I love Margaret Atwood and will read anything that comes from her mind. However, being that I follow the author and not always the topic, there seem to be extreme hits and then extreme misses for me. I'm not quite sure where this book really falls in this current place in time but it feels like a story that probably should have been written years ago versus in this divisive political time. It's this more political voice of Atwood that I respond better to, and where I really think she has something to say. Then there are these what I assume to be passion projects. They're nice, but I really associate Atwood with a completely different voice. That said, this didn't do it for me, unfortunately.

Published by Hogarth on October 11, 2016

Hag-Seed is a book for fans of The Tempest. I’m sure it can be enjoyed by readers who are unfamiliar with the play, but its great value lies in its exploration of the play’s themes and characters. That exploration will likely resonate more deeply with readers who appreciate the play.

Felix starts Hag-Seed as the artistic director of a summer theater company in Makeshiwig. Felix’s life has been falling apart since his wife left him, leaving him to parent their daughter Miranda, who died from meningitis at age 3. But Felix refuses to believe that Miranda has vanished from the universe. Felix decides to perform a sort of reincarnation by staging The Tempest and making Miranda “the daughter who had not been lost.” This evasion of death will give Felix a chance to glimpse, through his art, the adult daughter he will never know.

Unfortunately for Felix, his artistic concepts (Caliban as a paraplegic) don’t go over well with the Board, although he fears he has been undermined by Tony, to whom he always delegated interaction with the theater’s patrons. Tony, of course, has been maneuvering behind the scenes to replace Felix. After that happens, Felix finds himself teaching Shakespeare in prison, and producing plays with a cast of prisoners.

I like the idea of teaching Shakespeare as part of a prison literacy program. Of course, objections are raised that prisoners are too stupid to learn Shakespeare, but Margaret Atwood provides a blueprint for how it might be done. She also anticipates and addresses short-sighted objections by "law and order" types who think prison should punish (and punish and punish some more) rather than rehabilitate. That's an issue that probably resonates even more strongly in the United States than in England, where the novel is set. The American public loves punishment, the harsher, the better.

Eventually, circumstances (and the plot) dictate that Felix will produce The Tempest in prison. The prisoners like Macbeth because of its sword fights. They like Julius Caesar because they understand betrayal. They like Richard III because they can relate to power struggles. But the prisoners (and government officials) have some qualms about The Tempest, which seems a little gay to them. Felix nevertheless convinces them to see Ariel as a space alien, not a fairy (or air-spirit), and the show goes on.

The play is modernized a bit with the addition of rap and some contemporary language so that the prison audience can follow it, but fans of The Tempest should love this book for the insightful analysis of key scenes and characters offered by Felix and the inmates. There’s always a schemer in a Shakespeare play, and so it is in this book about the production of a Shakespeare play. Felix hatches a scheme that might be worthy of the Bard. It might not be credible, but the credibility of a plot never bothered Shakespeare, so why should it concern Margaret Atwood?

The situation in Hag-Seed sets up as a comedy and much of the story is amusing, but it’s impossible to read Shakespeare without learning something, and Felix learns something about himself as the story unfolds. Felix is haunted (or comforted) by the ghost (or memory, or fantasy) of his dead daughter, and the play teaches something about the power of illusion ... and about the need to set illusions free. And of course, the prisoners learn something, because The Tempest is (as the novel reveals) a play about prisons and the different ways of living within them. And, as the last line of The Tempest reveals, the play is about pardons, which must be earned. The modern illustrations of the lessons taught by one of Shakespeare’s best plays make Hag-Seed a fun and informative read.

RECOMMENDED

Reinterpreting Shakespeare is one of those things that seems obvious on paper, I mean Shakespeare himself borrowed largely swaths of his ideas of those that came before him, so turning it into a cycle is an obvious get. The problem is the weight of Shakespeare's work has become so ensconced in the collection psyche of the world that to simply attempt to retell leads to light beer literature that feels more lazy than anything close to homage or retelling.. Atwood realizes this and instead uses The Tempest as the conduit for the main conflict of the book., using the modernized retelling in the parallels of one director's life is drawn perfectly in line with that of The Great and Mighty Wizard Prospero. It comes together quickly and with little room for dallying around or to prod and poke the characters outside the remarks given by keen observer and main character Felix, which given that its inspiration is from plays, makes a great deal of sense. Through excellent use of dialogue and cleverly crafted humor the most important characters manage to feel real if slightly underexplored. After all this is Prospero/Felix's story, the rest is simply the dressing on a journey to revenge.

I have no read any of the other Hogarth Shakespeare series and I'm not sure I'm going to, not because I didn't like this book, but because I cannot for the life of me imagine someone putting forth a finer more spiritually in sync retelling than the one Atwood has constructed for us here.

Atwood continues to challenge genre conventions and cultural expectations. Hagseed won't appeal to those who love her science fiction novels as much as her more overt social commentary, but as usual she is a fine and provocative story teller.

