Thug Notes: A Street-Smart Guide to Classic Literature by Sparky Sweets

Thug Notes: A Street-Smart Guide to Classic Literature Reviews

• 
  Daniella

  To enjoy this book, you have to do the following:
  1. Watch the
  Thug Notes/Wisecrack YouTube channel. Believe me, it's fucking worth it.
  2. Don't be a prissy purist. If you're looking for a standard critique book of your favourite classic, then you're in the wrong hood, homie. As Dr. Sparky Sweets would say, "Take yo ass outta here, dawg."
  
  Overall, I really, really enjoyed this book. The funny narrative was a great contrast to the overall seriousness of the stories it talks about.
  For example, this was part of the writer's summary on Pride and Prejudice:
  

  Mr. and Mrs. Bennet sho got a lotta work to do. They got five kids, all girls, and none of ’em got a man. Shiiiiit. Mrs. Bennet’s main goal in life is to make sho her girls, Lizzy, Jane, Lydia, Mary, and Catherine (Kitty), shack up wit’ men who got a whole lotta dough. So when word come dat some rich cat Charles Bingley jus’ bought a phat crib in da hood, Mrs. Bennet tell her daughtas they best get ready to buss dat ass, cuz any hood who got mad grands must be lookin’ for a wife, amirite?

  
  WORD.
• 
  Benoit Lelièvre

  The Wisecrack team has been a great job at something that's close to my heart: reconciling audiences with ideas and helping them reappropriating a conscious relationship to their entertainment without pushing a political agenda and this book, which I've listened to in audio format narrated by Dr. Sweets himself, is no different. The classics are great and talking about them is straight gangsta.
  
  I may not be the target audiences for Sparky Sweets PhD because I've read the majority of these books, consumed them and enjoyed them a lot time ago, but it doesn't mean it isn't slickly structured, fun and enlightening to a certain degree. While I was nodding my head to the sharpness of the analysis all along and to my surprised discovered a few African-American classics which were missing from my culture.
  
  More of a book I would've enjoyed in my early twenties than now (I can't believe I just said that), but hey, Sparky Sweets PhD makes classic literature fun!
• 
  Jason Pierce

  I haven't read all of this yet, but I will. I've read enough to know it deserves all five stars, for this thing is a trip as well as extremely informative. It gives us reviews of 16 classic books with a thugtastic urban patois and is based on the
  Thug Notes webisodes. But the book entries are even better since the reviews go a little more in-depth and don't bleep out the profanity. One thing's for sure: Sparky Sweets, PhD (real name Greg Edwards) knows his shit. Even though he uses the language of the hood, I'm pretty sure he could hang with the upper echelon of academia. He could certainly school me, though that really ain't saying much.
  
  However, he's not 100% accurate. A lot of stuff gets skipped in the summaries, some things get merged, and he even gets a minor detail wrong from time to time. But his space is limited and alternative explanations would take an entire paragraph for it to make sense to the reader. For example, he mentions in his To Kill a Mockingbird summary that Scout was "kickin' back at her auntie's place when word come dat T-Robinson tried to escape from da clink and got his ass capped seventeen times! Excessive force!" Scout was actually at home when Atticus brought that news, though Aunt Alexandra was living with them at the time, and was hosting some ladies aid missionary tea thing. So, these aren't perfect, but let's be honest here; anybody who's using these to study for a test deserves the F he receives. These provide breadth. If you want depth, read the actual book he's plugging, then listen to the teacher explain it. But he's good at pointing out themes and imagery. I even learned a couple of new things about To Kill a Mockingbird, and I've read/listened to that thing five times. But I've always sucked ass at "themes 'n' shit" and "images 'n' symbols," and I have to get a friend of mine to explain them to me if she's also read the book. I doubt there's anything new in this for her.
  
