Home » Reading & Literature » Contemporary Fiction » Updike's Shakespeare Fails to Please

Updike's Shakespeare Fails to Please

© Robert Powers

Shakespeare's Hamlet has been generally recognized as one of the masterpieces written in English. Agreed that the English as written at the time of the Bard was quite different than we employ some 400 years later. Even though Shakespeare can prove mysterious or overwhelming for the novice reader, his mastery of the stage and of the language cannot be disputed.

John Updike's particular mastery of English prose and his place as one of the great writers of our age would bring agreement among the most disputatious of crowds. If Updike, who turns 68 this year, had produced nothing except his Rabbit Angstrom quartet, his reputation would be solidly established among all who revel in good writing.

However, the pride of Pennsylvania occasionally strides manfully into a muddy street and comes out with not only his shoes, but his reputation looking worse for wear. That's the case with his latest truffle of fiction, a silly piece of nonsense called Gertrude and Claudius (Alfred A. Knopf, $23).

Updike's little story deals with the title characters, who are king and queen of Denmark, in a period prior to the goings on so well presented by Will Shakespeare in Hamlet.

This is one of those productions in which all the strutting and profundities are marched in front of the reader, who seems obligated to say, with a smile, "Oh, that's so clever, so droll, and so in-ter-resting. Updike never fails to put together interesting sentences. When he has a topic that really fascinates him, the reader has only to strap down the seatbelts and hang on for a bumpy but always entertaining ride.

Alas, alack and forsooth. Updike seems to be working at half-speed with Claudius and Gertrude. The characters simply have little interest, and the machinations of the plot are only vaguely entertaining.

This may be a main selection of the Book of the Month Club, but that's because John Updike has one of the most renowned monikers in modern literature. It's too bad that he chose such an unworthy topic and produced a novel that's too clever for its own good. GREAT WRITER'S YOUTH

Although his ouput comes no where close to that of John Updike, the magnificent V.S. Naipaul has produced an impressive list of memorable titles, including a dozen books of fiction, and ten volumes of non-fiction. Despite his standing in the world of literature, his name provokes a quizzical look when spoken in most quarters.

The copyright of the article Updike's Shakespeare Fails to Please in Contemporary Fiction is owned by Robert Powers. Permission to republish Updike's Shakespeare Fails to Please in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.