Let Me Go On by Paul Griffiths review – an exquisite experiment
Ophelia journeys beyond the grave, in a clever and affecting sequel using just the 481 words spoken by Shakespeare’s character
Lara Pawson
Friday 15 December 2023
In the mid-1990s, Paul Griffiths set himself a challenge. He would attempt to give new voice to Hamlet’s Ophelia using only the vocabulary scripted for her by Shakespeare in the original play. In 2008, 13 years after he’d begun, his novel Let Me Tell You was published. Among its admirers was Harry Mathews, the indefatigable North American writer and member of the renowned experimental literary group Oulipo, who described it as “beautiful and enthralling” and “a great success in Oulipian terms”. At the time Griffiths was curious to see if his chosen constraint might provoke another writer to take Ophelia further. Perhaps he got fed up waiting, for it is Griffiths who has produced an exquisite sequel.
