Simplified versions of the classics eg - odyssey - iliad - shakespeare - julius caesar etc?

Question

Can someone recommend editions of classic literature which retains the quality of the original but is easier to read for someone whose English vocabulary is not very wide? perhaps a good not oversimplified childrens' version?

Answer 1

I would suggest that instead you buy a study guide to go with the classics. If you buy a re written version then you Will lose the beauty of the language. Believe me, even people with large vocabularies find all the writers and pieces you a have listed challenging! Coles study guides are good, but I think they might be out of print. But any decent study guide should be alright.

Try to go and see a production of the Shakespeare play that you are studying. Only this will truly bring the story alive for you.

Answer 2

Yes. There is a series published by Kingfisher Epics which includes many classical books, some of which you havew listed. They are written by different authors however so the choice of wording might be different. I thought the books were pretty easy to read and that it seemed to retain most of its original's story without overdramatizing it. The books are about 150+ pages depending on the story so they're not really short. I hope I helped!!!

Answer 3

Try "Preface to Shakespeare" by Samuel Johnson. The text comes from The Plays of William Shakespeare, ed. Samuel Johnson (London, 1765); this abridged edition is roughly half the length of the whole.

Answer 4

Try the Wishbone series of books. I've never read them, but my 10 year old cousin likes them. I think they are pretty much the same as the original stories, just told in a more contemperary narrative form.
Also, as suggested before, study guides and seeing film and play versions of these stories will really help you grasp them.

Answer 5

I would suggest looking for retellings by reputable children's authors. I know that Rosemary Sutcliff did versions of Homer like "Black Ships before Troy". I believe Geraldine McCaughrean has also written children's versions of some classics, inlcuding Spenser's "Faery Queen", called something like "The Questing Knights".

Answer 6

I don't know about all of the classics you asked about, but Barnes and Noble sells some Shakespeare books that are half his origional text, and half modern English. They're called No Fear Shakespeare.