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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
Nat Field is one of the two dozen in the American Company of Boys, all of them actors under the age of eighteen and all of them hand picked by producer and director Arby to travel to London to put on two of Shakespeare’s plays at the newly reconstructed Globe theater in 1999. Nat is excited when they arrive in England. He just wishes Arby wasn’t so driven and didn’t drive his actors so hard. But the night before he’s set to debut as Puck in "A Midsummer's Night Dream" disaster strikes. He gets sick, really, really sick. He goes to sleep and wakes up in the morning about four centuries earlier. He’s still in London, and a strange new fellow named Harry greets him by name, and says he’s glad he’s better, he was afraid that he’d had the plague. Nat still has his part in the play. Harry’s glad he didn’t forget his lines. But the production is not at the new Globe, it’s at the original, and Nat finds himself working for the play's author.
This is one of my go-to comfort books - when I am stressed/exhausted and need the comfort of the familiar rather than the brashness of the new, I read this (one of the other comfort books I possess).
I've read it 8 or 9 times now, and the story still grips me every time, and *still* makes me weep, too...
I've read it 8 or 9 times now, and the story still grips me every time, and *still* makes me weep, too...
Not nearly as skillful as her Dark Is Rising Sequence, and most definitely aimed at youth, but still one of Cooper's better works. The beginning and end, set in modern times, are weak, but this is more than made up for in the vivid middle which takes place in Shakespearean London. This book's finale is a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream in the Globe, and Cooper's visualization of that production will remain in my mind as the standard against which other productions are weighed.
The new Globe Theatre in London was opened in 1997. (I've been there. We saw Vanessa Redgrave rehearsing the part of Prospero in The Tempest. I would have cheerfully offered up one of my vital organs for a chance to see the performance.) This book was published in 1999. I see that it is not available on the Globe's online shop, but if it isn't for sale in the gift shop itself then the Globe is doing a disservice to both itself and Miss Cooper. King of Shadows is a heartfelt love letter to The Globe, old and new, to William Shakespeare and his plays and to theatre itself in all its rambunctious life and magic.
Nate Field is a young American actor brought over to London as part of a company made up entirely of boys to perform A Midsummer Night's Dream in the new Globe Theatre - Nate is to play Puck. One night Nate goes to bed with a fever and wakes up in 1599 and finds himself taking the place of one Nathan Field, loaned by his theatre company to one William Shakespeare to play Puck in a command performance of A Midsummer Nights Dream.
Though the use of a time shift will be familiar to readers of Cooper's Dark Is Rising sequence, King of Shadows feels as if it was written by a different writer. A much, much better writer (and I loved the Dark Is Rising books.) Nate is an intelligent resourceful hero who comes to grips with his predicament quickly, but he is emotionally repressed after the death of his father, losing himself in his acting. The shock of the time shift and meeting Shakespeare knocks something loose, and despite some grim realities and harsh treatment by a fellow player, he falls in love with the world and a warm, father-son relationship develops with Shakespeare himself, who only recently lost his own son, Hamnet.
Cooper brings the world of theatre, past and present, to warm life, full of strain and excitement and long hours and friendship and turbulent emotions. Nate's pain and loss finds expression through the language of the play, making Shakespeare real and vital utterly beautiful. This is a fantastic book.
Nate Field is a young American actor brought over to London as part of a company made up entirely of boys to perform A Midsummer Night's Dream in the new Globe Theatre - Nate is to play Puck. One night Nate goes to bed with a fever and wakes up in 1599 and finds himself taking the place of one Nathan Field, loaned by his theatre company to one William Shakespeare to play Puck in a command performance of A Midsummer Nights Dream.
Though the use of a time shift will be familiar to readers of Cooper's Dark Is Rising sequence, King of Shadows feels as if it was written by a different writer. A much, much better writer (and I loved the Dark Is Rising books.) Nate is an intelligent resourceful hero who comes to grips with his predicament quickly, but he is emotionally repressed after the death of his father, losing himself in his acting. The shock of the time shift and meeting Shakespeare knocks something loose, and despite some grim realities and harsh treatment by a fellow player, he falls in love with the world and a warm, father-son relationship develops with Shakespeare himself, who only recently lost his own son, Hamnet.
Cooper brings the world of theatre, past and present, to warm life, full of strain and excitement and long hours and friendship and turbulent emotions. Nate's pain and loss finds expression through the language of the play, making Shakespeare real and vital utterly beautiful. This is a fantastic book.
