James's review
William Shakespeare: The World As Stage (Eminent Lives)
by Bill Bryson
Great review! I love Bryson's charm and wit.
James's review
William Shakespeare: The World As Stage (Eminent Lives) by Bill Bryson
James's review
rating:
This is a delightful little romp through Elizabethan and Jacobean England. It’s witty, in typical Bryson style, and it’s filled with obscure facts about England during Shakespeare’s time. Sometimes you’ll just laugh out loud.
Bryson uses lots of ink to tell the reader what Shakespeare was not. Apparently, fans, scribblers and even scholars have spent so much effort in conjecture about Shakespeare because so little factual evidence of his life exists outside of his plays. Bryson thoroughly dissects these speculations. The author presents the obsessive analysis that has been done over the centuries of Shakespeare’s writing, which is really stunning. (Bryson admits to now being party to it). But of course, Shakespeare’s writing was quite stunning and many may say it warrants such consuming passion. The final chapter is a hilarious discussion of the sometimes-whacky anti-Stratford crowd. This book is a fun and fast read.
Bryson uses lots of ink to tell the reader what Shakespeare was not. Apparently, fans, scribblers and even scholars have spent so much effort in conjecture about Shakespeare because so little factual evidence of his life exists outside of his plays. Bryson thoroughly dissects these speculations. The author presents the obsessive analysis that has been done over the centuries of Shakespeare’s writing, which is really stunning. (Bryson admits to now being party to it). But of course, Shakespeare’s writing was quite stunning and many may say it warrants such consuming passion. The final chapter is a hilarious discussion of the sometimes-whacky anti-Stratford crowd. This book is a fun and fast read.
Great review! I love Bryson's charm and wit.
