I thought while I was on vacation, hopefully doing a lot of napping and summer reading during Eleanor's naps, I'd set up some posts in advance. (I know; it's a miracle, compared to the last few months! Remember that time when I posted 3 times in one day because I was so behind? That was craziness!)I decided to write a few blogs about books I've been reading lately. The first one to come to mind is The Shakespeare Wars: Clashing Scholars, Public Fiascoes, Palace Coups by Ron Rosenbaum.
My mom loaned me this book years ago and, even though the premise seemed interesting, it gathered dust on the shelf. But I found it again a few weeks ago, started reading the first few pages, and got hooked.
If you like Shakespeare and enjoy finding out about some of the information behind the plays, you would like this book. The information isn't really about Shakespeare himself, but about Shakespearean scholarship and some of the academic arguments that have arisen over the years, because of our obsession with the bard and his work.
Did your attention wander off during the last paragraph? This book is not for you. But if it piques your interest, I suggest you pick it up! It's well written and relatively easy to read, for the somewhat heavy matter it sometimes covers. This one is definitely coming with me on the trip.
4 comments:
Sounds good to me!
Although kind of related (but not really), this reminds me about the work that has been done around C S Lewis's Narnia books - pulling apart the allegorical subject matter.
The thing that always intersted me about Shakespeare is how little we know about him - really.
I am mad about Shakespeare, thanks for recommendation.
Nan and Tony: I hope you like it! My mom is currently reading James Shapiro's Contested Will and she is really enjoying it. I'm hoping she passes it onto me once she's done; I'll let you know how it is!
Jonathan: CS Lewis is on my "to read" list (as we've discussed before), but I haven't gotten to him yet. Like Shakespeare, I do think he's someone that people are very interested in the writer, as well as the work, and how/if they connect.
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