Hag-Seed: the tempest retold Hardcover – 6 Oct. 2016

As befits a prose treatment of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Margaret Atwood’s Hag-Seed plots the story of a deposed arts festival director, Felix Philips (Atwood’s Prospero), and his exile to the backwoods. The notions of exile and prisons is explored through him, and other characters in the book. Do we make our own prisons, can we escape them, what part can retribution play in settling old scores and forging ahead with something better and more just? The magic, is of course, the magic of theatre and the arts. Spirits, again, may or may not be real and Felix very much has his own ghost to deal with.Atwood toys with time in this story so that the actual Tempest is literally a play within the story. She makes it work by tying that play in thematically with Felix’s story. There is only one indulgence expected of the reader, which is to accept the notion of love at first site, which is managed, naturally, by Ariel.As you would expect, the main female character is strong and independent, though her working relationship with Felix as a father figure is to their mutual benefit. Felix also has a female helper in power. She believes in what he is doing with theatre in prison, whereas the conniving politico males do not. The other female is a sort of ghost, Felix’s female side perhaps? I did wonder if the author was tempted to site the action in a women’s prison, though this might have caused problems with the Miranda-Ferdinand conclusion; besides Margaret Atwood has portrayed imprisoned women before, not least in The Handmaid’s Tale.The culture of sexuality in male prisons is sidestepped, though I suspect the author had to do some deep thinking here. There are issues that Felix needs to overcome in terms of casting a “fairy” with all its implications. It must have crossed Margaret Atwood’s mind to delve into that area, but it really is very much a culture of its own and probably something of a minefield for any writer. What’s more, an exploration of male-male prison sexuality would have needed more attention and most probably increased the length of a superbly compact and well-crafted story.The book also explores the themes of death and grief and the role of the arts in prison reform. It will appeal to those who love Shakespeare, however, it works purely as a great story in its own right. Every word counts in this finely tuned novel and it’s a total breeze to read. Margaret Atwood surely is a magical writer.

It's often when an author writes something outside their usual style that you realise just how good they really are. This is true of Margaret Atwood. She's already got a good range of works under her belt, but this is a bit different again and is really skilfully executed. As the subtitle suggests, it's a retelling of Shakespeare's classic play, the Tempest. A plot summary of the Tempest is at the end of the novel - but may have been more helpful at the beginning. If you aren't familiar with the play, I think it would be worth reading the summary first.Atwood moves the Shakespearian setting to a Canadian jail in 2013. Felix, a previously successful theatre director, has fallen on hard times after the death of his wife and daughter and having been ousted from his job running a play festival. He finds a job teaching Shakespeare to prisoners and staging plays, and several years after his downfall, this role provides him an unexpected opportunity for a complicated revenge on those who usurped him.Felix is a sympathetic enough protagonist, and he is surrounded by strong supporting characters in the form of the prisoners and guards he works with. It's really well written, as you'd expect from Atwood. The pacing is good, it's gripping, it's easy to read and engaging from the start. It's true that elements of the plot are extremely far fetched, but Atwood can be excused to some extent as she did not create the source material. There were some places where I thought she could have subverted Shakespeare's original with better overall effect, whilst not undermining the spirit of the source material. The main example of this would spoil it for readers though so I won't expand.All the same, I can forgive a higher level of coincidence and implausibility because of the remit to retell what was a fantastical tale in the first place. Overall, her ideas work well and it's an book that can be thoroughly enjoyed. As someone who knows the Tempest very well, I found it easy to follow and pick up the parallels. As mentioned, I suspect readers who are not so familiar with the play will enjoy the book more if they read a synopsis of it first. This is a novel you can suspend your scepticism and simply enjoy. It reminds me that Atwood is really skilful writer and it's great to see authors trying different things.

