Excellent look at the intersection of science and Shakespeare
117766
This is a great book. I was concerned that I didn't l know enough about Shakespeare to appreciate it, but author Dan Falk gives enough background for the average reader to know what is going on. Discussion of The Bard was to me a minor part of the story; this book is really about science in Shakespeare's time. I read one other book that looked at the relationship between contemporaneous art and science: The Age of Wonder by Richard Holmes. Falk's book it's by far superior and if one is interested in this area I strongly recommend this one. Falk writes in very plain language, and no prior knowledge of science or Shakespeare is required. I recommend this book for anyone interested in the history of science.
3346613
Contrary to so much (Postmodern) Literary Criticism that contends 'meaning' is whatever you want it to be, the author shows how 'artfully' Shakespeare's plays are constructed and from this recognition we gain a deeper understanding of, and appreciation for the works (and that their author intended they convey 'meaning'.) And as a bonus, it is written in layman's language versus the esoteric (and often indecipherable) jargon of many modern commentators.

I enjoyed her manner of thinking and writing about Shakespeare so much I've ordered a couple of her other books on Shakespeare ...

I would recommend this book for anyone wanting to just think more about the art, as well as those interested in a deeper study of Shakespeare.
3080234
This was an educational novel written by a true Shakespeare enthusiast. It starts with a rant by a college lecturer about Shakespeare not being the real author of his compositions and the challenge to prove that he was. Daniel takes up this challenge and gathers up his friend Mike and their wives to research who the real author was.
They examine all the various nobles both male and female that could possibly have been involved and there are some interesting back stories about the early challengers to the idea Shakespeare was not the real author beginning with the Reverend Wilmot born in 1726.
Several works are mentioned in the novel as Daniel and the others become involved and to my mind there are too many which is the only thing that put me off the novel. Apart from this it was an interesting expedition into the various notions that men and women have had about this playwright and poet through the ages.
ARC from NetGalley for an impartial review
373634
I came to Shakespeare in college trusting the tradition of Shakespeare scholarship. Since my graduate focus was on Classical Rhetoric, I learned to recognize the difference between solid arguments based on evidence and reason, and those based on language that avoids the better argument or relies on attacking the person. But most common, I found those who advanced the weaker arguments tended to suppress evidence.

When I first explored the issues surrounding Shakespeare authorship, I found a lot of kooky stuff, with self-serving arguments that relied on things like cryptograms and specious claims that had little real scholarship to back them up. I would sit in a university library and check sources and make interesting discoveries about how people would rhetorically fool themselves and others.

Then I came upon Charlton Ogburn's "The Mysterious William Shakespeare" and the world inverted. I sat in the university library checking Ogburn's sources and found something unexpected: The traditional Shakespeare scholars exposed themselves in their own words as advancing weaker arguments and using very poor argumentative tactics.

I found there was good reason why famed historian David McCullough in the Foreword wrote: "...this brilliant, powerful book is a major event for everyone who cares about Shakespeare. The scholarship is surpassing--brave, original, full of surprise--and in the hands of so gifted a writer it fairly lights up the sky."

That exactly described my experience with the scholarship.

Roger Stritmatter and Lynn Kositsky are scholars in the Ogburnian mode. They rely on evidence and reason to make the better argument. They know how to do the research necessary to understand what kinds of objections may be raised against their arguments, and they are transparent in dealing with these.

And that is always refreshing in Shakespeare scholarship. Personalities are de-emphasized while the evidence and the better or worse arguments are the main focus. Since this is a work of real scholarship, it requires readers willing to meet its thoughtful demands, readers willing to do the work to meet the text on its own terms.

What I think should be most striking, and most disconcerting, to traditional Shakespearean scholars is how utterly fair the authors are in managing the evidence and arguments, especially the various competing theories. I believe any thinking person who does not have a personal or professional stake in the prevailing notions of William of Stratford's authorship will find this book extremely illuminating.

5 stars, highly recommended.
944490
Interesting insight from a veteran Shakespearean actor and director. I found myself nodding along as Tina Packer made her points about Shakespeare's development as a writer and observer of women. Despite my appreciation for the bawdy humor of Taming of the Shrew, it never sat well with me due to the unfortunate ending. Packer's close inspection of the Bard's work in rough chronological order as the plays are supposed to have been written reveals a growing maturity and awareness. From simple one dimensional characters in the early plays to complex and more interesting women in the later works, Shakespeare demonstrates his ability to entertain while presenting more authentic characters.

