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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
Bill Bryson is always a fun author to read, and here he shines as he conveys the (very small) amount of information that we know about Shakespeare's life. This book is a short, fast read primarily because there is not much of a historical record regarding Shakespeare. We have his plays (most of them) and a handful of bare facts gleaned from legal records, a few notes from diaries, but that's pretty much it.
However, Bryson manages to take this scant collection of facts and build an engaging biography. His keen appreciation for irony and the ridiculous are a perfect match for the few facts we know about Shakespeare's life and the myriad of myths and theories that have ballooned around it. A highly recommended read for anyone interested in history or who wants a good clear lead on what we know about Shakespeare, and what others just guess.
However, Bryson manages to take this scant collection of facts and build an engaging biography. His keen appreciation for irony and the ridiculous are a perfect match for the few facts we know about Shakespeare's life and the myriad of myths and theories that have ballooned around it. A highly recommended read for anyone interested in history or who wants a good clear lead on what we know about Shakespeare, and what others just guess.
informative
fast-paced
This was a cute little book that, more than anything else, reveals how little we actually know about William Shakespeare. Based on artwork and public records, the author takes the reader through Shakespeare's life, discussing what we know for sure and what various theories have been put forth by Shakespeare scholars. At the end, Bryson gives an interesting but brief study of the theories suggesting that someone other than Shakespeare actually wrote the play. A slender volume, but a quick and entertaining read overall.
4,5/5
Je suis convaincue que Bill Bryson pourrait écrire sur n'importe quel sujet et ça serait passionnant. Alors imaginez quand il écrit sur un sujet qui me passionne! Seul défaut, c'était trop court!
Je suis convaincue que Bill Bryson pourrait écrire sur n'importe quel sujet et ça serait passionnant. Alors imaginez quand il écrit sur un sujet qui me passionne! Seul défaut, c'était trop court!
An easy read of a wide-ranging discussion of the controversies of discovering Shakespeare the man behind the writing. There is a lot of debunking of often accepted 'truths' that I found fascinating, and I often wished that Bryson would spend more a little depth delving into the research. There were good tangents on the background to the trials and tribulations of theatre in Elizabethan and Jamesian times. It doesn't, in the end, shed a great deal of light on Shakespeare, but I guess that's the point of the book!
What a delightful little, unpretentious, clearly written book!
I took three Shakespeare classes in college, but it wasn't until I read this that I felt I had a solid overview of Shakespeare's life - as much as anyone can have at least. I think the fact that Bryson isn't a Shakespeare scholar made this book better. He had no academic agenda to fuel the work. Would recommend to anyone who wants a basic overview of Shakespeare.
I wish I owned Shakespeare because man, would I be richer than Bill Gates.
Bryson's book is okay. It's a quick read and is ideal for any student who is starting at in the study of Shakespeare. For a long time student, the best bit of the book is the last chapter where Bryson demolished the "Shakespeare didn't write Shakespeare"heretics, sillies, nutters, people's arguments.
Overall Bryson simply presents the facts and doesn't not speculate or guess (I love what he said about [a:A. L. Rowse|3169943|A. L. Rowse|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg]). He has read the standard sources, so his book is a good starting point and pointer to deeper sources.
I have one quibble, however. While overall Bryson presents a very even handed description of Shakespeare's marriage, he does slip in a strange word. I hade to wonder about the phrase "considerably older wife" when describing Ann Hathaway. I wonder if Shakespeare had been eight years older than his bride if Bryson would have used "considerably older husband".
Bryson's book is okay. It's a quick read and is ideal for any student who is starting at in the study of Shakespeare. For a long time student, the best bit of the book is the last chapter where Bryson demolished the "Shakespeare didn't write Shakespeare"
Overall Bryson simply presents the facts and doesn't not speculate or guess (I love what he said about [a:A. L. Rowse|3169943|A. L. Rowse|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg]). He has read the standard sources, so his book is a good starting point and pointer to deeper sources.
I have one quibble, however. While overall Bryson presents a very even handed description of Shakespeare's marriage, he does slip in a strange word. I hade to wonder about the phrase "considerably older wife" when describing Ann Hathaway. I wonder if Shakespeare had been eight years older than his bride if Bryson would have used "considerably older husband".
For a man who wrote the most profound poetry, plays, introduced a few thousand new words and phrases to our everyday language, acted, directed and continues to dazzle the world, very little is actually known about him. So little in fact that dedicated researchers and academics have developed all sorts of theories and explanations for the life of Shakespeare. Even his name as we know it is recorded in numerous different ways, and there are six different signatures attributed to him. But are any of them really his? Bill Bryson in a book of less than 200 pages - he says it is so small because there is so little to put in it - looks at the mystery and enigma of William Shakespeare the man. His early life, his married life, his family, some years where he seemed to disappear from the face of the earth, where did his genius come from? And so on. Fascinating, intriguing, very easy to read. I would have loved to see pictures especially of how plays were staged during this time for example. There is a great chapter on the city of London during the 1600s and the wild popularity of theatres and staging of plays, where Shakespeare really came into his own. Bill Bryson has done a terrific job of making this read more like a conversation than a history lesson.
Entertaining and educational read. Bryson did a nice job pulling together an accurate view of the time period and drawing conclusions of Shakespeare's life based thereon. However, since he was writing this as part of an external series, it doesn't live up to the brilliance of many of Bryson's other works. Nonetheless, it was fascinating to learn about Shakespeare's life, something about which I know very little. Even more interesting to learn how very little the world at large actually knows about the man.