SmartPass Plus Audio Education Study Guide to Hamlet (Dramatised, Commentary Options)

By: William Shakespeare, Simon Potter

Narrated by: Joan Walker, Stephen Elder, Paul Clayton

Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

The multi award-winning SmartPass study guide with and without commentary options. This is a full-cast, unabridged performance with comprehensive commentary and analysis for any student to fully understand and appreciate the play. Universally accepted as Shakespeare's finest play, we peel back the layers of Hamlet to discover how and why it deserves such a place of honour in world literature.

©2009 SmartPass Ltd (P)2009 SmartPass Ltd

Critic reviews

"Innovative, instructive and inspiring... lit crit to ensure A-satrs all round." ( The Guardian)
"Superb! A totally brilliant way to revise." ( Daily Express)
"Clear and lively...a stimulating study aid." ( Sunday Times)

Great way to enjoy and understand Shakespeare.

I think these SmartPass guides to Shakespeare plays are excellent. I've listened to Hamlet and King Lear and am planning to listen to Henry V next. The actors who uniformly excellent and the sound quality is great, which is important when trying to understand early modern english poetry in a British accent on ear buds! Most importantly, the narrator/lecturer does an amazing guide summarizing the plot and delving into the themes of the play, the ambiguities, and how the play fits into the greater context of Shakespeare's works. These audiobooks are really well done, and they are perfect for a high school or undergrad student studying one of these plays for the first time. It would be great to listen while reading along from a text.

Educational Entertainment at its best!

SmartPass has done a wonderful job. I couldn't stop listening. I learned so much. I would recommend this to anyone that loves a little history with their Shakespeare.

To Buy or Not to Buy, that is the question! BUY is the answer.

Superb Performance (Not to mention Guide)!

The actual reading of the theatrical work is superb and engrossing. Hamlet and the rest of the character cast as marvelously voiced and acted with such an energy and clarity of voice that you can't help but imagine the scenes in a vivid detail.

The guide portion, cleverly and discreetly inserted behind every passage that benefits from clarification, does not detract from the performance itself. The guide actually adds quite a lot to the performance, as she rallies you and inflects her own (merited) feelings as the play continues.

Overall, this is a great read for a novice Hamleteer as well as a seasoned veteran of the work--if you become bored with the SmartPass clarifications, you can simply switch over to the uninterrupted reading which is downloaded as a second file. Excellent!

Great way to appreciate Shakespeare

These SmartPass dramatizations with a teaching commentator are excellent. There are several others and they are just as good.

Fantastic Insight and information on the text.

Would you listen to SmartPass Plus Audio Education Study Guide to Hamlet (Dramatised, Commentary Options) again? Why?

Yes. I plan to. There is so much wonderful material here. It really opened the play up. I loved it and feel like it gave me an insight and familiarity with the play I have never had before ( and I did a theatre minor in University.) Loved it.

After hearing this, I wanted to try other books in the series. But I suspect this is the best one. They use a convention in the others that is a conversation between the guide and a rather dim student who asks questions. I greatly preferred this version in which the commentary on the text was without the forced additional dramatization of the dialogue between the guide and student.

It doesn't get better than this

Perfect in every way. The narration is impecable. The commentary leaves nothing to be desired. It is clear, comprehensive and the commentator never gets in the way of the work itself. Then listen without the commentary and maybe understand every line like never before.

If you wish to enjoy and really understand this work of art like never before, spend your credit here.

Wow what a helpful audiobook!

These smartpass audiobooks are great introductions to these rather inaccessible plays. it takes a highly inaccessible play and walks you through line by line and translates it for you. you then can rewind and re listen, and you will be blown away that you can actually understand what the line just said. these books are a dream for any beginner that just wants to open up these plays a little bit to themselves so they can enjoy them. well worth the credit, I've done a few of them so far and plan on buying all of them eventually. would love to see more plays from Shakespeare and maybe other writers as well.

Brilliant!

Where does SmartPass Plus Audio Education Study Guide to Hamlet (Dramatised, Commentary Options) rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is one of the best audio I've listened to. The option to hear the audio with or without the commentary is brilliant. The commentary is perfect, almost section at a time commentary layered over the performance, which is outstanding. In fact, I like this so much that I wrote to the company and begged them to produce more Shakespeare SmartPass audios! I've since purchased all the Shakespeare SmartPass audiobook just based on the strength of this one. Highly recommended

What did you like best about this story?

It's Shakespeare! Full disclosure: I am a Shakespeare fanatic so I love this story.

What about the narrators’s performance did you like?

Narrator was excellent. Full of passion and genuinely "gets" what Shakespeare is up to in this play.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Hamlet is no comedy! The acting is tremendously good.

Any additional comments?

Dear Audible: PLEASE contact the maker of this series and ask them to produce one for every shakespeare play possible! These are that good!

Amazing

All I can tell you is that the listening to Smart Pass allows for such great discovery to the many facets of this famous play. When I found out I had to study Hamlet for my English class, I was truly worried. How was I going to decipher the language, let alone the themes and plots. I studied up on several study guides and decided to go with Smart Pass. I was not disappointed. I was truly looking forward to listening to Hamlet. Shakespeare is truly an amazing play writer. So much is between the lines. I would recommend this to anyone. Don't even think twice. Very well worth the time and money.

Best Play; Best Audio Dramatization

Would you listen to SmartPass Plus Audio Education Study Guide to Hamlet (Dramatised, Commentary Options) again? Why?

I would you listen to SmartPass Plus Audio Education Study Guide to Hamlet because it is the world's most produced play. I purchased this to study before I see an upcoming performance. I found the commentary helpful to help me understand the play before I see it. Shakespeare can be dense and obtuse. SmartPass makes it clear and informative. I see dozens of plays a year. From now on, I will buy SmartPass dramatizations of plays before I see them. I will now get more enjoyment and understanding out of the plays.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Hamlet was my favorite character because he was deep and philosophical. He asked questions in his soliloquies that people are still asking today because he asked questions about the nature of life and death, love and revenge.This is why his words resonate with people four hundred years after Shakespeare wrote them.

What about the narrators’s performance did you like?

I love the multiple actors and Joan Walker's narration. They made the play clear, informative, and entertaining.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I wanted to listen to this book all in one sitting because it is a riveting play and commentary. This play is a touchstone for our civilization. So many lines from this play has influenced cultures the world over.

Any additional comments?

I highly recommend you only purchase the longest, unabridged audio versions of plays narrated by SmartPass. You do not want to do a quick, two hour audio drive through of the play only, but to spend some time with it to allow it to soak into you. The extra investment of time is worth it.