Abridged classics: brief summaries of books you were supposed to read but probably didn't

Book Cover
Average Rating
Publisher
HarperDesign, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
Publication Date
2018.
Language
English

Description

A collection of irreverent summations of more than 100 well-known works of literature, from Anna Karenina to Wuthering Heights, cleverly described in the fewest words possible and accompanied with funny color illustrations.

Abridged Classics: Brief Summaries of Books You Were Supposed to Read but Probably Didn’t is packed with dozens of humorous super-condensed summations of some of the most famous works of literature from many of the world’s most revered authors, including William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Emily Brontë, Leo Tolstoy, Jane Austen, Mark Twain, J.R.R. Tolkien, Margaret Atwood, James Joyce, Plato, Ernest Hemingway, Dan Brown, Ayn Rand, and Herman Melville.

From "Old ladies convince a guy to ruin Scotland" (Macbeth) to "Everyone is sad. It snows." (War and Peace), these clever, humorous synopses are sure to make book lovers smile.

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ISBN
9780062747853

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Published Reviews

Library Journal Review

As the title suggests, this entertaining volume from Atkinson (Wrong Hands) takes more than 100 classics and condenses them into brief, one-sentence summaries, each featured with a humorous, full-color illustration. These often accurate interpretations of the original texts simplify things to an absurd degree. For example, Peter Pan is described as "Some Kids and a Crocodile pester an amputee"; Hamlet as "Guy with daddy issues mopes and whines about who to kill." By and large, these are rather funny takes on stories, with fairly basic gags. However, unlike what the title suggests, you probably do need some familiarity with the work to get the joke, although plenty of references to pop culture make it so even non-English majors will enjoy. Verdict A fun book with a dry sense of humor that will appeal to fans of single-panel cartoons. Lit lovers who don't mind some good-natured poking at their favorite reads will be amused as well.-Lucy Roehrig, Ann Arbor Dist. Lib., MI © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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LJ Express Reviews

As the title suggests, this entertaining volume from Atkinson (Wrong Hands) takes more than 100 classics and condenses them into brief, one-sentence summaries, each featured with a humorous, full-color illustration. These often accurate interpretations of the original texts simplify things to an absurd degree. For example, Peter Pan is described as "Some Kids and a Crocodile pester an amputee"; Hamlet as "Guy with daddy issues mopes and whines about who to kill." By and large, these are rather funny takes on stories, with fairly basic gags. However, unlike what the title suggests, you probably do need some familiarity with the work to get the joke, although plenty of references to pop culture make it so even non-English majors will enjoy. Verdict A fun book with a dry sense of humor that will appeal to fans of single-panel cartoons. Lit lovers who don't mind some good-natured poking at their favorite reads will be amused as well.—Lucy Roehrig, Ann Arbor Dist. Lib., MI (c) Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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