I was very disappointed. The plot was flimsy and I found it almost entirely unbelievable. I love The Tempest but felt this was a poor representation of it. The part where the play is finally produced really is wasted reading time, the book just seemed to stumble along getting repetitive, yet most of the characters were never really developed so it left a something and nothing, unsatisfying feeling. I was extremely surprised at this from Margaret Atwood as I have loved a lot of her work

Per chi ama Shakespeare, come me che l'ho insegnato per 35 anni, questo libro è un viaggio tra l'opera shakespeariana, The Tempest, e il mondo reale delle carceri dove la Atwood ambienta una rivisitazione della ultima commedia scritta dal grande drammaturgo inglese. Aspetti e temi della "Tempesta" vengono reinterpretati da un gruppo di attori / carcerati che, sotto la guida di un ex regista, silurato da falsi amici e per questo desideroso di vendicarsi , allestiscono il dramma, all'interno del carcere, reinterpretandolo secondo la loro visione della trama e dei personaggi. Il regista non solo disseterà la sua voglia di vendetta, ma riuscirà a fare appassionare all'opera shakespeariana, il gruppo di "fuori legge", colpevoli di vari reati non gravissimi , ma pur sempre tali, che allestiranno uno spettacolo formidabile e nuovo. Andranno anche oltre, immaginando il dopo del dramma , ovvero, ciò che sarebbe potuto capitare ai vari personaggi una volta scritta la parola FINE alla vicenda narrata. Verità e fantasia si intrecciano sulle pagine del libro. Realtà e finzione. Un libro scritto con grande maestria , all'altezza di questa eccezionale scrittrice canadese .

Atwood is one of the best novel-in-a-novel writer. She especially shines here in her narration of the Shakespeare classic The Tempest. The modernity is the need of the day , if not the hour. The core strength of this novel is that the brilliance of Atwood shines through both the narration of original tempest, and also through her own setup. The father-daughter duo is so elegantly expressed, and more especially in Atwood's modern setup, though the daughter has long demised.If not a must read for the Shakespearean's followers, it is a must read for the Atwood fans.

Se em sua obra a canadense Margaret Atwood tem escrito sobre diversos tipos de aprisionamentos – físicos, emocionais, legais, mundanos... – em HAG-SEED ela leva seus personagens e a trama para dentro do sistema penitenciário. O romance é uma adaptação contemporânea da peça A Tempestade, de Shakespeare, e protagonizado por um diretor de teatro que trabalha com um grupo de detentos.O livro faz parte de um projeto chamado Hogarth Shakespeare series que reconta a obra do bardo sob a perspectiva contemporânea – escritores como Howard Jacobson e Anne Tyler também participam do projeto. Aqui, Atwood retrabalha os elementos fantásticos do texto original com ironia e cinismo num mundo contemporâneo tingido por tons de Orange is the new black e A malvada.O cenário é uma penitenciária masculina, e o protagonista Felix, um diretor de um festival de teatro canadense que foi demitido – por intervenção de seu rival – quando faria sua obra-prima: uma adaptação ousada e extravagante de A Tempestade. Seria o grande momento de sua carreira – repleta de altos e baixos – e ajudaria a superar a morte de sua filha, Miranda.Felix é o Próspero do romance, e deverá esperar mais de uma década para sua própria vingança, quando consegue emprego como tutor de teatro, num projeto social, dentro de uma prisão. É finalmente a chance de montar a *sua* versão da peça shakespeariana.O ambiente inóspito e os “atores” servem como o ponto de partida para um comentário sobre os liberais (não no sentido econômico, mas no sentido “americano”, social, político, cultural) do presente na figura de Felix. Repleto de boas intenções – e outras um tanto egoístas – quer levar a arte (e sua vingança também) aos presos. Na sua versão original de A Tempestade, Ariel seria feito por uma travesti e Caliban, caracterizado como um mendigo, negro ou nativo americano, paraplégico que se arrastaria pelo palco num skate gigante.Cinismo é uma força nas obras de Atwood e aqui se materializa em diversos momentos – especialmente na figura de Felix, um tremendo personagem – odiável em vários momentos, mas também a quem se nutre certa simpatia em outros tantos. O resultado é um romance ácido, divertido, em alguns momentos, e sempre sagaz, ou seja, Vintage Atwood.

This is a gem of a book. One of the best in the Hogarth Shakespeare series. Atwood rewrites The Tempest so wondefully and in such a layered and nuanced way that it loses nothing, becoming a text of our times in the process.The theme of revenge, new beginnings and the characters are transported to Canada of today from an unknown island of the 1600s very smoothly. I enjoyed reading this one through and through.

