's greatest strength.Unfortunately, the episodic nature of the plot sometimes gives the book a disjointed feel as characters come and go so quickly that there is little allegiance to or feeling for them on the part of the reader.Also, Auster is not above throwing in a little gratuitous sex, even when it adds nothing to the plot or the characters involved.

Despite these drawbacks, the book was intriguing in its way and should satisfy fans of dystopian fiction.I read it in a day, and although I was happy to witness Auster's artistry in creating so bleak and bizarre a world, I was just as happy to leave it and move on.For fans of the genre, this book should prove satisfying.For fans of literature, it should prove interesting, if sometimes lacking, in its ambition and reach. ... Read more

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All the world's a stage... - Jaques

Customer Reviews (26)

As he liked it
Out of all the great Shakespeare's plays, "As You Like It" is undoubtedly... the fluffiest. This is cotton candy. Fortunately, cotton candy isn't too bad as long as you don't eat too much of it. And while the ending is excessively tidy, "As You Like It" is a charming little play with the full array of Shakespearean tropes -- transvestitism, love triangles, and mass confusion.

Backstory: The cruel Duke has deposed his far nicer brother, and the ex-Duke has run off into the Forest of Arden. At the same time, a young man named Orlando has been cast out by his cruel brother Oliver.

Then the Duke decides to exile his niece Rosalind, despite the pleas of his daughter Celia. So Rosalind (disguised as a boy), Celia and the jester Touchstone run away into the Forest of Arden the following night, and soon encounter the exiled Duke and his followers. So does Orlando and his faithful servant Adam.

Because of a previous meeting, Rosalind and Orlando are already in love. But not only does he not recognize her, but because she's disguised as a boy she's attracted the amorous intentions of a local shepherdess. And to make matters even more complex, Touchstone is in a love triangle of his own, and Oliver has stumbled into Arden as well. Is everything going to end well?

The biggest problem with "As You Like It" is the fact that the ending is just a little too tidy -- while it's plausible that the romantic tangles would be smoothed out, there's an conveniently-timed twist that stretches believability to the point of snapping. Fortunately, the rest of it is a pleasantly fluffy little story filled with Shakespeare's sparkliest, sunniest storytelling.

Shakespeare's plot floats along in a heady cloud of sunlit forests, poems pinned to trees and languid outlaws who hang around singing all day. His lines are filled with clever, sometimes bawdy jokes ("praised be the gods for thy foulness! sluttishness may come hereafter") and some nicely evocative imagery ("Between the pale complexion of true love/And the red glow of scorn and proud disdain").

The funniest parts involve the love quadrangle between Rosalind, Phebe, Orlando and Silvius, as well as Orlando's wretched poetry and Touchstone's mockery of them ("Winter garments must be lined,/So must slender Rosalind").

And it has a likable cast of characters, most of whom are amiable and likable (although I'm still not sure why Orlando and the ex-Duke don't recognize Rosalind!). Celia and Rosalind are fun and sprightly heroines, Orlando is an endearing underdog (if a rotten poet), and there's also the sharp-tongued Touchstone, dour Jacques, and the rather beyotchy Phebe.

"As You Like It" is a puffy little wisp of a play, compared to Shakespeare's other works -- but it's still a nice little romantic diversion. Think of it as an Elizabethan romantic comedy.

Delightful!
This is a Shakespeare play that I did not much care for when I first read it years ago, but I have since become quite fond of. It is one of Shakespeare's mature comedies, written at the height of his prowess around 1599. It also boats the largest female Shakespearean role, Rosalind, and has a supporting cast that is well defined, and compliments the plays themes quite nicely.
"As You like It" contains one of Shakespeare's most famous monologues, the "Seven Ages of Man" speech spoken by the melancholy member of court Jacques. However, it also boats many other moments of pleasure. The highlight of the play is the third act, which is a delight of imagery and witty dialogues throughout. The play hits it thematic and comedic stride in this act, and propels the action to its dizzying assortment of marriages in the conclusion.
This text also boats more songs than any other Shakespeare play, and like all of Shakespeare's work it has dark undertones to many of its more rustic elements. Both serve to enhance the text and make it a more enjoyable experience.
Shakespeare's knack for accurate human characterization never ceases to amaze me, and this text boats many wonderful characters that would make an acting company salivate. I will come back to this wonderful work again and again.
As for the Pelican Shakespeare series, they are my favorite editions as the scholarly research is usually top notch and the editions themselves look good as an aesthetic unit. It looks and feel like a play and this compliments the text's contents admirably. The Pelican series was recently reedited and has the latest scholarship on Shakespeare and his time period. Well priced and well worth it.

