This is a great collection of Shakespeare's Sonnets that isn't just a collection - it has meaning, explanations and logical all behind it. It felt like I was back in high school English class - one of my fave places back in my high school days. Seeing how his writing evolved over time, and the beauty of Sonnets from both the collection of Sonnets but his plays was incredible. I truly enjoyed diving into this book! I highly recommend it for fans of Shakespeare and poetry.

Four out of five stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Cambridge University Press for providing me a free copy of this book in exchange of an honest review. ( )

This is my first try at listening to an audiobook, and it wasn't a bad place to start. The introduction was scholarly but accessible. It explained the rationale behind the order in which the sonnets appear (chronological rather than by number), with sonnets and near sonnets from the plays interpolated with the others. The editors take the view that one bisexual persona speaks in the sonnets (at least those not from the plays). Yet while they take the sonnets to be deeply personal, affording us insight into the author's personality, they resist biographical interpretation.
Kenneth Branagh and Lolita Chakrabarti do an excellent job reading the poems. They don't over-dramatize, yet subtle shifts of voice reflect the various moods of each poem.
Will I "read" other books in audio form? Not primarily. Despite the excellent audio production, I often felt I missed something and took the first opportunity to read one or the other again in print form. But this was just the right thing to give my eyes a rest after cataract surgery. ( )

42. All the Sonnets of Shakespeare edited by Paul Edmondson & Stanley Wells
published: 2020
format: 290-page Cambridge University hardcover
acquired: July 2 read: Jul 4 – Sep 2 time reading: 16:38, 3.4 mpp
rating: 4
genre/style: Classic poetry theme: Shakespeare
about the author: April 23, 1564 – April 23, 1616, about the editors: Stanley Wells is an English Shakespeare scholar, born in 1931. Paul Edmonson is an English Shakespeare scholar and priest, born maybe in the 1980’s.

I read this along with a Pelican Shakesepeare edition. My combined review is on my thread, link at the bottom of this review. My review of the actual sonnets is with the Pelican edition, here: https://www.librarything.com/review/171468638

Specifically regarding this edition by Edmondson/Wells Edition: It is a beautiful but odd edition. The editors reorder the sonnets in what they think might be the order of actual composition, adding in all the sonnets from the different plays. It's terribly destructive because they deconstruct the narrative within the original order of the sonnets. But also this forces us to look at the sonnets differently, which is actually really nice.

They do two wonderful things: For each sonnet they give a one-line explanation/synopsis. And then in the back of the book they present the whole sonnet in plain words. This is crazy helpful. But, oddly, their notes on specific words and phrases are not well done. I'm glad I had this version, but very grateful I also had a different version too (with the correct ordering and with high-end notes).

2022
https://www.librarything.com/topic/342768#7923261 ( )

Name: All the Sonnets of Shakespeare
Author: William Shakespeare, Paul Edmondson, Stanley Wells
Genre: Classics, Poetry
Review:
This book is a collection of sonnets from the works of William Shakespeare. The sonnets are arranged in a chronological order, along with some notes for the readers.
The introduction by the editor breaks all the myths about William Shakespeare's sonnets and gives us a new perspective and understanding of the sonnets.
I really liked that it has a glossary for words in the poems, which gives us a better understanding of the sonnets and saves us the trouble of googling the word for its meaning.
I am not a big fan of William Shakespeare, but I have an appreciation for his writings. The first thing that made want to read this book was the beautiful cover and its author.
This books gives the readers a new insight and appreciation for William Shakespeare. This lyrical book is amazing and much recommended for all the classic readers, poetry lovers and Shakespeare enthusiast.

For Further Reading:
The Entire Works of William Shakespeare
Sonnets of William Shakespeare
Love Sonnets of Shakespeare ( )

I was in need for some Shakespeare Sonnets book that could have them all and thankfully found it. Now i would like to have it in as paper version to study and have it on my home library. ( )