William Shakespeare: A Textual Companion

Though billed as a companion to "The Norton Shakespeare, Based on the Oxford Edition," "William Shakespeare: A Textual Companion" is a superb reference for any reader of Shakespeare's plays. The book gives the editorial principles and the explanations of editorial decisions made by the editors of the Oxford Shakespeare. The Textual Companion deals with the plays and poems is a systematic basis. This book will deepen anyone's appricaition for the Oxford editors' solutions to textual problems. The real value of this book goes is that it goes beyond just being an explanation of one edition. This book offers a comprehensive overview of the textual problem that any reader of Shakespeare should be aware of.

An example good editing comes from "The Merry Wives of Windsor" 1.4.88-9. The line appears "Ile doe yoe your/ Master what good I can:" in the 1623 folio. John Jowett who edited the play says that the "yoe" is suspicious and goes on the give his reasons. He belives it is a miscorrection. "Yoe" was intended for correction, but instead the compositor inserted "your" and left the "yoe" as is. The line printed in the Oxford edition is "I'll do your master what good/I can". I agree with Jowett's reasons and his correction.

Even though this book goes a long way in presenting textual problems and editorial solutions there are some editorial problems which have not been resolved. For example in "The Tempest" 4.1.123 we read this "So rare a wondered father and a wise". Tthe Oxford edition has "wise" but in the note to this line on page 616 they follow Jeanne Addison Roberts' 1978 article and say the word was "wife" in the first folio. Whether the word was "wife" or "wise" is not yet a settled question. Blayney in his introduction to the Norton Facsimile 2nd Edition (p. xxxi) takes issue with Roberts's conclusions, and for now this does remain an open question.

This book is one of the great books of Shakespearian scholarship. Though I do not agree in every detail, I can say that my appriciation and admiration for the Oxford edition of Shakespeare has increased because of this book. No critical reader of Shakespeare should go without this book.

This book accompanies the ground-breaking Oxford Complete Works of Shakespeare (1986) and explains the choices made by the editors in their selection of early printed texts and in their correction of errors in the earliest editions. Additionally, this provides the most recent thorough examination of the problems of editing Shakespeare, of establishing which plays he wrote and the order in which he wrote them, and the relation between the solitary reading experience and the social theatrical experience. If you need answers to questions like "how many quartos of Hamlet were published in Shakespeare's lifetime?" and "which one best represents the play as performed?", this book is the place to look for a thorough scholarly exploration of these topics. If you want criticism about Shakespeare's plays and their meaning, this book is not for you.

The Franconia, New Hampshire, farm of the American poet Robert Frost was turned into a museum and center for poetry and the arts in 1976. From that time, "The Frost Place" has been annual event wherein an emerging poet has been invited to spend the summer living in the house where Frost once lived and wrote some of his greatest poetry. The Breath Of Parted Lips: Voices From The Robert Frost Place, Volume One is a remarkable anthology of twenty-four poets, each of whom won that honor of a summer's residency and document the success of the original concept as a means of generating outstanding poetry while nurturing the poet's muse in the rooms and views that were once the inspiration of the great Robert Frost. Poem At 40: Windwashed--as if standing next to the highway,/a truck long as the century sweeping by,/all things at last bent in the same direction./An opening, as if all/the clothes my ancestors ever wore/dry on lines in my body:/wind-whipped, parallel with the ground,/some sleeves sharing a single clothespin/so that they seem to clasp hands,/seem to hold on.//And now that I can see/up the old women's dresses,/there's nothing but a filtered light./And now that their men's smoky breath/has traversed the earth,/it has nothing to do with them./And now that awkward, fat tears of rain/slap the window screen,/now that I'm naked too,/cupping my genitals, tracing with a pencil/the blue vein between my collar bone and breast,/I'll go to sleep when I'm told.

As the other reviewed indicated, this book does use mathematics to support it's treatment of the topic, but is very verbose with well thought out descriptions and examples. The math is a tool, not the purpose of the book. Of course, with such a treatment there are certain esoteric topics that simply dont fit but overall this book was an outstanding supplemental text to me as an undergrad (the actual text was more math intensive so the explanations here complemented it perfectly). Too bad it's out of print. I still refer to it occasionally when I need a refresher!

Digital Signal Processing is the one subject that you really need a solid foundation in maths to proceed furthur. Beginners should go for the book by Richard Lyons ( Understanding Digital Signal Processing). Those who are interested in the maths behind DSP and yet dread Oppenheim might find this book really useful. Stanley takes you through a tour of DSP using maths, but does it so wonderfully well than Oppenheim. The two books, the one by Richard Lyons and this book should give you a head start over others in learning DSP. Use this as a ladder to take you to the books by Oppenheim and Prokias, and you won't regret taking DSP.

