http://turnpaige.com/2008/04/01/ophelia-by-lisa-klein/ Just stumbled across this mini-review of a young adult novel that appears to be a retelling of Hamlet, from Ophelia’s point of view.  Not really my cup of tea, but I thought I’d put it out there in case it looks interesting to folks.  I don’t know if the reviewer keeps calling Ophelia Hamlet’s wife because she’s simply mistaken about the plot, or if the author of the book has gone ahead and taken that liberty. The questions at the end, by the way, are complete spoilers.  Just in case you’re thinking about getting it. Then again, who knows, the spoiled bits might make it look intriguing enough to get anyway. Back in college, in my playwrighting days, I started a project of a similar nature.  I did a Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead take on Hamlet, where the whole play is done from Ophelia’s perspective.  The gimmick being that when she’s “offstage” she’s speaking in modern English, but as a character from the play comes on stage she falls back into character to deliver her lines.  I did not muck with the story – my reverence for the text dates back at least that far 🙂 – but I did make the leap that Ophelia was in on Hamlet’s feigned madness and just playing along…until she realizes that he has actually gone mad, or at least, she can’t tell the difference. Never finished it.

Hi everybody, It’s April 1 and as I said, no joke, I’m giving away 3 copies of Gruber’s The Book of Air and Shadows.  Names were chosen randomly via the guy in the cube next to me who had no idea what he was picking random slips of paper off my desk for.  Winners have been notified, and hopefully will get  back to me soon with their shipping info.  Thanks for playing!  Maybe some nice publisher will send me some more books to give away soon.  Something to think about, you know, for any authors who happen to hang out here who might be working on their next novel.  🙂  I’m just sayin.

http://princehamlet.com/chapter_1.html

I don’ t have much time to get into this at the moment but I didn’t want to forget about the link.  Forget Romeo – how old is Hamlet?  The gravedigger’s scene seems to tell us pretty clearly that he’s about 30.  Does that feel right?  Wasn’t he off at school?  Isn’t he still working out some issues with his relationship to mom?  Doesn’t everything else about the play make him feel younger? The link above comes from the book, Hamlet : The Undiscovered Country, by Steve Roth.  I can’t seem to find any links to the book itself so I’m not sure if it’s already published (perhaps a long time ago), or coming soon.

http://doubtingtommaso.blogspot.com/2008/03/markov-chains.html Since I’m in the middle of David Blixt’s Master of Verona right now, I couldn’t resist posting this story about a programmer who whipped up an algorithm for generating fake, but authentic, Italian last names. 

http://againwiththecomics.blogspot.com/2008/03/herbie-flaming-carrot-and-billy-bob.html I’m not sure I can explain this comic, you really have to see it for yourself.  It’s got lots of Shakespeare, though, and surely qualifies as “geeky”.