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eliaszuniga 's review for:
Shakespeare: The World as Stage
by Bill Bryson
Shakespeare is a contradiction: we know so little about a man who wrote and gave us so much. Bill Bryson’s Shakespeare: The World at Stage is unlike most other works about him, but that’s its strength. Bryson doesn’t seek to alter scholarship on Shakespeare or force original reinterpretations of his works; and even though it is a biography he doesn’t claim to add any significant new information about him. (Actually, one of Bryson’s themes is that there is frustratingly too little to know about him.) Rather, it focuses on what we do know about this greatest of English writers. An appreciation or even familiarity with Shakespeare’s work is not needed; as with other Bryson books, Bryson tells the stories of heroes that have helped salvage his works and of villains that have jealously sought to destroy it.
There is much to learn and appreciate for those that haven’t previously read any of his plays, and yes, even for those that don’t care to do so. Bryson’s Shakespeare has no long-winded passages written in difficult English; rather it humanizes the man for those unfamiliar to him. At the same time, Bryson emphasizes just how significant and important Shakespeare has been and continues to be, giving us over 800 words that are still in common usage, and contributing significantly in the 17th century historical shift from Latin to English as the world’s lingua franca.
Of significance is the last chapter, where Bryson systematically refutes attempts to discredit Shakespeare as the author of the works that bear his name. Although these conspiracies are nothing new (Mark Twain thought Shakespeare’s work was actually that of Francis Bacon) the movement has unfortunately garnered recent momentum even in serious academic circles. There is absolutely no evidence that discredits Shakespeare as the author of the works that bear his name, while there is much evidence that affirms his authorship, Bryson argues. One of the many arguments of the conspiratorialists is that the breadth and scope of knowledge and human experiences of death, tragedy and yes, love, couldn’t have possibly been written by just one self-educated man. Given that they were, I would argue the conspiratorialists’ accusations are perhaps the greatest compliment to him; such was his genius.
Strongly recommended.
There is much to learn and appreciate for those that haven’t previously read any of his plays, and yes, even for those that don’t care to do so. Bryson’s Shakespeare has no long-winded passages written in difficult English; rather it humanizes the man for those unfamiliar to him. At the same time, Bryson emphasizes just how significant and important Shakespeare has been and continues to be, giving us over 800 words that are still in common usage, and contributing significantly in the 17th century historical shift from Latin to English as the world’s lingua franca.
Of significance is the last chapter, where Bryson systematically refutes attempts to discredit Shakespeare as the author of the works that bear his name. Although these conspiracies are nothing new (Mark Twain thought Shakespeare’s work was actually that of Francis Bacon) the movement has unfortunately garnered recent momentum even in serious academic circles. There is absolutely no evidence that discredits Shakespeare as the author of the works that bear his name, while there is much evidence that affirms his authorship, Bryson argues. One of the many arguments of the conspiratorialists is that the breadth and scope of knowledge and human experiences of death, tragedy and yes, love, couldn’t have possibly been written by just one self-educated man. Given that they were, I would argue the conspiratorialists’ accusations are perhaps the greatest compliment to him; such was his genius.
Strongly recommended.