Halo 3 (Xbox 360)
Kingston Technology 2GB SD Secure Digital Card
Braun Oral-B EB17-8 Refill Pack
|
|
|
|
Shakespeare: The World as a Stage (Eminent Lives) | 
 enlarge | Author: Bill Bryson
Publisher: HarperPerennial
Category: Book
List Price: £7.99
Buy Used: £1.74
You Save: £6.25 (78%)
New (40) Used (9) from £1.74
Rating:  51 reviews
Sales Rank: 250
Media: Paperback
Pages: 272
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5 x 0.8
ISBN: 000719790X
EAN: 9780007197903
ASIN: 000719790X
Publication Date: April 1, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
| |
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 10 more reviews...
 wickedly funny book November 12, 2007
Ms. Claire Mcdaid (Glasgow)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Bryson's quick wit and sharp sense of irony is displayed in perfect form when discussing the worlds favourite playwrite! The book was a pleasure to read and there were laughs on almost every page while none of the information within the book is sacrificed for comedic purposes. A very infromative book that was also highly entertaining - my only complaint is that it's a too short but other than that well worth reading!
Know less - know more January 2, 2008
Michael J. Hunt (England)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
After reading this entertaining book I now know less about Shakespeare than I knew before. This is not a criticism of the book, more a criticism of the thousands of misleading and ill-researched books and essays about this mysterious (not necessarily deliberately mysterious) man.
Bill Bryson appears to have been meticulous in his research in that he only uses proven facts(i.e. documented from first-hand, un-disproven sources) to support this, necessarily, slim book. The reason why it's a slim book is that there are so few un-disproven sources available, public records being what they were in the 16th and early 17th centuries. He also shows the pointlessness of adducing anything about Shakespeare's character from his writing, since it's impossible to separate his own voice from that of his characters.
About Shakespeare, the man, little is known. Huge chunks of his life have been obliterated with the passage of time, which leaves it open to speculation, of which there has been no let-up since about two hundred years after his death. This has led to a conspiracy theorist's charter, which covers his sexuality (which could still have been 'three ways', given the lack of evidence, apart from his his being married and having three children, none of whom were ever questioned about their father) to his character (the evidence of which is ambiguous) and, even, to his very existence (at least as the writer). On this latter point cojecture is rife, but there is even less un-disproven evidence to support it (i.e. nil) and his non-existence as a writer would have required an impossible degree of secrecy by numerous literate and reliable individuals in London at the time, including members of two Royal households and his 'rival' playwright, Ben Jonson.
Even one 'fact' that I've always believed to be true about Shakespeare turns out only to be a 'best guess' - i.e. that he spent time before his arrival in London, as a player/tutor to a Lancashire Catholic family (the Hoghtons).
One major thing that I wasn't aware of before (there are also many minor things in this book that I wasn't aware of) is the hugely important role that two of his contemporaries played in preserving his works for posterity. Had it not been for Henry Condell and John Hemingse none of his marvellous plays would have been saved, and we English, and our wonderful language, would have been the poorer to a massive degree.
For those who believe that Francis Bacon, or the Earl of Derby, or a Frenchman called Jaques Pierre, or any one of dozens of 'contenders' for Shakespeare's throne, reading this book will be like taking a dip in the Thames in mid-winter - unless your constitution's up to it, don't go near it. Otherwise, it's a safe book to read if you are interested in the English language in general, or the theatre in particular.
Not just for Shakespeare fans! April 11, 2008
happyreviewer (UK)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I bought this book because I'm a fan of Bill Bryson and history books generally. (And because it was half price, but that is neither here nor there.) I must stress that my only interest in Shakespeare is as an historical figure living in interesting times. That's why I bought it. His work is for far more literate and genteel people! But I absolutely loved this book. For what it is -- a witty introduction and guide to the whole Shakespeare experience! -- I thought it was faultless. Bryson tells us what we need to know and what we need to take with a pinch of salt (which turns out to be nearly everything!) and he does it in his own inimitable avuncular style. I haven't enjoyed a book so much (or felt so intellectual!) for a long time. So Bryson's done a good job. However, I have a bone to pick with the publishers. Why no illustrations? No portraits (admittedly there are no 'cast-iron' ones), no facsimiles of the oft-cited historical documents or scratchy signatures, no quaint maps. Nothing. I don't know why this happens with Bryson particularly, but I noticed it too in his A Short History of Nearly Everything. Perhaps they were trying to avoid tired old cliches. But I like to rest every so often and a picture can be good to mull over and collect thoughts.
a biography in plain English December 21, 2007
R. Bryan (England)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Structured and analytical, gets to the point without digressing into other issues. Brilliant introduction to Shakespeare. Enough for the layman. For Students, universities are full of Shakespeare.
Wish other biographies were as well written. Deserves a prize for clarity.
Ron Bryan
I knew nothing. Now I don't. March 21, 2008
Francesca Cook (England)
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
I like Bill Bryson and his audio books are as essential to me as his actual books. All I knew of Shakespeare was that he wrote plays, spoke in a way I barely understood, and blighted English lessons at school. I bought this to find out why!
Bill Bryson is pleasing in his lack of opinion and presents facts, myths, and the pompous opinions of others in his easy going tones and dismisses as much as possible in the pursuit of what little is really known. I didn't just find out about William Shakespeare's life, I found out about life in Elizabethan and Jacobean England for everybody from pauper to prince, manners at court, dress codes, the streets, food and theatres of the time and also plenty about other writers who were fellow successes of the day but are now forgotten.
This is a very genial way to become familiar with a subject which used to send me to sleep. Since llistening to Bill Bryson's enticing take, I now have a few adaptations on dvd and two classics on talking book. I've also started collecting the BBC's tv plays which were done in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
|
|
|
| |
