Goodreads Mobile | see what your friends are reading

Oct 07, 2011

Madeline rated it:

Romeo and Juliet, abridged.

ROMEO: I’m Romeo, and I used to be emo and annoying but now I’m so totally in luuuuurve and it’s AWESOME.

MERCUTIO: Okay, three things: One, there’s only room in this play for one awesome character and it’s me, bitch. Two, you’re still emo and annoying. Three, didn’t you say that exact same stuff yesterday about Rosaline?

ROMEO: Who?

*meanwhile, Juliet prances around her room and draws hearts on things and scribbles “Mrs. More...

111 comments like (581 people liked it)

Mar 02, 2010

Elizabeth rated it:

If there is one thing we can learn from this play, it is that men should not be allowed to walk around with swords; they just get into fights. It’s too easy to draw them at the ~~smallest~~ (forgive me) slightest provocation. In fact, it seems to happen every time a handsome young man appears to provoke them. Hm. Is this whole play really about repressed homosexuality? Where is Oscar Wilde when you need him? Although it probably is not; it is a good justification for the Elizabethan equivalent of gu More...

54 comments like (46 people liked it)

Mar 23, 2010

Kelly rated it:

"Hey! I'm eatin' here!"

So you're at a nice outdoor cafe one day, eating your lunch, and all of a sudden some damn fool kids come running through the square with their swords out (apparently they've got some strong Second Amendment advocates in Verona) and insist on skewering each other right there in front of you in the square! And seriously all you want to do is just eat your (damn fine, not that anyone asked you) pasta and get back to work before your lord finds some excu More...

58 comments like (38 people liked it)

Aug 27, 2008

Nate rated it:

I'm not sure what annoys me more - the play that elevated a story about two teenagers meeting at a ball and instantly "falling in love" then deciding to get married after knowing each other for one night into the most well-known love story of all time, or the middle schools that feed this to kids of the same age group as the main characters to support their angst-filled heads with the idea that yes, they really are in love with that guy/girl they met five minutes ago, and no one can st More...

25 comments like (53 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Matt rated it:

How someone can go and get two degrees in English and not read Romeo and Juliet, I have absolutely no idea. Why I would take it upon myself to read Shakespeare when I’m under no obligation, I’m afraid only fellow writers and lit geeks will understand.

It’s among the best-known stories in history, even for people who’ve never come within a mile of the Bard’s plays. Two lovers are kept apart by their feuding families. They must thus pursue their love in secret. But it’s not called The T More...

3 comments like (11 people liked it)

May 30, 2011

Kira rated it:

The original whiny love story gets ~~screwed over~~ the Twilight treatment. Who knew?

Aside from the cover butchery, this is a good solid book, but not one of Shakespeare's best. I grew up with Macbeth (I've been in the damn thing three times and read it five) and it remains my everlasting favorite. Romeo and Juliet? Not so much.

Why?

Because it's one of the most gravely misunderstood stories in the history of ever. Over the years it's been warped more than Hercules More...

28 comments like (31 people liked it)

Jun 30, 2010

Bird Brian rated it:

Background Info (you can skip this part)

Shakespeare according to "RedBook"
A magazine at the dentist's office says romantic relationships can be broken into three categories, based on progressive levels of emotional maturity:
The least mature are founded on 1) mutual physical attraction ...basically high school "puppy love". If that's all the relationship has going for it, it is fated to fail.

The next step up are relations based on 2)shared intere

More...

27 comments like (20 people liked it)

Feb 01, 2012

Michael rated it:

Quite a more happy marriage of Shakespeare's text and Manga visuals than the titular couple enjoy. This sort of venture is excellent for intriguing young minds to the bard's plays. It isn't the full text mind you, but what does appear is pretty much untampered with. Although the visuals represent a Japanese cast of characters playing out a modern day Tokyo Yakuza rivalry it doesn't distract too much from the power of Shakespeare's wordplay. Manga visuals are an excellent medium for representing More...

1 comment like (7 people liked it)

Feb 26, 2011

Sarah rated it:

The first time I read Romeo and Juliet (my freshman year of high school), I hated it. I had always heard it built up as a great love story, a great romance- and I didn't see it at all. To me, it seemed a pretty pointless story about a couple of idiotic teenagers in lust. The ridiculous essays I was forced to compose about it certainly didn't help.

My senior year of high school, however, my drama teacher selected it as our spring play. I was stage manager, and I was horrified when More...