Lost In The Forest
Was William Shakespeare having his groundlings on? Was this the 16th century equivalent of flicking a lit cigarette into the crowd?

"As You Like It" is praised as one of Shakespeare's most engaging, optimistic plays, about escaping the workaday world and finding love and magic amid the fertile groves of the Forest of Arden. Yet it is shackled by a plot dodgier than "Titus Andronicus"; a cast of colorless, miserable characters; and a presentation of romantic life that could have only been written by a middle-aged man stuck in the mother of loveless marriages.

I have no idea if Shakespeare's marriage was a happy one or not, or if George Bernard Shaw was right in his suggestion "As You Like It" was a title meant to connote utter contempt for theatergoers of his day. All I can say is reading "As You Like It" was the least fulfilling experience I've had reading Shakespeare, a chore well beyond the bad puns and lines that modern pronunciation have stripped of their rhyme.

There's a story in "As You Like It", regarding a nasty duke who exiles his daughter and niece, and a young lord whose brother strips him of his inheritance. The lord and niece fall in love, only she makes him work for it by approaching him in the guise of a male to counsel him and try to "cure" him of his infatuation. Their pointless banter runs on for quite a while. Meanwhile, an offputtingly smug clown named Touchstone tells off an uptight noble named Jacques, whose speech on the seven ages of man is the only memorable monologue in the play.

If love is being celebrated in "As You Like It", I'm at a loss as to how. That love is folly is a common theme in Shakespeare's plays, but here it seems a one-way ticket to hell. One woman treats her suitor with contempt, which only spurs him on. Touchstone picks up a country lass who seems chosen for her empty-headedness. One odd go-nowhere scene has a group of men singing boisterously of being cuckolded. And of course the play's center involves a woman teasing her true-loving beau under false pretenses for hundreds of blank-verse lines at a stretch.

At least the woman doing the teasing is Rosalind, the only sustained thing in this play I could enjoy, and only because I can imagine an actress assaying her with the right mixture of vinegar and sweetness, say Peggy Ashcroft in a 1930s London production. On the page she feels a bit too smooth, though it's hard to notice excess smoothness in a play where characters evidence no development and the central conflict is resolved offstage in the last four minutes.

The Signet edition has some nice supplementary features, including a history of various productions on stage and film and a lengthy section devoted to the play's source. Also some blather about Shakespeare the feminist, Shakespeare the cross-dressing pioneer, and how the play really isn't so badly crafted despite its near-total absence of engaging incident.

"Who has not looked at his or her watch during the last act of a well-made plot and sighed to think of the knots still to be untied?" asks one essayist in support of "As You Like It". It's not much in the way of praise, but perhaps it's the best one can offer here.

Cambridge School Shakespeare: Nice Explanations for the Lay Reader
Note: This is a review of the particular "Cambridge School Shakespeare" edition [Edited by Rex Gibson, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000] of As You Like it and not a review of the play itself.

This edition (a) contains the unabridged play and (b) tries to explain and elucidate Shakespeare's play to teenagers of the age of maybe 15-17. It clarifies difficult language, highlights the main conflicts, puts the play into a historical context and the context of the literary tradition that it belongs to. It encourages the reader to think of different possible ways to play the characters and different ways to understand the play.

I am not a teenager and I am not 16 years old any more, in fact, I am 53 years old with a PhD in Economics and a Masters in Psychology. I read Shakespeare for fun, to challenge my brain, and to grow personally. I found this edition of the play very helpful and enjoyable. The commentary neither spoiled my fun by overanalyzing or showing off its learnedness nor did it offend my intelligence by oversimplifying. In addition, the layout of the book is quite reader-friendly.

If you are a Shakespeare scholar or a scholar of English Lit, this edition will probably be too simple for you. For people of my caliber, however, I can really recommend this edition. Enjoy!

Recommended
The Caedmon recording of As You Like It is well worth the purchase just to hear two Redgraves soar in their performances. ... Read more

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High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Gathering Storm is a BBC-HBO co-produced television biographical film about Winston Churchill in the years just prior to World War II. The title of the film is the same as the title of the first volume of Churchill's largely autobiographical six-volume history of the war, which covered the period from 1919 to 10 May 1940, the day he became prime minister. The film stars Albert Finney as Churchill and Vanessa Redgrave as his wife Clementine Churchill ("Clemmie"); Finney gained many accolades for his performance, winning both a BAFTA Award for Best Actor and an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor. The film also features a supporting cast of British actors such as Derek Jacobi, Ronnie Barker, Jim Broadbent, Tom Wilkinson, Celia Imrie, Linus Roache and Hugh Bonneville. Simon Williams and Edward Hardwicke both make brief appearances amongst the supporting cast. ... Read more