<i>Hag-Seed</i> by Margaret Atwood is a retelling of Shakespeare's <i>The Tempest</i> with all of its magic and revenge. The premise in Atwood's version is a spurned theater director named Felix whose sole wish is to put on a grand version of <i>The Tempest</i> for an audience at a festival to somehow honor his dead daughter, named after one of the main characters in the play. When that opportunity is taken away from Felix, he hides out of sight for years and plots his revenge on the community leaders and politicians that stole his thunder. Eventually, this leads Felix into the local prison system, giving classes and putting on performances with prisoners. It is here where Felix wants to exact his revenge.

This was my first Atwood book, and I'm afraid that it was the wrong choice, because I've heard so many good things about this author. This book tried to be meta, but putting <i>The Tempest</i> within <i>The Tempest</i> was a little overkill. This plot could have worked with Felix directing almost any play with a revenge plot and it would have had the desired affect.

The other reason I wanted to read this is because I've never read <i>The Tempest</i> (you can thank my public school education for that) and I do need a bit of hand-holding every time I approach Shakespeare with its archaic language. I often read (or watch) retellings and interpretations while approaching Shakespeare so that I know I'm understanding the plot. As for what happens in <i>The Tempest</i>, this book didn't help me understand at all what was going on, at least not until I reached the last ten pages or so of the book where Atwood included a summary of the play's plot.

I'm not sure that those who love <i>The Tempest</i> or Atwood's other work would necessarily want to flock to this book. More than seventy-five percent of the book moves at a snail's pace, and the one exciting part is overshadowed by the immediate following of long reports that the prisoners give on the characters post-play. It's not pleasure reading by any means, and should probably only be approached by those who want to study it and figure out what went wrong.

Atwood is one of those authors that I would never not read, and I found was not disappointed by this. When Felix is ousted from his position as artistic director of a prestigious theatre festival, he vows to take revenge on those who wronged him.

Living in obscurity and working under a false name as a prison teacher, he is able to create amazing theatre experiments with his jailbird students. When his new position gives him a way to get back at those who wronged him, Felix does not waste the chance.

I loved this book. This is a well written and rich story that feels like "literature". Excellent interplay of old Shakespearian theme. modern twists and rich characters. This is a book I would recommend to readers--those that like good fiction, good writing and a good story. I thought the book was well-edited with no rough edges and all elements paid-off by story's end. A great handsell.

Felix, artistic director of a theatre festival reminiscent of that in Stratford, Ontario, is ousted by his protege and goes to live in near-solitude in the country, accompanied only by the presence of his deceased daughter, Miranda. He finds himself a position teaching Shakespeare to the inmates of a nearby prison and begins to plot his revenge.

I enjoyed the set-up of this novel and its parallels with the plot of Shakespeare's "The Tempest", but ultimately found it a disappointment. The initial details of the revenge plot are fully described (the casting of prisoners in Felix's prison production of "The Tempest", the purchase of costumes and props, the invitation of Felix's enemies to the performance...) giving the book the flavour of a heist film; but the actual mechanics and enactment of the scheme felt vague, rushed and improbable. It's almost as if Atwood ran out of steam 3/4 of the way through, or ran out of time in the face of an immovable deadline.

As for the performance of the play, a rather clever twist had the prisoners translating Shakespeare's text into rap. I enjoyed the idea of this, but soon wearied of the multiple passages. Sometimes less is more.

Not one of Atwood's better efforts.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an eARC of this book.
What a pleasant surprise. I totally did not expect to like this book and I really loved it. Margaret Atwood at her best. Shakespeare! The Tempest! It works. Well written, humorous (yes, really truly funny and better than that witty). I almost did not request it because I feared it would end badly. It didn't. Excellent book. I nearly gave it 5 stars and seldom do I do that. Read the book!

i think i've read all but one of margaret atwood's novels, and though i liked them all very much, they tend to evaporate from my memory. i've asked myself why many times, and the best answer i can come up with is that i don't do well with novels with nasty people. it's not that her characters are gratuitously nasty: they are obviously damaged, and i suppose she is trying to make a point about that damage. if i remembered the novels i could say more, but, as i said, i don't, quite.

this novel is sort of perfect. felix, the protagonist, may be a little nasty, a little vengeful, but, first, he has all the reasons in the world to be; second, we know exactly why he's damaged; and third, his nastiness is after all quite benign.

atwood interweaves wonderfully shakespeare's Tempest, teaching acting, and acting in prison. the prison where felix ends up teaching and, eventually, putting on The Tempest (apparently not an ideal play to put on in a prison) is very low security, and still the prisoner are not allowed to perform live. their play will be recorded and broadcast via video to the inmate themselves and to whoever shows up (prison authorities, etc.). since we are told these guys' crimes, which are hardly a reason for them to be in prison in the first place, it is quite ridiculous that they should not be allowed to perform live. i cannot imagine for a second that here atwood is not indicting a pettily punitive system, while also advocating strongly for theatre to be brought inside prisons.