  I've decided to do a Thug Notes project where I read most of the books reviewed in this one. The links below lead to my reviews. A star rating means I've read the book; no stars means I haven't gotten to it yet. I'm saving the sections on books I haven't read until I've read them. I'll read the reviews on books I have no intention of reading just to say I've read this whole thing, because let's face it: Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison and Raisin in the Sun ain't happening. I've no interest in the former and the latter is a play; blech. But the Thug Notes web reviews for those are pretty sweet, and I'll link them here. All other Thug Notes webisodes will be linked in my review of that book. Enjoy Dr. Sweets' videos, but check out this book as well. You can't go wrong if you're a classic lit fan with a sense of humor.
  
  
  Romeo and Juliet: ★★✰✰✰
  
  To Kill a Mockingbird: ★★★★★
  
  Pride and Prejudice: ★★★★✰
  
  The Great Gatsby: ★★✰✰✰
  
  Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus: ★★★✰✰
  
  Invisible Man (Link goes to the Thug Notes video review since I'm unlikely to offer a review of my own.)
  
  Lord of the Flies: ★★★★✰
  
  Moby Dick:
  
  A Raisin in the Sun (Link goes to the Thug Notes video review since I'm unlikely to offer a review of my own.)
  
  Hamlet (I know this is a play, and that I just pooh-poohed plays in general, but this also relates to my "read everything I was supposed to read in school but didn't" project.):
  
  Fahrenheit 451:
  
  The Catcher in the Rye: ★★★★★
  
  Crime and Punishment:
  
  Things Fall Apart: ★★★★✰
  
  The Color Purple: ★★★✰✰
  
  The Scarlet Letter: ★★★★✰
• 
  Erin Dunn

  
  Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for allowing me to read and review Thug Notes by Sparky Sweets, PhD.
  
  I have been looking forward to reading this book ever since I first heard about it a few months ago. I was extremely curious to see what classic literature meets gangsta entailed exactly. So I looked up the YouTube videos and watched some while I was waiting to read the book.
  
  The videos are funny as hell and the book is filled with hilarity as well. If you've ever seen one of the videos that is pretty much what you can expect from the book. In the book Sparky Sweets adds a gangsta twist on classic literature such as: To Kill a Mockingbird, Romeo & Juliet, Frankenstein, The Scarlet Letter, Moby Dick, Pride & Prejudice, and Lord of the Flies.
  
  Thug Notes breaks down the plots of sixteen famous classic novels, gives you important character information, an analysis of each novel, and there are some illustrations throughout. The (gangsta) vocabulary used in the novel is not only there to make you laugh out loud though. It also shows that classic literature can be broken down in a way that everyone today can understand and appreciate.
  
  I wish I had this book when I was a high school student. Even though I was an avid reader, classic literature terrified me. There were a few classics I read in high school and I loved. Yet, I still thought that maybe I wasn't smart enough to read and connect to classic literature. As I grew older I read more classic novels and I found this wasn't the case. Now many of my favorite books are classics. I think this book could help many people read and understand classic literature. Thug Notes shows that these novels are still interesting and relevant for today's society.
  
  Overall Thug Notes is extremely humorous and insightful. I recommend this for high school students, parents of high school students, and anyone who may be a bit intimidated by the classics like I was.
  
  On my blog it also has a link to the YouTube videos.
  http://angelerin.blogspot.com/2015/07...
• 
  reading is my hustle

  The book is a great companion to the videos (which BTW we love in our house).
  
  
  
  
  Lord of the Flies and
  Macbeth are a couple of my favorites.
  
  Enjoy!
  