The author's descriptions may be a bit lengthy for casual fans of the Bard, but I found it helpful and engaging to follow her experiences portraying these characters as well as casting them.
1401356
This is by far one of the best analyses of Shakespeare's works that I have ever read. While I have heard many critics applauding Shakespeare's thorough knowledge of the law, I have never read anything that actually goes through his works and analyzes the uses of trials, judging, and ruling. Instead of looking at Shakespeare through the lenses of deconstruction, gender, new criticism, new historicism, etc., Yoshino uses the lens of law and justice. Each chapter focuses on a certain aspect of law, using one play as the main reference. Through the use of present-day analogies, he shows us that society's concerns and ideals of justice haven't much changed since Shakespeare's time.

A Thousand Times More Fair is an incredibly relevant, enlightening look at Shakespeare's works. We deal with law and justice every day. Our sense of justice influences how we act in situations where we feel we've been wronged; the written law is a reflection of our sense of rights and morals; and judging is how we are able to ensure fairness in our society. By looking at how these things are portrayed in literature and our ancestors' thoughts on justice, the law, and judging, we can gain a better understanding of our society and ourselves. Yoshino helps us do just that.

Any fan of Shakespeare will enjoy this book, and I think those who are both familiar with Shakespeare's works and interested in law will also get a lot out of this. Literary criticism isn't for everyone, but for those who like getting different perspectives on what authors are trying to portray through their works, you will find Yoshino's take on Shakespeare very interesting.
3638944
Having read Marjorie Garber's delightful and insightful "Shakespeare After All" after reading a little over half of Bloom's bloated and awful "Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human" (all I could stomach of that volume), I am pleased to no end that I found Garber's jewel of a book. She sets out to do - and accomplishes admirably - what I had (perhaps falsely) assumed was the task Bloom had set himself: to discuss and compare the plays in the canon, giving brief plot summaries, insights and analysis. For Bloom, the play "Hamlet" is all, and the character Falstaff is all. He very unevenly reviewed the plays, always commenting on each with too much about "Hamlet" and Falstaff. My favorite play ("A Midsummer Night's Dream," I am not too shy to say) merited only a few inadequate pages in Bloom. Garber, instead, has created a marvelous work that advances the cause of twenty-first Shakespeare scholarship while delighting the casual or studious reader. Many thanks to Professor Garber for providing what will be for decades to come one of the most important works on the Bard of Avon and his life's work! Avoid Bloom, read Garber, and to thine own self be true.
4712290
Shakespeare's Kings, by the renowned John Julius Norwich, looks at the cycle of plays written about the kings of England, taking the reader through the Hundred Years War and into the end of the Wars of the Roses.  It is a fun way to look at history and the book delights in looking at what we know about these kings, what Shakespeare knew about these kings and what the sources for Shakespare may have known about these kings (in addition to what was just plain made up).  The reader will enjoy this look at how history has been made in the past using theatre and how myths are built up, changed and carried on (sometime for propaganda purposes).  It shows, in many ways, how the ideas of history changes over time and also shows the ways in which many people actually receive their historical knowledge, such as through historical plays.  Norwich sets out the task of examining history through the sometimes distorted historical lens of Shakespeare's play and succeeds wonderfully.  It could help to have a full understanding of the plays themselves but one can slide by with a partial understanding and still enjoy this marvelous book.
4341013
Rather than trying to analyze Shakespeare for the umpteenth time or discover some new theory about the 'real' man, MacGregor takes into his world via objects that have survived.  Each chapter uses an object, a pamphlet or an eating fork or a coin, and then takes off on what that object tells us.  Each of the twenty objects get a chapter and each chapter explains the object itself, the place it held in the popular culture, and how we can see this in the plays.  For instance, the first chapter is a medal proclaiming Drake's circumnavigating the globe.  This sense of amazement and wonder at just how much was out there was very real along with a sense of pride in being English like the man who did so for his queen.  There is a bit of tweaking the Spanish in this pride.  This ties in with the claims of Puck going round the world in less than a hour.  This is a thing of wonder but also very viscerally real.  This is a very engaging take, lots of pictures to really see the objects.
1858910
This is a fun, fast-paced book that will delight anyone with a sense of humor, knowledge of the works of Shakespeare, and a willingness to suspend preconceived notions of what is historically true vs. what might be or could be. Short chapters told from the heroine's first person viewpoint and Will Shakespeare's third person viewpoint keep the reader turning pages. As a viewpoint purist, I found the mix of first and third a little off-putting, but the author is consistent and clear in her changes, and I quickly overcame my reluctance.

