This was a very interesting read, and to my surprise (and relief), it was a fun read too. As I have a degree in English, I had heard a lot about Shakespeare. There were things that I assumed were accurate and true. Shakespeare's recognisable portrait, for example. I never knew that we do not actually know what he looked like. Or how he spelt his name? Apparently there are six (I think it was six) records where Shakespeare signed his name, and not one of them was spelt the same, and NONE of them were spelt the way we spell it today! I did not realise just how much of a mystery Shakespeare was.
“We don’t know if he ever left England. We don’t know who his principal companions were or how he amused himself. His sexuality is an irreconcilable mystery. On only a handful of days in his life can we say with absolute certainty where he was.”
― Bill Bryson, Shakespeare: The World as Stage
I found this book extremely readable. At no point did I have flashbacks of wading through textbooks with obscure language, sentences the length of paragraphs, and missing foundations as a result of assumptions that the reader already would know it. Instead, this was humorous, relevant and gave a good grounding of the setting in which Shakespeare lived. In fact, the background was perhaps the bit where the facts were, as there is historical record about Queen Elizabeth.
“All that is missing to connect her with Shakespeare is anything to connect her with Shakespeare.”
― Bill Bryson, Shakespeare: The World as Stage
The process of the first folio and putting it together really interested me too. It was an impressive feat, and while I would guess that many high school students are quietly damning them for their efforts, it has to make literature lovers appreciate just how close we came to never having read Shakespeare at all.
“Shakespeare 'never owned a book,' a writer for the New York Times gravely informed readers in one doubting article in 2002. The statement cannot actually be refuted, for we know nothing about his incidental possessions. But the writer might just as well have suggested that Shakespeare never owned a pair of shoes or pants. For all the evidence tells us, he spent his life naked from the waist down, as well as bookless, but it is probably that what is lacking is the evidence, not the apparel or the books.”
― Bill Bryson, Shakespeare: The World as Stage
I have found myself referring to this in class ever since I began reading it. I think English teacher's should really give this one a read, as it is packed full of interesting snippets which could invgorate a class.
I will definitely pick up another Bryson book. I gave this 4 stars on Goodreads.
(Note regarding rating: I have not read much non-fiction, so I do not feel very qualified to offer this a rating in comparison to other books. I enjoyed it for what it was, hence the rating. Whether this is actually a good biography is not really for me to decide.)
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