• 
  Jay

  A fun, and accurate, look at various works of literature, relayed in a hip-hop vernacular. This not only provides humorous contrast with the staid prose of the older subjects, it also serves to illustrate that literature (and education as a whole) is, and should be, for everyone. The voice performance is very strong, though tentative in regards to some of the knottier passages. All in all, strongly recommended.
• 
  Zemira Warner

  I love Sparky Sweets and Thug Notes.
  HERE's the link to the YT channel if you want to check it out.
• 
  Sarah Marie

  Thug Notes: A Street-Smart Guide to Classic Literature by Sparky Sweets
  
  4 stars
  
  

  Thug Notes is a well-known and widely loved video series on YouTube where classic novels are discussed through the comedy character of Dr. Sparky Sweets. The series is done through illustrations and tying in the texts to other philosophers and well-known world concepts. It’s like SparkNotes for visual learners. This novel composes some of the most famous commentary on the videos and offers a fun and helpful text to furthering understanding classic literature in a scholarly setting. This book goes through the texts of:
  Romeo and Juliet
  To Kill a Mockingbird
  Pride and Prejudice
  The Great Gatsby
  Frankenstein
  Invisible Man
  Lord of the Flies
  Moby Dick
  A Raisin in the Sun
  Hamlet
  Fahrenheit 451
  The Catcher in the Rye
  Crime and Punishment
  Things Fall Apart
  The Color Purple
  The Scarlet Letter
  At the time of reading this novel, I had read Romeo and Juliet, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Great Gatsby, Hamlet, Fahrenheit 451, The Catcher in the Rye, and The Scarlet Letter. Since then I have attempted to read Lord of the Flies and finished Frankenstein, so I’m making slow progress through these well-known classics. However, the analysis of these texts is so fun and it brings the videos to the page. I think this would make a great classroom resource or a coffee table book. This novel accomplishes what it sets out to do and if you are looking for supplementary analysis material then this could be a great source.

  
  
  Whimsical Writing Scale: 4
  
  Plotastic Scale: 4
  
  Cover Thoughts: It kind of looks like those Penguin Chalk Classics. I like it.
  
  Thank you, Netgalley and Vintage, for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
• 
  MyLoveAffairWithTheWrittenWord

  I am a huge fan of classic literature; I am also a huge fan of comedy. So, naturally, when I first came across the Thug Notes YouTube page, I was INSTANTLY hooked. The series is brilliant, hilarious and witty-- just like its narrator, the incomparable Sparky Sweets, PhD. Since the series is about literature, it made sense that it would soon transfer to book form itself. Everything about Thug Notes is brilliant, especially the way Sparky blends together themes in classic literature with pop culture. He also shows how, no matter how many decades have past, that we can find parallels in every day life (ie: in his summary of The Invisible Man, he draws a parallel between a scene where an unarmed black man is assaulted by police and the sad, tragic case of Michael Brown). What's also wonderful about what Thug Notes has done is that it has introduced a whole new generation of readers to some of the greatest classics; kids who probably would not have sought out such books on their own, or never would have thought that they could find something written hundreds of years ago that relates to their lives). From Austen, to Melville, even Shakespeare to Dostoevsky, there is always something within the pages of their timeless writings that still hold relevance today; that it was makes them truly timeless, and what makes Thug Notes so great. I eagerly anticipate the coming of volume 2, and hope to hear of its release date soon, naw mean?
• 
  Killian

  Oh, Thug Notes. How I love watching your videos on YouTube. And how I am not entirely certain that translated into book form quite so well.
  
  This book basically takes the format of the videos and puts it into prose form. But it basically reads like a straight transcript of the show, complete with the mashed up image collages they use throughout.
  
  The stories I already know well (The Great Gatsby, Pride and Prejudice, To Kill a Mockingbird), I was able to appreciate reading. Since I already knew the plot and major themes it made it easier to step back and just appreciate the style being used to convey everything. Those breakdowns I was happy with. But for the books I am less familiar with (Invisible Man, Crime and Punishment, The Color Purple), the style here got in the way of me actually understanding the points being made.
  
  And let me be frank, the writing was crazy hard for me to read. I had to slog my way through it all very slowly, and even then I wasn't entirely sure I understood the point of some sentences. Just not my vernacular or one I'm exposed to very often except through watching the Thug Notes videos really.
  
