Last night I finally finished reading Sweeney Todd. I had purchased a version that was edited by Robert L. Mack. The original book, published from 1846 to 1847 was titled as The String of Pearls: A Romance. The book was published in 18 weekly parts and was probably written by James Malcolm Rymer and Thomas Peckett Prest (no one is really sure who wrote the original 18 part series of the story). To this day, Sweeney Todd has been portrayed in countless theatrical plays, movies and musicals.
It took me AGES to read, I just couldn't get stuck into the book until the last couple of chapters, it just didn't interest me that much. I think it's the way the book is written and has repetitive stuff in it, for example, you could skip a whole paragraph and know what the character is still talking about. The book though, was edited well with having explanatory notes for terms most people wouldn't understand - such as a Jarvey which was slang for a hackney coach or cab-driver. The explanatory notes also explained the geography of the setting pretty well so it's easier for the reader to understand where the different scenes of the story is located at. Overall, I didn't mind reading this book, I think it was a worthwhile read - it was interesting to see how it was written and edited and how it also compared to the popular movie musical which starred Johnny Depp (who is also on the cover of the book). I would rate this book 6.5/10
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