Scan barcode
A review by spinesinaline
New Boy by Tracy Chevalier
5.0
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! Find more reviews on my blog at https://spinesinaline.wordpress.com
This is in a series of re-tellings of Shakespeare's plays, each done by a different author and I've been looking forward to reading these! It surprises me a little to say this, and I didn't really know this until I read this book, but Othello is one of my favourite Shakespeare plays. And does the author ever do justice to it!
Obviously, this is a very racially-charged play and so the author's book also focuses on racial tensions but she gives it more of a modern spin, setting her story in the 1970s at an elementary school. All of the action takes place within a day, divided into the different periods spent in the playground - before and after school, and both recesses. Here, rather than real-world politics, Chevalier focuses on playground politics and the children are our main players.
Though it's not in a play format, we're still able to get the different "scenes" because the author switches perspective between the main characters. It still feels like the original, and of course is mainly predictable, but it's also refreshed with this more modern take. I think the racial tensions are easier for present-day audiences to pick up on because they're a more accessible part of our history, whereas the events Shakespeare wrote of are not necessarily part of today's common knowledge.
My 5-star rating really comes down to the impact it had. Even though I knew the story and what would happen, it was so much more powerful, and especially heartbreaking, because it happened to a group of children. Children! This is a violent play, in acts and words, and seeing how racism can seep so far into our society leaves a heavy weight on your shoulders once you're finished reading.
It's not a light read, far from it, but it is important - especially in recognizing how little racial tensions have changed from the 1600s to the 1900s.
This is in a series of re-tellings of Shakespeare's plays, each done by a different author and I've been looking forward to reading these! It surprises me a little to say this, and I didn't really know this until I read this book, but Othello is one of my favourite Shakespeare plays. And does the author ever do justice to it!
Obviously, this is a very racially-charged play and so the author's book also focuses on racial tensions but she gives it more of a modern spin, setting her story in the 1970s at an elementary school. All of the action takes place within a day, divided into the different periods spent in the playground - before and after school, and both recesses. Here, rather than real-world politics, Chevalier focuses on playground politics and the children are our main players.
Though it's not in a play format, we're still able to get the different "scenes" because the author switches perspective between the main characters. It still feels like the original, and of course is mainly predictable, but it's also refreshed with this more modern take. I think the racial tensions are easier for present-day audiences to pick up on because they're a more accessible part of our history, whereas the events Shakespeare wrote of are not necessarily part of today's common knowledge.
My 5-star rating really comes down to the impact it had. Even though I knew the story and what would happen, it was so much more powerful, and especially heartbreaking, because it happened to a group of children. Children! This is a violent play, in acts and words, and seeing how racism can seep so far into our society leaves a heavy weight on your shoulders once you're finished reading.
It's not a light read, far from it, but it is important - especially in recognizing how little racial tensions have changed from the 1600s to the 1900s.