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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
Really fun, great for background and even for those knowing a lot about Shakespeare. For example, Bryson calculates that though Shakespeare's vocabulary was probably about half that of a modern English speaker, he coined over 20,000 new words and 10% (according tot he Oxford Dictionary of Quotations) of common phrases in use today ("to the manner born," "in one fell swoop").
He also provides clear background to Elizabethan and Jacobean London, which quadrupled in population during Shakespeare's lifetime, including the grisly detail that the London Bridge displayed so many skulls of malefactors that it required a "Keeper of the Heads."
He also provides clear background to Elizabethan and Jacobean London, which quadrupled in population during Shakespeare's lifetime, including the grisly detail that the London Bridge displayed so many skulls of malefactors that it required a "Keeper of the Heads."
I enjoyed this and did not know a lot of the information presented in the book. Another solid offering from Bill Bryson.
Excellent, must be one of the best all round introductions for the general reader around. Brief, witty and to the point (including the effective dismissal of the authorship nutters).
It was a total coincidence that I read this book around the time of Shakespeare's supposed birthday. As a result, all the internet articles that abounded this week were Old News to me, and not nearly as well researched as the work of Bill Bryson here. This book is very good for putting the supposed larger-than-life William Shakespeare into perspective of his place in time. Odd fact: no one really knows the way his name is supposed to be spelled. Shax and his contemporaries spelled it almost every way imaginable, except for the way we currently use today.
As an English major, quite a lot of your time is spent reading and studying the Bard. This is one of the most interesting books on Shakespeare that focuses on what evidence we have and not on suppositions or opinions. Fascinating book that is accessible to non Anglophiles!
A thorough look at we know about the life of William Shakespeare. Which, frankly, isn't very much. Though he produced myriad works that are considered the pinnacle of English literature, we really don't know all that much about Shakespeare the man. Unfortunately, this has allowed anti-Strafordians the opportunity to put forth other candidates as "the real William Shakespeare," some with more success than others. Bryson's take-down of them in the final chapter is a thing of beauty.
Yes! I am so sick of all the people who try to insist that Shakespeare wasn't Shakespeare. Concise, especially considering so little is know about the Bard and his time. I learned a lot, as usual from a Bryson book.
Who knew? Historians don't even know the proper spelling of Shakespeare -- and in fact, the commonly used spelling is one that was never ever used in print during his time. The lack of information in existence about one of the most well-known and commonly read writers in the world is fascinating.
I like the way Bryson writes — like he is talking to you. It was light on information. (I learned that we really don’t know much about Shakespeare) So Bryson padded it with info about the time period. It was interesting to find out how little we know. And that the three pictures of him, we’re not even sure they are of him.
Not a lot of info told in a fun way.
Not a lot of info told in a fun way.
I'd never really thought before about how little we know about Shakespeare. I thought this was an interesting little peek into his life and I didn't realize how much we are just guessing.