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Book Cover for: Let Me Tell You and Let Me Go on, Paul Griffiths

Let Me Tell You and Let Me Go on

Paul Griffiths

Two novels from the perspective of Hamlet's Ophelia--the first set before the events of the play, the second after--written entirely by remixing and repurposing the character's dialogue from Shakespeare's original text.

"So: now I come to speak." With this line, Shakespeare's Ophelia starts telling her story. In let me tell you, this newly revealed woman uses exactly the same words Shakespeare gave her in Hamlet, shifted as in a kaleidoscope to create a very different voice: her own. We hear her personal narrative from childhood to the moments before the start of the play, when she knows she has a fateful decision to make. Along the way, we discover whole new angles on her father, her brother, the prince, and other characters who come out from behind the curtain.

In let me go on, her decision made, she refashions herself. Emerging from her old world, she explores a new one, of magical variety yet coherent. As she goes in search of what she may still become, she meets a new cast of characters, some poignant, some hilarious. Paul Griffiths gives this remarkable protagonist--and us--a play-full of humor, poignancy, passion, adventure, and a great many surprises.

Book Details

  • Publisher: New York Review of Books
  • Publish Date: Apr 22nd, 2025
  • Pages: 384
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 6.90in - 5.00in - 0.90in - 0.70lb
  • EAN: 9781681379258
  • Categories: World Literature - England - 21st CenturyWomenClassics

About the Author

Paul Griffiths is a Welsh writer, librettist, and music critic. A Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, he is also a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His novel Mr. Beethoven was shortlisted for the 2020 Goldsmiths Prize. He lives on the Welsh coast.