5 comments like (11 people liked it)

Oct 23, 2011

Judith rated it:

I was thinking the other day and decided, "Hey! Why don't I write up a review for the world's possibly most effed up play ever. Why not?" So I'm going to. As you can probably tell this will not be eloquently written and in fact, I do not give a flying purple monkey about the romanticism behind the idiocy that went down that one week in Verona, (It all happened in on week!), because this play has bothered me since forever and it isn't about to change now! On with the review!

More...

8 comments like (7 people liked it)

Sep 06, 2011

Simona rated it:

Ahimé, perché Amore, di aspetto così gentile è poi, alla prova, così aspro e tiranno?

Giulietta e Romeo, Romeo e Giulietta. Chi non li conosce? Chi non conosce la loro struggente storia d'amore e di morte?
Tutti li conoscono, ma quasi tutti con superficialità.

Oh Romeo, Romeo, perché sei tu Romeo?

E la storiella finisce là. Si amano, le famiglie non approvano, si uccidono pur di stare insieme.
Eh no, signori!
Ci sono dietro vicende di famiglie che si odiano, profondame More...

2 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jul 17, 2011

Cinnamon rated it:

This review may also be found on A Thousand Little Pages.

Two words: Epic. Fail.

Seriously, I was expecting so much. This is Romeo and Juliet we're talking about here. It's only the best known romance in the history of English lit, right?

OK, I digress. The next generation might just consider Twilight to be the best known romance of all time. Shame on them. Such poor, misguided souls...

I thought R&J's ages caused all their interactions to take on an almost la More...

18 comments like (4 people liked it)

Oct 25, 2007

Colva rated it:

I was told I could learn everything I needed to know about life from "Romeo and Juliet". The play doesn't stand out in my mind in terms of plot or motivation, however the whole thing is worth paying a great deal of attention to because of a handful of speeches. Most notably, Mercutio's "queen mab" speech,

O, then, I see Queen Mab hath been with you.
She is the fairies' midwife, and she comes
In shape no bigger than an agate-stone
On the fore-finger of an More...

3 comments like (8 people liked it)

May 25, 2008

Sally rated it:

Let's talk for a minute about why I would give 5 stars to this awful story. I just need to step back 25 years. I first read this when I was in junior high (just the age of our star-crossed lovers), and I absolutely loathed it. Unfortunately, I didn't just simmer quietly about it--I loathed this LOUDLY, openly in my English class. Everyone got to hear about just how stupid these people were.

Being their age, I would never have behaved so badly--meet, marry, suicide in a weekend? P More...

4 comments like (11 people liked it)

Mar 28, 2011

Dana rated it:

Let me just say, I had to read this for school. This changes my opinion a lot. (I mean, why do we have to take READING CHECKS on it?! And learn terms like "soliloquy" and "aside"?? That just totally ruined it.)

Well, the whole story was cute and sweet and yada yada yada. But, it's SO ANNOYING how there's "miscommunication" throughout the entire book. Yeah yeah, I Know that that's one of the problems, but it REALLY bugs me. I just wanted to go "OMG, W More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Apr 17, 2011

Malak rated it:

Since I was a young girl my mother used to tell me about Qays and Layla, Romeo and Juliet and all these kinds of tragic love stories that show how can people be completely out of their minds when it comes to love. They would hurt themselves, or even kill themselves for reasons that might seem entirely nonsense, but it's love! The mystery that changes everything and everyone.

Romeo and Juliet is doubtlessly the most famous love story of all the times and I'm aware of this, but there ar More...

6 comments like (2 people liked it)

May 09, 2009

Xi rated it:

A familar title, Romeo and Juliet is a heart-breaking story about a pair of "star-crossed" lovers. This is an inspiring literature written in Elizathen age. Because of the ancient grudge, two households, capulet and montague are separated from the world with the hatred sword, otherwise blood. Until Romeo Montague and Juliet capulet's love becomes the key to open up the peace.
Receiving also requires giving, Romeo and Juliet give out their lives to persuit their forbi More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Apr 21, 2008

Michele rated it:

If you haven't read this yet...I just don't understand why not!

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

May 28, 2008

Brian rated it:

How does one critique Shakespear? I can't therefore I won't.

4 comments like (8 people liked it)

Aug 13, 2011

Serena rated it:

Growing up, I often heard of this Romeo and Juliet others spoke so fondly of. I grew curious and wondered what kind of love this couple could have possibly experienced in order to become such fixtures for others to idolize and fawn upon. I read it for the first time in grade 8 for fun and it was a sleepy experience. I was rather impatient with Shakespeare's rhymes and prose so I escaped with the general outline of the story.