The words of Shakespeare are cleverly intertwined with the plot, making me smile at each reference and how the situation in the plot reflected the reference. Reminiscent of SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE, the heroine is Will's inspiration for overcoming writer's block. The portrayal of the way writers find words is also a delight to view since so many writers experience the same difficuty as Will does when trying to explain what he is doing to those who don't write. My only complaint is with the ending. Knowing what I know about ROMEO AND JULIET, I'm more worried than satisfied.
4402571
Bill Bryson has a knack for being both erudite and interesting and this book, and illustrated an updated edition, is no disappointment.  Like most Shakespeare biographies it is a skin of "here are the Shakespeare facts" surrounding a skeleton of "here is what we know about Shakespeare's era."  Still, Bryson is good about explaining the several theories surrounding Shakespeare's life and works.  He does a particularly fine job of demolishing the inane idiocies that have accrued to the Bard's legend.  For instance, on p. 231 we read: "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 as 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 probable that what is lacking is the evidence, not the apparel or the books."  He takes no stock either in the theories that Shakespeare was not Shakespeare.  Bryson notes, for instance, that Shakespeare really didn't know that much about Italy.  Yet, some authors would say he'd visited Italy for several years and no mere Stratford actor could be THE Shakespeare.  All in all, this is a very good introduction to Shakespeare and one recommended for lay readers of all types.  It's not footnoted, but there is a select bibliography.  Unfortunately there is no index, something the book could have used.  (As a side note, Bryson does have more respect for the King James Version of the Bible than he did in his history of the English language.)
4301714
This book did something I never thought was possible.  It actually got me to have some interest in Shakespeare.  I'm one of those people that would rather slam my head in a car door than read Shakespeare, but I have very much enjoyed Kate Danley's other books, so I decided to give this one a try.  I'm really glad I did!

I found it very fascinating how this book wound a back story into the events of Romeo and Juliet.  The imagery was well done, and best of all, it was written in a way I could understand it, much more than the original play.  This book actually made me consider going back and reading Romeo and Juliet again (ok, maybe the Cliff's Notes version), so I could see all the events in a new light.

All in all, I'm quite pleased that I took the time to read this book.
2005482
I wouldn't assume that every piece of writing about the pronunciation of Shakespearean plays is very interesting, but this one I couldn't put down. Fromson has found the most interesting possible subject in Hamilton Meadows. Meadows walks the fine line between eccentric and mentally ill, and the author does an excellent job of highlighting the absurdity of his quest without mocking the life that led him to this point. It's also fascinating and amusing to read of the interactions between such a single-minded, unconventional Shakespeare fan and a refined, renowned British Shakespeare scholar -- an engaging story of literature leading to unexpected alliances, including the relationship between Meadows and Fromson himself. This is worth a lot more than $1.99.
2944468
Even those of us who enjoy Shakespeare may not catch on to every nuance in his writings. Most of us aren't familiar with the political, religious and historical references that permeate the Bard's work.
Asimov's book puts  Shakespeare's plays in context. He explains how Shakespeare manipulated  history to increase the tension and smooth the flow of his stories, and  gives us the background behind the historical plays -- information  Shakespeare's audience would have known, but which we (for the most part)  do not.
I recommend this book.
4279056
An academic approach to Shakespeare, his life, his works and Elizabethan life in general. And it contains one of the best arguments Ive seen debunking the conspiracy theorists who refuse to believe that Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare. For many reasons an indispensable book.  If you go to my blog at richnovotney.com I can recommend a bunch of other Shakespeare-related books, all available at Amazon.
2401203
This is a good in-depth analysis of Caesar's death, and it brings to light a lot of the lesser known characters to anyone who was introduced to the episode through Shakespeare. I was particularly surprised by the appearance of Decimus as a main character. I had never heard of Decimus! If you love the excitement and chaos of Roman politics, this book is also entertaining enough to be described as a non-fiction counterpart to the Robert Harris novels. -Ryan Mease
3559620
As an actor and a constant researcher of Shakespeare, I was so pleased that I found this book. Not only was it a delightful memoir of Paterson Josephs time working on the RSCs African adaptation of Julius Caesar, but it was an incredibly in-depth look into his process. His notes on finding opposites within your character, vocal exercises for maintaining a long theatrical run, and using the psychological technique of debriefing to separate your character from your real life were all invaluable ideas that I will be incorporating into my own productions in the future. Readers will also be interested in learning about what Joseph describes as a receding glass ceiling for Black British performers, and how working on a play like Julius Caesar eventually effects relationships within the cast.