There are a couple of errors though - due to bad proof reading

Hopefully the publisher should realise that he has a treasure in this book and bring it back to print.

In contrast to some of the other editions of the complete works of Shakespeare, this book really is value for money. All plays (and poems, etcetera) are printed in a lavishly, pleasing way, very easy to the eye (one of the biggest drawbacks of some editions is that they use a very small font to keep the number of pages to a minimum). As others have commented, not much can and should be commented on the works themselves, they have stood the test of time, and the (normal) spelling that is used in this edition makes each reading an enjoyable experience. All the plays are given a brief (and somewhat succinct) introduction, which is, at best, okay. The strange things, in this book, are, for example, the order of the plays, the way King Lear is printed in two versions (that differ only in small details), and the inclusion of fragments that are attributed to Shakespeare (a bit controversial to say the least). Still, if you want to buy a good, thorough, and well-researched edition of the complete works of Shakespeare, you will not go far wrong with this book.

Pretty much any edition of Shakespeare deserves 5 stars for content. I think the question most people must have is "Which edition?"

I purchased "The Complete Pelican Shakespeare" because I wanted a relatively portable, high-quality book featuring text that benefits from modern scholarship (including brief notes and glossary). I wanted an edition to read and to treasure.

I should say that I didn't need extensive commentary with the text (as in the Arden paperbacks). That bulks it up considerably, can be had in other places, and can be left behind once one has read a play once or twice.

While I'm no Shakespearean scholar myself, this edition seems to meet the editorial criteria quite well. The text appears to benefit from modern, authoritative editorship, the introductions are brief but useful, and archaic terms and phrases are defined on the page where they occur.

The binding is high quality, as is the paper.

This is the most portable of the modern hard-cover editions I've found, with the possible exception of the Oxford edition, which is thicker, but smaller in the other two dimensions. I decided against the Oxford because the binding is of lesser quality and Oxford has a relatively idiosyncratic editorial policy with which I don't entirely agree.

Sadly, this is still a pretty big book, just small enough for a good-sized person to hold up and read in bed, and too much for an airplane or trip to the park. I wish someone would make a truly portable version! There is no reason that the entire thing couldn't be compressed into the space of a smallish bible (for those with the eyes for it!).

This weighty tome brings together authoritative versions of the complete works of Shakespeare. The excellent and informative introduction provides the historical context for the plays, the author and the folios. It also explains well how the plays tended to evolve with re-writes and performances. I have not read all of the plays and sonnets, but of the Shakespeare works Henry V and Hamlet, for example, provide high drama with stories that are compelling and language that is unique, beautiful and powerful. While the Taming of the Shrew and a Midsummers Night Dream provide humor, and other plays provide tragedy and pathos. A thousand phrases from these great plays and sonnets have probably carried into modern usuage. Shakespeare is best enjoyed first as a play by fine actors, such as those of the Royal Shakespeare company, that can give life to the often archaic and unfamiliar words, phrases and language constructs that come late 1500s. Once you have been captivated by a good live performance, reading the text becomes a joy and the strange language an exquisit pleasure. Some movies based on Shakespeare are more interesting than others (Kenneth Branagh has been quite successful, while Mel Gibson and Sir Lawrence Olivier were less so to my mind) but a live theater performance is far better and the written word is probably a close second. If you are interested in Shakespeare then this is a wonderful book - the only one you need really. If you have children then you really should get this and encourage them to read it. I have started reading selected passages with my 5 year old son and he loves it, he is absolutely enthralled with the language -- be bold, try it.

This book is one in Zondervan's Counterpoints Series, which presents the view of various (mostly) Evangelical writers on theological subjects. This book is sorely needed because Evangelical apologists have had a history of writing critically and polemically of one another (one thinks of the Clark/Van Til debate), with the result of the layman having a difficult time deciding among the various positions.

The problem with this book is either that the writers are too timid or are more irenic than their label would indicate. There are three authors who present variations on the traditional approach: the classical method (Craig), the evidential method (Habermas), and the cumulative case method (Feinberg). These approaches are quite similar, although some differences do arise. When the reader gets to John Frame's presuppositional method, he expects to get a starkly different approach. After all, Van Til was notorious for attacking "traditional" apologetics as "Roman Catholic" or "Arminian." Well, Frame tells us that he agrees with most of what Craig writes. The final writer, Kelly James Clark (who represents the "Reformed epistemological method"), says the same thing.

