At about the point in the description where he's talking about how this adaptation's Hamlet has no doubts, I was already doing the extreme headtilt-squint eye-"I don't know who that guy is but Hamlet he ain't" face.
...then came that quote of the bit about Ophelia's death, and the squint became a side-eye.
Have you seen any of the National Theatre Live broadcasts (they're shown all over the world in cinemas at the same time, so if you're not UK it might be an awkward time)? I've seen a couple of them and they are quite amazingly good - better than some filmed versions. Though, of course, it depends on the film version..
I read Hamlet several times, in Turkish, before I saw any version. The translation was fantastic; it was by a Turkish lyric poet. Certain memorable phrases, I still think of in Turkish; I was young and it imprinted.
That's the thing: I was definitely younger than 12, and I had no trouble understanding it. Especially understanding the bit where Hamlet's indecision is such a big, big part of his character.
Difference though-was it translated into modern Turkish? Because while I love watching Shaxsper performed, and have two copies of the Complete Works, I really don't enjoy reading a play unless I've seen it, because in English you get the original text, sometimes with spellings tidied up, frequently not, and that's it.
Any attempts to replace archaic, defunct or changed meanings words are completely frowned on. Which makes it a lot harder to read for the sake of itself and for pleasure.
As I may have told you (can't remember), my mother studied Hamlet in high school, but the nuns at her school gave them all bowdlerised versions that removed the ghost along with all references to incest.
This changes one's interpretation of the play more than a little, which is a problem if you're then sitting an exam set by an external body working from the full version...
(fortunately, my mother was canny enough to get hold of the unexpurgated Hamlet.)
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(no subject)
Date: 2011-09-06 10:30 pm (UTC)...then came that quote of the bit about Ophelia's death, and the squint became a side-eye.
And then it got worse.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-09-06 10:32 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-09-06 10:54 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-09-06 11:12 pm (UTC)Let me tell you what you need to do to understand Hamlet, even if the language barrier is insurmountable (which it isn't):
Watch it.
Live staged if you can get it, movie if you can't.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-09-07 01:16 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-09-07 01:27 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-09-07 02:13 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-09-07 03:37 am (UTC)http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/episodes/hamlet/watch-the-film/980/
David Tennant and Patrick Stewart version.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-09-07 03:57 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-09-07 04:00 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-09-07 04:01 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-09-07 05:27 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-09-07 06:59 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-09-07 07:23 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-09-07 07:23 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-09-07 11:51 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-09-07 02:00 pm (UTC)That's the thing: I was definitely younger than 12, and I had no trouble understanding it. Especially understanding the bit where Hamlet's indecision is such a big, big part of his character.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-09-07 02:10 pm (UTC)(I broke down laughing as soon as the top of the page loaded. Silent laughter because there are labmates around, but unstoppable.)
(no subject)
Date: 2011-09-07 03:19 pm (UTC)The difference here being that "The Lion King" is actually good.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-09-07 05:20 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-09-07 05:25 pm (UTC)http://mysongbook.de/msb/songs/o/oorhamle.html
(no subject)
Date: 2011-09-07 07:20 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-09-08 01:05 am (UTC)Any attempts to replace archaic, defunct or changed meanings words are completely frowned on. Which makes it a lot harder to read for the sake of itself and for pleasure.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-09-08 10:16 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-09-09 02:12 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-09-09 12:24 pm (UTC)This changes one's interpretation of the play more than a little, which is a problem if you're then sitting an exam set by an external body working from the full version...
(fortunately, my mother was canny enough to get hold of the unexpurgated Hamlet.)