King Lear (Dover Thrift Editions: Plays) Paperback – June 16, 1994

There's an amusing quote on the back from a member of some Shakespearean society about how this book is a vital tool for young readers who cannot appreciate Shakespeare. This just smacks of pretension, and is presumably a remnant of those pre-Sparknotes days when students cheated with comic books, rather than simply googling summaries as they do now. This is a fine, fine book, and a whole heck of a lot more than a mere learning tool. Shakespeare wrote play, and plays are meant to be performed, to be seen rather than read. This book reads like a unique Lear production, with Pollock's lovely art providing every element except the gorgeous prose; not a single word has been changed or omitted.Pollock has said that he took up this project for the chance to do a comic book, loving the Beano more than the Bard. I find this rather extraordinary, in that Pollock is able to capture the characters so well; his understanding of the cast suggests someone with a great passion for Lear. His talent for caricature is a beauty, his paintings capturing the broad, iconic look of the characters as well as the little subtle touches. He nails the players better than most actors have. He's also does a great job making the transition from illustrator/single-panel cartoonist to a full blown panelist. There can be a bit of a disconnect from panel to panel at times, but his compositions are always perfectly arranged; this extends from the panels to the pages as a whole, with each element carefully balanced and weighed together. Rather than the usual naturalistic flow of most comics, he treats each page as an illustration in it's entirety and avoids the usual painted comic pitfall of placing the focus upon pretty pictures that don't really tell a story.This is more than a dinky novelty; this is a superb play with virtuoso performances all around. This is some d*mn good s***, man. Buy it.

If you have a child that's into drama chances are they can and will be reading king Lear at some point. This is a reprint of the classic Shakespeare play that's based little bit off of the mythological person that it's named after. It's a classic tragedy that's a bit heavy with politics. It's a good read for teens and you will most likely find yourself buying this if you have a child that's going through highschool. The text as far as I can tell is not modified and still appears to be in its original form. 10/10

This is a perfectly competent edition of King Lear. It's one of Shakespeare's best plays and I highly recommend it in any edition. The quality as a Kindle book is also good. I've downloaded some free Shakespeare plays where the text is just a mess and this is definitely not the case here. Everything is neat and clean. That said, it's also a very minimal version of the text in that it contains...just the text. If you're looking for notes, you won't find any, though that's to be expected in this price range. The disappointing thing here is that it doesn't have any line numbers, meaning that anyone hoping to use this in an academic setting will have some difficulty. My plan if I end up writing a paper on it will be to just search the lines I want to use online to get the line numbers there, but it seems like something that should have been included. Otherwise, this is a great affordable version of the text. I mainly got it because I am currently studying in a foreign country and very suddenly needed Lear for a class. I already owned a copy at home, so I wanted to find as cheap an edition as possible, and this worked out fine.

A delightful examination of Shakespeare's genius, "King Lear" I was captivated by the captivating beauty of the language and the rich tapestry of characters. It is indisputable that the happiness this edition, with its perceptive annotations, brought to both new and devoted fans alike. "King Lear" is a personal journey into timeless literary brilliance, not just a classic. Strongly suggested for a captivating and fulfilling reading experience.

Hard to follow in the ancient English, but it is a good read. A Play, setting in OLDE England, with a demented King, and his three daughters, and estranged son. I got the impression that LEER abused his daughters, who eventually conspired to displace him as King, and he banished his son for some perceived slight. The son assumes a disguise and attempts to ingratiate himself with the king. Rem, it is a play, with asides and stage directions written in.

My favorite play by Shakespeare. This is a very depressing work, but it represents Shakespeare at his absolute best. This play has some of the finest poetry Shakespeare ever wrote, and some of his most memorable characters. I love reading it, since I haven’t seen a version on stage or on film yet to match how good it is in my head.This specific edition is great. Very readable, I love the cover art, and it has helpful (but unobtrusive) footnotes. I don’t tend to use all of the supplementary material, but I’m glad it’s available if I need it (there’s a thorough introduction to Shakespeare and the play, Shakespeare’s main source, and a good sampling of commentaries).

Needed a script I could create my directors book from and this worked great. This is a wonderful play.