  So I would highly recommend watching the videos on the Wisecrack channel on YouTube. This book might be worth it to big fans, but as far as actually getting useful information out of it, it didn't work for me personally.
  
  Copy courtesy of Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
• 
  Aileen

  I would take literally any class Professor Sparky taught. Hilarious, helpful, and hood, what more do you need from a review on some of the western canon’s finest?
• 
  Ella

  “It take a while for Lizzy to learn she need to slow her roll and give a brutha a chance.”

  
  The best way to "read" this book is to do the ebook-audio combo because Dr. Sparky Sweets is the narrator in the audio version, and he's as hilarious and insightful as ever. Much of this can already be found in videos on YouTube, but this is so funny I never deleted it from my phone. I listen to it all the time in the car. What I love about Sparky Sweets PhD (aka Greg Edwards) is that he offers the real deal - a cliff notes version of great literature, but in a way that is funny as heck. I've never been able to use a cliff's notes booklet because they're way more boring than just reading the book. Thug Notes, however, adds to the read, and I will sing his praises until the end of days.
  

  “To me, literature like a club wit’ no line and an open bar 24/7: Anybody can come in and get crunk as they want on dat sweet knowledge joose. Prollem”
• 
  Elizabeth

  The YouTube channel is at least 10X better. Everyone subscribe to it!
• 
  Erikka

  This book was da bomb, my well-read ballas. Erryone should pick this up, get their learn on, and then catch some of Sparky's videos on YouTube. Deuces!
• 
  Stephanie

  Original Post 9/21/15:
  Thug Notes: A New Look at the Classics, But Intended for Whom?
  
  http://fangswandsandfairydust.com/201...
  
  Audiobook provided by publisher for review. No remuneration was exchanged and all opinion presented herein is my own except as noted.
  
  
  
  I applaud anything that attempts to make literature relevant and works to engage anyone in reading. So I have watched a few episodes I’ve seen of this particular You Tube channel. Sometimes it is funny and once in a while I gained a little insight into a book I had read. So, naturally I wanted to listen to the book when it became available. Until I looked closely at the book I actually thought there was a real Sparky Sweets, Ph.D. in the world providing a hip take on “Cliff Notes” which, of course, I never used.
  
  It is a challenge to make the classics relevant in today’s world when we’re bombarded by thousands of images, sounds and ideas each day. The questions are whether THUG NOTES, as a phenomenon, meets the challenge and whether it is worth the money. I had to look at the phenomenon because the book would not exist without the You Tube channel.
  
  I always think anything created by adults for the education of kids in a “cool” way may actually fall flat or seem corny to the intended audience. I wasn’t sure so I asked three college students I know to check out one of “Sparky Sweets, Ph.D.’s” You Tube programs which are just slightly different than the books.
  
  The first woman, a first year college student said
  
  I’ve watched those in my high school classes sometimes at the end of a unit. It was usually more just as a joke than to actually help us review. They are always fun to watch after you’ve read the book, but it doesn’t provide much of anything other than laughs.
  
  Another woman, a sophomore from the United Kingdom had not heard of this before and after watching commented:
  
  I agree that it seemed like an attempt to make literacy cool – and in my opinion it failed. I feel like it tried to gain a broader audience by going down the rap/urban route but in many ways I feel like it probably alienated many older viewers. I don’t feel like it’s relevant to me or other college age students.
  However, I have heard that using urban culture/rap in schools for education has been proven to be useful in reaching some uninterested students at middle/high school age though. … Another thought I had was that rap/urban language etc. used wouldn’t be appropriate for younger viewers.
  
  Another well-spoken woman in her sophomore year listened to the You Tube version of Dostoyevsky’s THE BROTHERS KARAMZOV, as well as that for P & P which analysis does not appear in the book.
  