Review of ‘Hag seed’ by Margaret AtwoodI was reluctant to read this book after having bad memories of ‘a handmaid’s tale’ rammed down my throat at school. My bookclub friends assuaged my troubled mind by assuring me that things had moved on a long way from then and that this was totally different and very good.I was not disappointed. Far from it.The story grabbed my attention from the opening line, piqued my curiosity and drew me in beguilingly. For a long time as you read you don’t really know where you are going or why you are listening to this story and then gradually the plot thickens and you start to understand.But even so, I found it impossible to guess the conclusion.The story is about a frustrated theatre director who loses his job in the middle of a production of ‘The Tempest’ which symbolised for him the pinnacle of his glittering career and the reason he lost his beloved daughter. So when the production is pulled out from under him and he is sacked unceremoniously by his once right hand man, he seeks revenge, and as they say, it is a dish best eaten cold.Here we follow his demise and his gradual re-birth. He becomes artistic director and theatre teacher in a prison and we learn about the inmates and the production of The Tempest within the prison walls.It is a cleverly written story, with rounded believable characters and an ending with a twist. There is a spot of magic thrown in with his dead daughter, Miranda, playing a part in his life, and written so well that you are unsure whether she exists only in his mind, or is there really a ghost haunting him?I think this book is excellently written, and also makes the tempest accessible even to those who have never read Shakespeare and who don’t want to. It is exciting and compulsive.Lesson learnt? Don’t allow an author to be tarred by the brush of classroom memories.

Atwood at her best! This is part of the Hogarth Shakespeare series and is a 'retelling' of The Tempest. It's actually The Tempest within The Tempest, with the play being performed in a medium security prison. The prisoners are ingenious, funny, brilliant in the additional rap songs they add to the play. A tale of revenge and release, filled with insight, irreverence and wit.

With her clever and masterful modern retelling of this classic tale, Atwood, once again shows us exactly how she is in a league of her own. The brilliant parallels she draws between the play and modern life as we know it and the characters themselves (Felix as Prospero and Shakespeare himself); the "holographic projections" of all kinds; her exploration of moral philosophy through the flawed prison system; her mind-blowing, searing wit and second-to-none prose create the perfect storm and we are lucky enough to be able to witness it. Fans of writers such as Christopher Moore and Tom Robbins will also probably love this book. It's so unexpected.

Often hilariously funny. Margaret Atwood is highly intelligent and writes wittily in this parody of Shakespeare's The Tempest.She knows that play very well and is able to see it through the eyes of sketchily educated prisoners. Their take on the play and their re-writing of some scenes is sheer genius on the part of the author. Their improvised costumes are a theatrical event in themselves. This is a most amusing and interesting work.Joan Pugsley

This rating is 3 only because I am not fond of reading plays and analysis of the same. However Atwoods writing does not disappoint and her plot is delightful... Real life woven into the workings of the 'Tempest'. If I were into Shakespeare and theater I would surely have given this 4 stars...

A story of revenge. A lonely aging theatre producer and a bunch of prisoners make for an unusual modern retelling of The Tempest. A gentle story that rolls along, yet I couldn’t put it down. Fascinating characters.

The third book that I’ve read in the series of Hogarth Shakespeare. Really nice to read especially that it’s set in a prison. What I liked most is the analysis that the inmates come up with at the end. Insightful and an eye opener.

Love the writing and storytelling, but not the plot/storyline itself.. Just a personal opinion, it drags for too long and is kinda disengaging. Did read the whole thing none the less and like, I dont regret it but would not read it one more time.

Das Buch hat eine mitreißende Story. Die Charaktere haben ihren eigenen Charm und die Vorbereitung für das Theaterstück ist genauso interessant wie die Aufführung selbst.Allerdings ist anzumerken, dass für jeden Freund guter Buchcovers leider meine Version (Taschenbuch) gleichzeitig Werbung für Atwoods andere Werke tätigt. Nein, leider kein Sticker.

My personal opinion is that this is a masterpiece! The adaptation of the Shakesperian story to modern times is fascinating. And I kept reading because I couldn't imagine how Atwood could solve matters respecting Shakespeare's plot.

A good, engrossing, entertaining read. I loaned my copy to a friend who's not familiar with Shakespeare, so I suggested she watch the version with Helen Mirren. She was a bit confused, but loved both the film and the book!