but of course she is doing much, much more than that. she is making The Tempest come alive in a place as claustrophobic, isolated, and exiled as prospero's island, and doing wonders with monstrosity, tenderness, grief, revenge, and paternal love in both world.

novels about plays sort of do that, don't they? they take the content of the play and make it come alive in the interplay between the actors off stage. i can't say that i've read many (i can't remember a single one right now!), but i cannot begin to imagine that a lot of other writers may have achieved the same level of fusion between the play and the actors as atwood does here. it's quite fantastic really. and funny. so funny.

i have never seen the play, or read it, and i feel i don't want to, now. it seems hopelessly complicated. i guess shakespeare does that and if you are a theatre person you are fine with it, but i'm not a theatre person. this novel, though, this novel will stay with me a long, long time

Margaret Atwood tackles Shakepeare's The Tempest in this Hogarth Shakespeare edition. In fact, she brings us a modern-day Prospero who, isolated and half-mad controls the elements around him so that he can seek revenge on those responsible for his banishment.

It would be in extraordinary poor taste to suppose that somehow Atwood has again written a superb novel.

This is the second in the Hogwarth series I read and I am sorry but I haven't enjoyed them. I know that they are written by great authors, they just aren't my cup of tea.

I think that the idea and concept are great.

I am not a Shakespeare aficionado, but in spite of that, I found this story to be amazing. The concept of reinventing classic Shakespeare plays in new and modern settings is extraordinarily done with the concept of a play within a play, and in a prison no less. There was a touch of fantasy in the story that seemed a bit odd at first, but by the end of the story I was swallowing it hook, line, and sinker. Bravo! This one comes highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this title.

I almost always enjoy Shakespeare re-imaginings, so I was quite eager to see what Margaret Atwood could do with this one. Hag-Seed is well written and at times both thoughtful and humorous. The plot revolves around Felix' attempts to get retribution for being fired through an elaborate staging of The Tempest within a prison. The novel thus mirrors what I know of the Tempest while also including the play within the novel (the play within a play is oh so Shakespearean). While it is easy to follow allow and draw parallels without necessarily reading The Tempest, I feel having read the play would definitely enhance the experience (I have not read it, and therefore felt I was playing a bit of catch up as I tried to figure out the roles of the characters and visualize the play within the novel).
Ultimately, Hag-Seed is entertaining. The characters can be colourful and the inmates' analysis of Shakespeare are unique and at time quite funny. However, my experience reading this particular Atwood novel was somewhat dampened by recent events in Canadian literature (Atwood's comments regarding UBC accountable left me feeling disappointed and less enthusiastic about reading her work). Still, it is always my hope that re-imaginings make classic literature more accessible, so I hope that those who find this book are inspired.

Incredible book that will stay with me for a long time

Before I review Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood, I must confess that I have never read The Tempest by William Shakespeare. I don’t know how I managed to make it through high school and two Bachelor of Science degrees without it, but I did. So, even though i enjoyed the book, I’m sure I would have enjoyed it much more if I was more familiar with The Tempest.

The main character of the story is Felix Phillips. Felix is a theatre director about to put on The Tempest for the Makeshiweg Theatre Festival. He has huge plans and hopes for it, which are dashed when he finds that he is being let go from his position. His removal is a great act of betrayal by his colleague, Tony.

While plotting his revenge, he takes on a part time job at a prison in a Literacy through Literature Program. He sets about produce Shakespeare plays using the convicts. One of my favorite parts is that as they take apart the play and make it their own, the inmates must only curse using language from the play.

He finally finds an opportunity to exact his revenge on his old colleagues, using the play, The Tempest.

Once again Margaret Atwood’s writing is excellent and descriptive. The story was creative and I’m sure probably even better than I can imagine since I can’t judge it by the original The Tempest.

I received an advanced copy of this book.

I am not sure if I did myself a favor in not reading the summary of the book before picking it up.
I read somewhere that it was a 'retelling' of the Tempest and my clicky little finger ran away with me.
This is becoming a common occurrence with me, not reading the summary, going in blind. Sometimes it works well for me others....well not so much.

This one worked out ok but I felt a bit lost in the beginning.
Was this a retelling or just a story about a man who wanted to put on his interpretation of the Tempest so badly it drove him a touch mad?
I can see what Atwood was doing here. She did a bit of a retelling but it was deeper than that, and I liked it.
This was no 'action packed' story of revenge, it was a slow burn.

What I enjoyed most was the in depth look into the story. Each of the characters were pulled into the spot light and allowed the chance to speak their piece.

I would certainly recommend this to anyone that enjoys the works of Shakespeare and would like a chance to spend some quality time with the characters in his Tempest. You don't even really need to know the story intimately to appreciate this book, so don't let that hold you back.