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mauragf 's review for:
Shakespeare: The World as a Stage
by Bill Bryson
Bill does it again! I just love everything I've read from him.
It's such an informative book about how little we actually know about William Shakespeare, or Will, as Bill endearingly refers to him as.
I loved learning about the chaos of the late 1500s/early 1600s that Bill shares with us, from politics to plagues and lots of controversies in between.
I loved that Bill balances the immense contribution that Shakespeare has made to our language and culture, with his potentially less desireable traits, for example his tax evasion and our uncertainty regarding his relationship with his family, particularly in light of his will. The chapter on "Claimants" was also fascinating to me as I wasn't aware of the speculation that what we now accept to be the surviving work of Shakespeare may in fact have been the work of others.
The book made me realise how much of what critics and commentators have written about Shakespeare is pure speculation. Bill's playful tongue-in-cheek approach to sharing some of their work is delightful.
It's such an informative book about how little we actually know about William Shakespeare, or Will, as Bill endearingly refers to him as.
I loved learning about the chaos of the late 1500s/early 1600s that Bill shares with us, from politics to plagues and lots of controversies in between.
I loved that Bill balances the immense contribution that Shakespeare has made to our language and culture, with his potentially less desireable traits, for example his tax evasion and our uncertainty regarding his relationship with his family, particularly in light of his will. The chapter on "Claimants" was also fascinating to me as I wasn't aware of the speculation that what we now accept to be the surviving work of Shakespeare may in fact have been the work of others.
The book made me realise how much of what critics and commentators have written about Shakespeare is pure speculation. Bill's playful tongue-in-cheek approach to sharing some of their work is delightful.