THE OUTRAGEOUS FORTUNE OF OPHELIA

Ophelia by Lisa Klein, Bloomsbury USA Children's Books (2006), ISBN-10: 1582348014,$16.95

“Dear Mr. Shakespeare, I respectfully but completely disagree. Sincerely, Lisa Klein.”

This could easily be the philosophy behind Klein’s first novel, which describes the life and times of Hamlet’s doomed lover, Ophelia. This heroine’s famously tragic death has made her one of the most sympathetic characters in Shakespeare’s plays. But while the Bard portrayed Ophelia as altogether rather pitiful, Klein takes the opposite approach and constructs a strong-minded, witty and intelligent Ophelia who plays a surprisingly significant role in the events that unfold during the dark days at Elsinor Castle.

Ophelia’s personal history is discussed at length in this novel. She is motherless, but educated as well as her brother Laertes. From a young age, Polonius does his utmost to groom his children for a life in the royal court, hoping by extension to improve his own social standing. He cares more for Ophelia’s station as lady-in-waiting to Queen Gertrude and Laertes’ friendship with Prince Hamlet than he does for their happiness.

Ophelia first meets Prince Hamlet when she is eight and he is fourteen. Although he treats her like a child until years later, her fascination with him only grows. In their adolescent years, he is attracted to her wit and sharp intelligence when she wins a debate with him. Ophelia knows that her romance with Hamlet is risky, and the lovers go to great lengths to keep it secret from the court. Hamlet himself is as complex in the book as in the play. He is romantic and kind, yet secretive and melancholy. Early in their courtship, he gives Ophelia a coin with the two-faced Roman god Janus on it. Like Janus, Hamlet has a dual personality that confuses Ophelia, though Hamlet professes he truly loves her.

After the assassination of King Hamlet and the ascension of Claudius to the throne, Hamlet and Ophelia’s relationship becomes even more serious, culminating in an elopement. But their happiness is short-lived once Hamlet is given the responsibility of avenging his father’s death. Ophelia is alarmed by the change in her husband and his talk of committing murder. She agrees to help him, but secretly plans to deter him from his goal with her love. Together, they devise a startling scheme to both discredit and protect themselves from all who would endanger their lives. Unfortunately, the main events of the story stay true to the play, and neither Hamlet nor Ophelia’s best efforts can prevent the tragedy that ultimately ends their relationship.

What must be remembered about this book is that this is Ophelia’s side of the story, not Hamlet’s. Lisa Klein creates a strong heroine who must take her destiny into her own hands if she is to survive. There is a lot that can’t be revealed without spoiling the story. But if you are curious to know how Ophelia took up arms against her own sea of troubles, I highly recommend this book.

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Nell Curley is an avid book reader and volunteers at the Library.

Teen Brooks Blog Starts Up again

OK. We have been a little asleep here for a couple months. But we are ready to go again. Teen Brooks will be publishing reviews of books in the Library's teen collection. And speaking of the teen collection, have you seen the new rolling book shelves on the Main Floor?

More about this later, but let me introduce Nell Curley. Nell is a volunteer at Brooks and is an avid book reader. She likes to write and here is her second review which is to appear in the Brattleboro Reformer Thursday, January 17. She will be writing more reviews for the newspaper which also will appear here.

Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging: Confessions of Georgia Nicolson, by Rennison, Louise.

2000. 256p. HarperCollins, hardcover, $15.95 (0-06-028814-0); HarperCollins, library edition, $15.89 (0-06-028871-X). Grades 6-9.

If you had a hard time understanding the humor of Bridget Jones, or if you were too young to be interested in it when it first debuted, you might be highly interested in British author Louise Rennison's first of eight adolescent fiction books, Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging, about a hilarious fourteen-year-old British girl named Georgia Nicolson. Georgia records the days and months of her life in diary-like entries. She attends a strict all-girls school where she and her friends, the "Ace Gang," combat their boredom by applying makeup and making up dance routines during class. Georgia's home life consists of avoiding her highly embarrassing parents and catering to the unpredictable whims of her little sister, Libby. The aforementioned Angus is her half-wildcat pet, who terrorizes the next-door neighbors and makes plenty of extra trouble for the Nicolson family.

When Georgia's best friend Jas develops a crush on the local grocer's son, Tom, Georgia agrees to approach Tom under the guise of wanting to purchase vegetables so as to learn more about him. While she is in the store, she meets his gorgeous older brother Robbie, whom she becomes instantly smitten with and dubs him "The Sex God.” Jas and Tom's relationship flourishes, but Georgia learns that the Sex God is older than her and involved with a girl in Georgia's school, the tall blonde prefect Lindsay. The two girls are not on friendly terms at school, so Georgia has serious competition. Even worse, the Sex God seems to have a rather low opinion of Georgia and the company she keeps. Between staving off boredom (as well as parents) at home, school, and the constant revision of the Ace Gang's "snogging scale" to accommodate what number Georgia and her friends have got to with boys, Georgia wonders if Robbie the Sex God will ever be hers.

When I first read Angus, I laughed harder than I have before over a book. Really! Georgia has no inhibitions about being sarcastic or rude to anyone, and the reactions from her family members are very funny, especially during an incident where she accidentally shaves off her eyebrows. She frets over her appearance and boy appeal as much as any girl, often finds herself caught in highly embarrassing situations, and wants to have as much fun as possible. Louise Rennison creates an unrepentantly immature character in Georgia, but if you find yourself wishing she’d grow up a bit, simply read the next few installments (On the Bright Side I’m Now the Girlfriend of a Sex God, Knocked Out By My Nunga-Nungas, Dancing in My Nuddy-Pants, Away Laughing on a Fast Camel, Then He Ate My Boy Entrancers, Startled By His Furry Shorts and most recently Love is A Many Trousered Thing) and watch how she grows.

For those of you who were baffled by the titles listed above and have yet to grasp what “snogging” refers to, there are handy glossaries in the back of each book translating Georgia’s vernacular to plain American English. She’s considerate like that.