Summary
Something Rotten is a young adult mystery novel closely modeled after Shakespeare’s Hamlet. In the story, Horatio Wilkes agrees to help his best friend, Hamilton Prince, discover who murdered his father, Rex Prince. Horatio has a long list of suspects to weed through, including: Olivia,Bibliography
Gratz, A. (2007). Something rotten. New York, NY: Speak.My Impression
I really, really wanted to like this book, but I only found it to be O.K. I liked the concept of using one of Shakespeare’s plays as a model for a mystery, but the execution was so-so. My problem with it was that it followed the play too closely. Because I am familiar with Hamlet, it was obvious from the beginning who the guilty party was. The author did not do enough to make it seem as though all of the suspects could be guilty. His focus seemed to be on the guilty party. Also, there was a little plot twist when Horatio obtained a crucial piece of evidence that I found to be totally unbelievable. I did, however, enjoy the character of Candy, the cowboy, who was an employee of the Prince’s He was entertaining. Horatio was also a fairly likeable character.To Read or Not to Read: Meh, it's hard to say. If you have some time, pick it up and enjoy it. If you don't have time, it won't be a big loss in the whole scheme of things.
Professional Reviews
School Library Journal
"Gr 10 Up --This contemporary reworking of Hamlet is told through the voice of quick-witted Horatio Wilkes, who is visiting his boarding-school friend Hamilton Prince. Hamilton's father has been knocked off, and Horatio resolves to solve the crime. Denmark, TN, serves as the mill-town backdrop to the story, and the winking nods to Shakespeare's characters-including Olivia, Roscoe, and Gilbert-are mildly fun to observe. The author tries to remake the protagonist as a sexy Everyman who passes easily through town and into the good graces of its inhabitants, but it feels forced and unrealistic. Women can't resist the teen, apparently, and they all exist merely as a foil for his cad-like ways. When he tires of leering at Olivia and moves on, she has nothing else to do but wait until the end of the novel to kiss him. The fun quotient quickly dissolves for a conceit that had potential." - John Leighton
Leighton, J. (2008). Something Rotten: A Horatio Wilkes Mystery. School Library Journal, 54(1), 118. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
Kirkus Reviews
"Gratz is cornering the niche market of novels containing dissimilar topics. Here he combines Hamlet and hardboiled detective pulp. During a vacation from their academy, Horatio Wilkes accompanies his buddy Hamilton Prince to Denmark, Tenn. Just two months after his father passed away under suspicious circumstances, Hamilton's Uncle Claude has married Hamilton's mother. Claude now controls the Elsinore Paper Plant, a multibillion dollar company blatantly polluting the Copenhagen River. Horatio, with a knack for investigating, is determined to expose Claude's corruption while Hamilton, dismayed by what he believes is his mother's betrayal, drowns himself in alcohol. Ultimately, Horatio relies on environmentalist protester Olivia to reveal secrets about Elsinore. The many parallels to Hamlet are interesting, but Gratz wisely avoids producing a carbon copy of the tragedy. Horatio admirably plays the loyal friend but has a cocky voice that is too self-assured and as a teen rings unauthentic. However, this well-crafted mystery has appeal for readers familiar with both Raymond Chandler's novels and Shakespeare's masterpiece."
Something rotten: A Horatio Wilkes mystery. (2007). Kirkus Reviews, 75(17), 929. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
Library Uses
The library could host a murder mystery evening for young adults. The library could either purchase a kit fairly inexpensively or could write a script that goes along with the novel. Image retrieved from: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/something-rotten-alan-m-gratz/1100474414?ean=9780142412978
No comments:
Post a Comment