New Boy: William Shakespeare's Othello Retold: A Novel (Hogarth Shakespeare Series #5) -

Tracy Chevalier

Crown/Archetype

2018

224 páginas

7h 28m

ISBN-13: 9780553447651

Tracy Chevalier brings Shakespeare’s Othello—a harrowing drama of jealousy and revenge—to a 1970s era elementary school playground.

Arriving at his fifth school in as many years, diplomat’s son Osei Kokote knows he needs an ally if he is to survive his first day—so he’s lucky to hit it off with Dee, the most popular girl in school. But one student can’t stand to witness this budding relationship: Ian decides to destroy the friendship between the black boy and the golden girl. By the end of the day, the school and its key players—teachers and pupils alike—will never be the same again.

The tragedy of Othello is transposed to a 1970s suburban Washington schoolyard, where kids fall in and out of love with each other before lunchtime, and practice a casual racism picked up from their parents and teachers. Peeking over the shoulders of four 11 year olds—Osei, Dee, Ian, and his reluctant "girlfriend" Mimi—Tracy Chevalier's powerful drama of friends torn apart by jealousy, bullying, and betrayal will leave you reeling.

Resenhas (1)

3 (Bom)

Bad idea executed in an average way

I’m not sure yet how I feel about this book. Even though the writing flowed easily, the idea of the book plot itself was terrible and executed lazily. The author inserted a lot of cultural references from the period, but it wasn’t enough to immerse the reader in the book’s scenario. However, the biggest problem was the characters. It’s unbelievable that they were only 10/11 years old, which makes it impossible for the reader to create a connection with them. Another thing that makes the story less believable it’s the passage of time. How on earth all of that happened in only one day? There’s simply no way. If the author had organized the book timeline better, it would be easier to understand the feelings and motivations of the characters. The only thing that made me stuck till the end was the expectation about how the author would adapt the end: would Othello and Desdemona finally get their happy ending or another tragedy would happen?