Review of Shylock Is My Name by Howard Jacobson

Shylock Is My Name by Howard Jacobson is part of the Hogarth Shakespeare series in which current writers retell Shakespeare’s plays. The Merchant of Venice is the source of this novel. In Shylock Is My Name the original Shylock is present as well as his modern counterpart. The modern character asks several times “Why is he here?” and it seems the original Shylock serves as a device to describe key events from the original play and to provide analysis of his actions and reactions.

I found the author’s voice to be very present in the story, so I felt slightly removed from the characters and the action; this slowed the reading for me. The novel was not just a retelling of the story in modern times, but also a comparison of how actions and reactions are similar and different between the two time periods. The book also seemed to me to have a definite male voice and viewpoint.

I think this book would appeal to readers who are interested in how ideas change or stay the same over time rather than just reading the same story in a new time period.

Reviewed by Mary Peet