Grade 10 was when my class read it and it was also when my More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 26, 2009

Emily rated it:

Romeo and Juliet the classic and revered romance book by many a generation and many people, it is a household book that pretty much anyone can tell you at least part of the plot. There are books and several movies based on this book, people still preform this play and it's author is one of histories best. Everyone who reads it love the tragic love story of Romeo and Juliet the star crossed lovers. All this leads to the thought, well this must be and AMAZING book. I beg to differ. Romeo was a spi More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

May 21, 2009

Carly rated it:

Some people think Shakespeare is too old, outdated and overrated. However, when I can read something for the 14th time, and STILL find new things in it? Obviously that means the author did something right.

The themes that appear in this play: love, suicide, hate, and revenge being some of them are very relevant to the youth of today. The feud between the Capulets and the Montagues is one that mirrors that of gangs in modern times. And it's interesting that I can lead students thro More...

11 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 25, 2008

Megan rated it:

I had to think a bit about Laura's question regarding whether I like this story because it's Shakespeare or if there was more to it.

This was my introduction to Shakespeare, so that is surely part of it. But I also love the stories that stick with me and, although I'm not one for suicide over lost love - I've never been that melodramatic, even in my most melodramatic of heart wrenching teenage years - I definitely remember what it was like to have hormones intensifying every emotio More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 10, 2008

♥Apollo-s.Dark.Eden_. rated it:

rushing into thing is never does any good. Think things thru. Listen to your gut !and when u have a philosophy on life u should fallow it! Life is like ying-&-yang there is balancey . Dont love hard or too soft.(5th time reading the play and NOW I'm starting to understand!)

ignore the rest(paper for zkool)
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Their deadly love
by: yazmin m. cora
dummer 2nd hour
02~04~08

More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Apr 19, 2007

Kelly rated it:

Problem D
Romeo & Juliet !
Input: Standard Input
Output: Standard Output
Time Limit: 2 seconds

In this problem we will discuss the problems of a modern Romeo and a modern Juliet. You are asked to solve their problems so that they don’t have to be a tragic pair like that of Shakespeare’s. As usual the family of Romeo and Juliet have hostile relationships and so they are locked up in two different places M and N. Two cannons are placed in location A and More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 21, 2008

Stephanie rated it:

Like most people, I read it in junior high school and pretty much hated it. Ugh, what horrid memories it brings back - having to listen to other adolescents who really have no background knowledge or interest read aloud from the text with no cadence or feeling (other than "thank God that's over" when the teacher calls on someone else) But it is really fun to go back to these pieces now and have the time and experience and understanding to look at all the wonderful layers Shakespeare wo More...

0 comments like

Dec 29, 2010

Kelly rated it:

If Romeo and Juliet was a piece of modern literature, it would have been an epic fail in my book (sad to say that there are books that sound like this published last year! Eeek!). But the timeless language of Shakespeare can only be condoned by a brave reader, which was not I, but this novel/play encouraged me to read the romance I was afraid of. Not the swooning maiden on the cover wrapped in the arms of a buffish, half-naked man kind of romance though, true romance that comes from the heart More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 01, 2011

Terence rated it:

I'd probably have a higher opinion of Romeo and Juliet if I hadn't had to teach it every semester to my Freshman English classes for 3 years.

But even second-rate Shakespeare is first rate English prose.

____________________

Having just finished reviewing Stanley Wells' Shakespeare, Sex, and Love and rereading Romeo and Juliet, I have to reassign this play to the Bard's first tier. Like any good crit-lit, Shakespeare, Sex, and Love exposes a "tired old warho More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Dec 01, 2008

Amy rated it:

As a high school student, I hated Romeo and Juliet. I thought their actions too melodramatic, and because I didn't believe in love at first sight, I found the entire play deficient. The entire tragedy, in my teenage eyes, occurred because of their parent's feud. Now I realize that the play wasn't lacking, I was. The headstrong passions of youth contributed to their demise as much as the family enmity. The plot derives strength from this, and story joined with beautiful language--Shakespeare perf More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Apr 11, 2011

Melanie rated it:

I think Romeo and Juliet could have been more meaningful. It might seem for awhile that getting married that quickly is romantic, but they don't even know each other. I also don't like all of the death and bloody suicide that happens during the play. It had some good parts. The language was very beautiful, and the loyalty was refreshing.

4 comments like (1 person liked it)

reviews