The Complete Works of William Shakespeare In Plain and Simple English (Translated) William Shakespeare (Author), BookCaps (Translator)

If you’ve always wanted to read Shakespeare, but are intimidated by the older language, then this is the perfect edition for you! Every single Shakespeare play is included in this massive anthology!

Each play contains the original language with modern language underneath!

Customer Reviews
I have loved Shakespeare since high school, mainly for the beauty of the language and eloquent turns of phrase. Admittedly, however, it can be a difficult read due to unfamiliar expressions and words that have changed meaning over time, and while I know more of these than the average person, I still stumble on many. This is where "Shakespeare made easy" books come in, no doubt a boon to many high school students who read only the "easy" text and miss out on the beauty of the original. Conversely, I buy these books to better appreciate the original, and treat them like a puzzle. First I read the Shakespeare original and try to decipher what it is saying, then I check with the translation to see if I was right. I go back and forth between the two, increasing my understanding of Elizabethan language as I do so.

Most print books of this type put the original text on the right hand page, and the "translation" on the left. This, of course, would not work on a Kindle very well, which is why the formatting of this book is such a pleasure. The translation appears immediately below the original, either line-by-line or paragraph-by-paragraph. It is actually easier to refer back and forth with this set up than it is with the print book "facing pages" scenario. Also, the quality of the translations seems excellent, and the formatting makes for an easy reading experience (translated text is in italics). There is some inconsistency in formatting in that some plays put the Shakespeare text first, others the translated text first, with the italics switching roles. However, considering how hard it is to find a reasonably priced, complete collection of Shakespeare's works WITH translation in an easy-to-read electronic format, I find this a minor annoyance and am delighted to have found this book.