  I can’t think of any reason why anyone would want to use THUG NOTES unless it is to try and get out of reading the book (since it isn’t an analysis that could actually pique the interest of someone who has read the book), and if you do something like ThugNotes you are going to entirely and completely miss the point of the books!
  On the other hand, I like the message that just cause you’re “cool” or see your self a certain way doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy certain types of books. But I am not convinced that that message isn’t wholly mitigated by the fact that it isn’t a discussion of the books but a too-fast-to-follow dumbing down for people too brain dead to get elementary plot points, or more likely those who were assigned to read a book, not interested, and need to know something about it for class.
  
  She also points out that the language used, “…is not a necessary way of staying relevant. No one needs to cater to the denominator where women are passive objects in our grammar,…” This made me think again about the language in the book. One function of literature is to elevate the human mind and spirit; use of rude vernacular only succeeds in setting a poor example for youth that will hopefully end up in places where calling women “bitches” and “hos” is not tolerated. It perpetuates the objectification of women. I don’t think most of the male characters are spoken of this way by “the Professor.”
  
  The last student’s boyfriend, a sophomore at another school, said, “…he had no idea what was going on, but that if it was trying to be a Cliffnotes-like tool that it was completely un-compelling, but that if it is meant to be funny for people already familiar with the book that it may fill that niche.”
  
  I would say it is only an attempt at humorous interpretation, but an interview from PBS’ Tavis Smiley Greg Edwards, aka Sparky Sweets, Ph.D. says the program is aimed at engaging younger people through humor and relevance in familiar language.
  http://www.pbs.org/wnet/tavissmiley/i...
  
  This phenomenon is purportedly aimed at making literature more accessible to youth, but It does not succeed in doing for literature what Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert did for politics. And unlike CLUELESS or BRIDGET JONES’ DIARY, which each humorously reinterpreted a classic without analysis of the text, this provides a spoken “book report,” with a synopsis, list and descriptions of characters and some discussion of themes and symbols.
  
  As an audio book it is best in small doses. I listened to most of it straight through and the template for breaking down the gist of each book makes it repetitive, and once the ear is acclimated to the urban/rap sound, it becomes dry.
  
  I think it is intended for people in their thirties or beyond who feel the need to try to recapture some of the cool of their youth, and, perhaps who used to use Cliffnotes or Sparknotes. I got a few insights into the books they examined, but the book’s interpretation and description is only slightly different than that on the You Tube channel. I think you would get the same value from watching Thug Notes on You Tube and only at the cost of your time.
  
  I couldn’t help thinking that this would be funnier on SNL, preferably an early cast.
• 
  April

  Fantastic and swear filled synopsis and analysis of 16 classics of literature. Filled with humor a loads of knowledge. Like a smart-ass crib notes. Took me a while though to get through some of the language (much of which is easy to understand in the videos but is a bit rougher on the page to suss out).
• 
  Auntie Raye-Raye

  If you're like me and never read most classics, get this book.
  
  It's both informative and hilarious. When the author/narrator was talking about PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, he said something like, "Mr. Darcy wanted DAT ASS!"
  
  I laughed, hard, for several minutes.
  
  
• 
  Carey Louise

  Hilarious, insightful commentary on some of the best classic literature. Lots of fun to revisit these stories with a fresh set of eyes.
• 
  Sgossard

  And if you don't know, now you know
  
  Great introduction to classic literature for the uninitiated and a fresh new take for the non-snob. Just like Sparky Sweets PhD (the author) states in the introduction, Literature is for EVERYBODY. And that's precisely the goal of this book.
  
  This book does achieve its mission using humor and gangsta culture and references to make you want to read or re-read (if you read them in high school and forgot about them) the classics. It also introduces young readers to concepts like literary criticism and interpretation, themes, motifs and such. Hip hop stars are the new rockstars and this book takes this as an opportunity to make the great works more accessible to younger audiences by demystifying them and taking away the solemnity usually associated with them.
  
