92 pages
English language
Published May 18, 1968 by Faber and Faber.
Acclaimed as a modern dramatic masterpiece, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead is the fabulously inventive tale of Hamlet as told from the worm’s-eve view of the bewildered Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two minor characters in Shakespeare’s play. In Tom Stoppard’s best-known work, this Shakespearean Laurel and Hardy finally get a chance to take the lead role, but do so in a world where echoes of Waiting for Godot resound, where reality and illusion intermix, and where fate leads our two heroes to a tragic but inevitable end.
I thought it was great. An interesting piece of absurdist "literature." I'd recommend to anyone who hasn't read it but has read Hamlet. It is a very interesting take and not too long of a read.
Witty and bleak at the same time. A satire on the nature of playwrights, plays and actors? Or just a joke on us?