Perhaps the editor could have selected a follower of Gordon Clark (a rationalist who denied the proofs of God's existence) or a fideist to present a contrasting apologetic method.

Few books have seriously tackled apologetic method, or how Christianity should be defended rationally. The last book I know of that surveyed options in this regard was Gordon Lewis, "Testing Christianity's Truth Claims" (Moody Press, 1976; republished by University Press of America).

This book presents five different approaches, each represented by one of its exponents: Classical Apologetics (William Lane Craig), Evidentialism (Gary Habermas), Culumulative Case Method (Paul Feinberg), Presuppositionalism (John Frame), and Reformed Epistemology (Kelly James Clark).

Much ground is covered concerning the Bible's approach to apologetics, where apologetic arguments should begin, how certain arguments for Christianity are, and so on. I will simply make a few comments.

The presentations by Craig and Habermas are the most worthwhile because they are the most intellectual rigorous and well-documented. They also tend to agree with each on most things and reinforce each others views. While I tend to favor a cumulative case method (influenced by E.J. Carnell and Francis Schaeffer, but with more appreciation for natural theology), Feinberg's comments are the weakest by far. He never mentions the leading exponent of this view in our generation (Carnell) nor Carnell's apt and well-published student (and my esteemed colleague), Dr. Gordon Lewis. Not one word about either one! His comments are brief, his documentation is thin, and he fails to advance anything very creative or helpful, I'm afraid. A better person should have been chosen, such as Gordon Lewis. Frame gives his "kinder, gentler" version of Cornelius Van Til, which still suffers from the same kinds of problems--most notably the fallacy of begging the question in favor of Christianity. Nevertheless, the notion of a "transcendental argument" for theism is a good one, but it should not carry all the weight of apologetics. Clark's material is philosophically well-informed (one would expect this of a student of Alvin Plantinga!), but apologetically timid. Clark almost sounds like a skeptic at times.

A few bones more bones to pick. The editor refers to Francis Schaeffer as a presuppositionalist. This is false; he was a verificationist with more in common with Carnell than with Van Til. Gordon Lewis's fine essay on Schaeffer's apologetic method in "Reflections on Francis Schaeffer" makes this very clear. None of the writers address the great apologetic resources found in Blaise Pascal. I also found at least two grammatical errors.

Nevertheless, as a professor of philosophy at a theological seminary who teaches apologetics, I found this volume very helpful and useful. But let's not get so involved in methodological concerns that we fail to go out in the world and defend our Christian faith as objectively true, existentially vital, and rationally compelling (Jude 3)!

Douglas Groothuis, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Philosophy Denver Seminary

I got my copy from Amazon a few weeks ago and the day I received it I could not put it down. This is a wonderful text. The book covers five various apologetic methods from five well known scholars who promulgate and defend each of their own views. Moreover, once each of these five scholars have written why they use a particular method, the other four have an opportunity to respond. The responses are by far the best part of the book. However, the actual essays that cover the five methods give the reader a better grasp on that particular method. This book is helpful in several ways. First, it provides the reader a fairly exhaustive treatment of each of the various apologetic methods. Second, it allows the reader to actually see what proponents of the each of the various methods are saying about each of the other methods. Third, it includes some of the best, if not the best, scholars in each of the various methodologies covered. The contributors include, William Lane Craig (Classical Method), Gary R. Habermas (Evidential Method), Kelly James Clark (Reformed Epistemological Method), Paul D. Feinberg (Cumulative Method), and John M. Frame (Presuppositional Method). The only downside to the book that I can see is the idea that some may think that their particular method was not accurately covered by the scholar at hand. In other words, the Presuppositionalists may wonder why John Frame was used instead of someone else, etc. However, I believe that each method was given a fair assessment and the initial essays with the responses will make the book a wonderful reference for many years to come.

As a student of Contracts, this casebook is useful for learning the subject area. It provides several cases to adequately illustrate the areas of contract law & major concepts. Although it can be somewhat dry, the historical overviews provided by the editors can be helpful to the average law student.

I'm not so sure about the integrity of the publisher of a book that serves an aid to the wallet but an adversary to the eyes of one who is not so accustomed to reading such an esoteric font.

Blackstone was widely read in America for a century after it was published. Lawyers practicing in the West almost relied entirely on this and the Bible to defend or prosecute. This particular series of volumes is a reproduction of the original publication by Blackstone (which BTW had eight revisions while Blackstone was still alive). The print is large and dark (and very 18th century, i.e. ss is S (or f)), and makes for easy reading. The Editor's notes appear at the beginning of the book and are not intrusive of the volume itself. Overall a very nice reproduction and I found it a nice read.