This book is a solid 3-4 star book for its genre/age range. This is my first time reading Susan Cooper, but she's clearly a strong children's fantasy author. Despite me being a bit put off at how few female characters there were (and no, I don't care about arguments of "historical accuracy", which most of the time aren't even accurate - I dislike reading books with limited female characters), I liked the main character Nat and enjoyed the story. It was both touching and funny and makes me want to revisit the Globe Theatre!
I haven't given the book an official rating, because I'm finding it harder and harder, as an adult, to properly review and rate children's/YA books that I read for the first time as an adult. I get concerned that any inclination to rate them lower comes from me no longer being part of the target audience. I often refrain from rating, rather than give an unfairly low score for a book that is probably a solid example of its genre/age range. So even though I enjoyed this book and thought it was solidy 3-4 stars, I don't trust my own internal biases to chose the most accurate rating. How I long for the ability to give half stars!
I haven't given the book an official rating, because I'm finding it harder and harder, as an adult, to properly review and rate children's/YA books that I read for the first time as an adult. I get concerned that any inclination to rate them lower comes from me no longer being part of the target audience. I often refrain from rating, rather than give an unfairly low score for a book that is probably a solid example of its genre/age range. So even though I enjoyed this book and thought it was solidy 3-4 stars, I don't trust my own internal biases to chose the most accurate rating. How I long for the ability to give half stars!
I had read this book years ago and decided that my good memory of it was worth going back and trying it again. I was right. This is one extremely well researched, thought out, and written book.
Nat Field is a young actor recruited by a somewhat mysterious man named Arby to play Puck in Arby's version of "A Midsummer Night's Dream". The company of actors are all boys aged 11-18. They will play in the brand-new reproduction of Shakespeare's Globe. Just before the play opens Nat falls ill. He is taken to the hospital where he is diagnosed with bubonic plague.
Meanwhile Nat wakes up in 1599, four hundred years before his own time. Everyone believes him to be Nat Field from St. Paul's school, loaned to Shakespeare's company to play Puck to Shakespeare's Oberon in a very important performance of the "Dream." Shakespeare and Nat quickly connect, forming a strong personal bond. Nat, who has suffered much loss in his life, is a kindred spirit to Shakespeare, who recently lost his son Hamnet. Their relationship is one of the most believable and warm parts of the book. Cooper's Shakespeare is one you want to be the real Shakespeare.
The company is nervous as it is believed that Queen Elizabeth I herself may come to see the play. But the big day arrives and all goes well. Nat, a boy from 1999, meets Queen Elizabeth.
After the play Nat realizes that his current situation cannot stay the way it is. Nat Field will be returning to St. Paul's where Nat will instantly be rejected. He promises Shakespeare to come back when he is grown and act with him again.
I am a weepy person. And I cried at the end of this book. It was beautiful. And you know, I believed it, the possiblity of it. I can't really say anything else because I'll completely spoil the book, but the characterizations were such that it felt right to me. Bravo Susan Cooper!
Nat Field is a young actor recruited by a somewhat mysterious man named Arby to play Puck in Arby's version of "A Midsummer Night's Dream". The company of actors are all boys aged 11-18. They will play in the brand-new reproduction of Shakespeare's Globe. Just before the play opens Nat falls ill. He is taken to the hospital where he is diagnosed with bubonic plague.
Meanwhile Nat wakes up in 1599, four hundred years before his own time. Everyone believes him to be Nat Field from St. Paul's school, loaned to Shakespeare's company to play Puck to Shakespeare's Oberon in a very important performance of the "Dream." Shakespeare and Nat quickly connect, forming a strong personal bond. Nat, who has suffered much loss in his life, is a kindred spirit to Shakespeare, who recently lost his son Hamnet. Their relationship is one of the most believable and warm parts of the book. Cooper's Shakespeare is one you want to be the real Shakespeare.
The company is nervous as it is believed that Queen Elizabeth I herself may come to see the play. But the big day arrives and all goes well. Nat, a boy from 1999, meets Queen Elizabeth.
After the play Nat realizes that his current situation cannot stay the way it is. Nat Field will be returning to St. Paul's where Nat will instantly be rejected. He promises Shakespeare to come back when he is grown and act with him again.
I am a weepy person. And I cried at the end of this book. It was beautiful. And you know, I believed it, the possiblity of it. I can't really say anything else because I'll completely spoil the book, but the characterizations were such that it felt right to me. Bravo Susan Cooper!