Summary of tom the lunatic
Answers
Explanation:
The Lunatic, the Lover and the Poet is quite an enjoyable prequel to Shakespeare’s Hamlet. It deals with a love triangle including Horatio, Hamlet and a baroness, who is none other than Shakespeare’s Dark Lady. The story tangled, untangled and tangled again like Shakespeare’s own tales and all the while I didn’t mind being caught in the middle – and not because the plot was that engaging (it was on okay level for me), but because I liked coming across all those delicious Shakespeare references. They were well-placed; some hidden, some half-veiled, some laid bare for the naked eye and as a true Shakespeare geek I enjoyed the hunt for them.
I cannot say I liked Myrlin A. Hermes’ take on the characters – gosh, I totally hated Hamlet and could have throttled him sometimes –, but you know what? This book works regardless how differently the characters are written compared to the image you have of them inside your head. The writing and the Shakespearean setting drew me in and when I read about Gertrude’s thoughts on her husband and Claudius or Polonius’ past, I was grateful the writer took time to write this novel.
Horatio was again anything like the Horatio of MY mind; sometimes I liked him and sometimes I found him awkward and naive. It was like the first half of the book was about him struggling to accept his own bisexuality (he always emphasised Hamlet’s androgyneousness, mostly his femininity), in the second half he kept finding excuses for Hamlet when he didn’t visit him for weeks (c’mon Horatio, he’s not worth it, get over him!) and in the end he accepted what he could get, but hey, Hamlet itself is a tragedy after all, so that was alright.