  Even if you are a seasoned reader I guarantee you'll learn something from Dr Sweets. You can tell there's serious and hard work behind all the humor.
• 
  Shay

  Note: I did not read the analysis for Moby Dick, Frankenstein, and Crime and Punishment since I would rather not be exposed to spoilers.
  
  Well, that was fun. Thug Notes the book is pretty much what you see on Youtube, with some definitions for literary terms. However, the language is the exactly the same. The book is written the way Sparky Sweets speaks which made it harder to digest the text in my opinion. I’m personally not a fan of reading books where authors spell words the way the characters pronounce them. So, reading things like “stoopid”, “lata” and “da” is irksome. It also seems exaggerated, but perhaps that's the whole point. I’m supposed to focus on the deeper meaning behind what he writes, not how he writes.
  
  Nonetheless, if you enjoy Thug Notes online, you’ll like the book as well. Here's my favorite quote:
  
  

  “When Mayella try to sit on T-Rob’s face, he keep it real and tell her to step.”

  
  
  Happy Reading.
  
• 
  Courtnie

  I think the YouTube performance of this would be fine, a hit, perhaps even funny. I found the print format to be utterly unreadable. I read through three different takes on classics that I've personally read and really struggled mightily to comprehend because of the 'accented' spellings. It took more concentration to read this then it did the original text. A watered down version should not be that difficult. The insights are fine, the discussion on themes was actually pretty thorough, and I'll admit that the comedic take and one hit nature in the 'spark notes' style is what lured me to check it out as I had an hour to kill. Ultimately, though, not being able to digest the content was a major turn off.
• 
  Autumn Jean

  This is a funny but poignant guide to classic literature. My high school students could definitely appreciate it, if I were allowed to show them. This is amazing. I would say that if profanity offends you this is not the book for you. I was able to get past the profanity because Sparky Sweetsmakes classic literature to a wider audience, especially my students.
• 
  Cat

  quite interesting but I like the video format way more
  full review here:
  https://catshelf.wordpress.com/2015/0...
• 
  Corinne

  Pretty good rundown of literature presented in a humorous way. The YouTube videos might be a better format for this, but there is a lot more detail in the book. Props for endorsing literature thats accessible to everyone.
• 
  Fred

  "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women...playas" William Shakespeare, improved by Sparky Sweets.
• 
  Elizabeth

  Hilarious and helpful. I hope there will be future volumes.
• 
  Asia Varlack

  I love love love Sparky Sweets! Hilarious! If you haven't watched Thug Notes on youtube yet you are truly missing out!
• 
  Cyndi

  Although the slang was sometimes hard to follow, the author had a fresh perspective on some of the classics.
• 
  Iris Bratton

  4.5/5 Stars
  
  A hilarious perspective on classic literature.
  
  I loved this book so much! It's a perfect mesh of comedy and classics. This compilation is based on the popular Youtube series and it pays great homage. It plays out a lot like Spark Notes where it analyzes characters, themes and symbols, but it is presented using modern slang. I have never laughed so hard while reading!
  
  I'll admit, in the beginning I struggled reading the language. Because it's not in plain text, I really had to take my time reading through it. Roughly about 20% in, I was able to catch on. It definitely helped to imagine Sparky's voice narrating. Keep in mind, most of its content is verbatim from the videos. I had hoped for a few works not mentioned on the channel, but I did pick up this book a few years after its release so it may be a fault on my part. But it's still an enjoyable read. The best part was the side commentary.
  
  Damn, Holden-you supposed to hit it, then quit it...you forgot the best part, playa.
  
  This book is pure gold.
  
  Despite it's comic presentation, this is still an intellectual analysis. It uses proper citations an even pulls from other literary works to back up it's claims. It was funny but it was also educational. There were certain themes and symbols highlighted that I had not considered before. It helped me better understand the literature I've read and piqued my interest about a few I haven't. It's smart, it's entertaining, and it's worth your time and attention.
  
  If you love classic literature and you want a good laugh, pick up Thug Notes. I highly recommend it.