Something Rotten

My typical complaint with adaptations is that they rarely offer any new insight into the original work, other than a change of setting. This is certainly not the case with Alan Gratz's "Something Rotten." Re-envisioning "Hamlet" as a murder mystery set in Appalachia is fetching enough, but what kept me reading is the engaging and complicated protagonist Horatio Wilkes. Horatio is flat-out hilarious as a snarky detective who manages to get himself into quite a mess as he tries to uncover who murdered his best friend Hamilton Prince's father. Between getting sucker punched by the Prince family's hired help and pining for Hamilton's ex-girlfriend, Horatio has a way of ticking off nearly everyone, except maybe the ladies. But he's no Romeo--Hamilton takes on that bad boy job with his brooding and self-destructive downward spiral. While some overly sensitive readers might be turned off on page one by Hamilton's drinking habit (welcome to being a teenager in a small town), Horatio takes root beer over Pabst. At first this seems a device for Horatio's character to counter Hamilton's excesses, but as the story continues, Horatio's disdain of alcohol reveals telling aspects to his personality. There's no way around it: Horatio is a control freak. One that might make his peers roll their eyes, but also explains his relentless desire to unravel the circumstances surrounding Mr. Prince's death. A worthy character flaw for a murder mystery detective. Elements from Shakespeare's play work in cleverly, but ultimately "Something Rotten" can stand alone as a gripping and suspense-filled story. While the reader needs no familiarity with "Hamlet" to enjoy this mystery, the book would make a wonderful introduction or complement to the play. Clearly Shakespeare is not absent in Horatio's universe. And rather than sidestep this fact, Gratz toys with how close he can take his characters to the acknowledgement that their situation might have parallels with that other Prince of Denmark. "Something Rotten" is the most entertaining read I've encountered this year, even thought I'm about a year late in picking it up. However I'm perfectly situated to get excited for Horatio Wilke's next mystery "Something Wicked" based on Macbeth. Can't wait!

Something is rotten in Denmark...Denmark, Tennessee that is. It's nice to see a campy retelling of a classic that's not in graphic novel format. Written for the teen reader, SOMETHING ROTTEN doesn't regurgitate Shakespeare's HAMLET in colorful action blocks in order to get a classic in the hands of reluctant readers. Nor does author Alan Gratz sacrifice the story's soul for readability. The story is very readable, but that's because Gratz is a masterful storyteller. This author has made Shakespeare's classic his own. Most teens are going to find Gratz's version, which echoes the classic in modern terms, more entertaining than the original. Horatio, the main character, finds himself in Denmark, Tennessee where the air and water are foul, the product of modern technology and greed. He's visiting his best friend, Hamilton, who is mourning the recent death of his father. After viewing a videotape, the boys realize that more than pollution is fouling their town. It appears that Hamilton's father was actually murdered and apparently, everyone in the story has motive! They're all there--the faithless wife, the covetous brother, even Hamilton's ex-girlfriend, Olivia, suffers from a bit of maniacal tunnel vision where the Prince family is concerned. Fortunately for the Prince family, Denmark, and the reader, Horatio is one cool dude! (Do teens still say dude?) He's smart and confident enough to be quirky. Often a bit cheeky, he's not disrespectful--it's just who he is. He begrudgingly takes on the role as chief detective and through his antics, Gratz creates a fast-paced page-turner that teens and adults both will enjoy. Along the way, he has his own demon to battle. He must fight his forbidden attraction to Olivia. As his best friend's ex, she's off limits, but that doesn't stop him from drooling. Adult readers shouldn't fear that the story will be too simple--it isn't simple, it's just plain fun. Teachers might want to consider Gratz's version as extra credit. Comparing and contrasting the two versions will ensure that students learn and enjoy HAMLET.

Targeted at teens, this reasonably entertaining novel takes Shakespeare's "Hamlet" and resets (and revises) it in contemporary Tennessee. The narrator is Horatio, close friend to Hamilton (ie. Hamlet) Prince, the son of a hugely wealthy paper tycoon. The "something rotten" is the Copenhagen River, which appears to be badly polluted by the paper mill (apparently based on the real-life Pigeon River). Of course, per the play, Hamilton's father has died -- possibly poisoned -- and his mother has quickly remarried his uncle Claudius. Meanwhile, Olivia (ie. Ophelia) is waging a one-person protest against the pollution, and two childhood friends of Hamilton's have shown up to lounge around and play his video games (ie. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern). Grantz reimagines the story as a kind of teen detective caper, in which Horatio takes the lead in trying to uncover who might have murdered Hamilton's father and how. He also has to juggle his attraction to the beautiful Olivia with the knowledge that she was Hamilton's girlfriend. He does this by prying, sticking his nose in, eavesdropping, and trading snappy banter (too snappy, really for his age) with the various adults. The pacing is nice and quick, and there are enough twists and turns to keep most teen readers occupied, although adults will probably find it a tad too simple. Still, it's kind of fun to compare and contrast this version of Hamlet with the Bard's. This is apparently the first in a projected series featuring Horatio, although it's not clear if the sequels will also follow Shakespearean plotlines.