Shakespeare

I think that Shakespeare is the greatest writer this country has ever seen. I’m sure I’m not alone in this opinion, so I thought I would share with you my selection of the best Shakespeare books and what I think makes him have such enduring appeal.

There are obviously different angles from which you might want to read about Shakespeare. I think the very first thing you need to do is read the plays. Maybe not all of them, but certainly some of them. In terms of The Complete Works, for scholars the best edition is the Norton Shakespeare, edited by American scholar Stephen Greenblatt. The Arden editions are also excellent if you want lots of accompanying notes. Arden should also be noted for publishing separately the different surviving versions of Hamlet: the Second Quarto and the First Quarto and First Folio together. If you just want a basic version of the plays, you can’t go wrong with Penguin or Oxford. It is also worth noting that there are 2 versions of Shakespeare’s ‘lost’ play, Cardenio. Arden published Lewis Theobald’s 18^th Century version, Double Falsehood  and Nick Hern have published the RSC's reimagining of the play which was staged for the first time this year.

You could look into his life (well, what little is known) to inform your reading of the plays. I have just finished reading 1599 by James Shapiro, which manages to enlighten the reader about Shakespeare’s character, the times in which he was living and his writing and the reception of his plays all through looking in depth at one year. This was no ordinary year: he wrote Henry V, Julius Caesar, As You Like It and Hamlet. Shapiro cleverly uses the seasons of the year as a structure, which allows him to bring in the historical context of each section of the year without it feeling forced or like you’re reading a history book. I have a few books on my ‘next to read’ list, including The Lodger (Charles Nicholl), The Genius of Shakespeare, Soul of the Age (both by Jonathan Bate, who wrote the brilliant play Being Shakespeare), and Will in the World (Stephen Greenblatt). Any recommendations?

                                                                 

You could also read some Shakespeare criticism, to see themes and patterns and contexts you might not otherwise know about. I recently read Looking for Sex in Shakespeare by Stanley Wells. Originally delivered as 3 lectures at Shakespeare’s Globe, Wells has converted what must have been excellent lectures into excellent essays. They are very readable and I found myself being disappointed I had not been lucky enough to hear them spoken out loud originally. The 3 sections covered relationships between men, the relationships in the Sonnets and ‘lewd interpreters’, i.e. people who see more sex in the plays than there is or ever was. I think next I want to read some of Andrew Gurr’s work on the Elizabethan play-going world (The Shakespearean Stage 1574-1642, The Shakespeare Company 1594-1642 and Playgoing in Shakespeare's London).

One of my all time favourite books is about Shakespeare. I have an interest in acting and like looking at the staging and performing of Shakespeare's plays as that’s what they were intended for. If you are likewise interested in acting, I cannot recommend highly enough Exit, Pursued by a Badger by Nick Asbury. Asbury is an actor who was involved in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s 2 ½ year Histories Cycle. The same company performed the 8 history plays from Richard II to Richard III. The book started its life as a hugely popular blog documenting the life of a stage actor, from forgetting lines to corpsing to being attacked by a badger! Following on from this format came Something Written in the State of Denmark by Keith Osborn about his time playing in the season that produced David Tennant and Patrick Stewart’s Hamlet as well as Love’s Labours Lost and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Also worth a mention is Antony Sher’s Year of the King about his experience of playing Richard III in 1984. He gives so much detail about how he created the role and the psychological impact of playing such a major role, especially coming off the back of a major injury, it gives us a unique insight into how to depict Richard's disability.

So this is just a tiny selection of the massive amount of literature about Shakespeare. If you have any particular favourites or think I've missed out something, please feel free to leave me a comment.

Amelia

Something for the weekend...

The Tiny Wife by Andrew Kaufman

This is the first 'something for the weekend' that you could actually read in a weekend (easily). Clocking in at 87 pages it certainly doesn't outstay it's welcome.

Andrew Kaufman's first book was 'All my friends are superheroes' (2003) another short one it sold very well, mostly through word of mouth (I thoroughly recommend it, it's 'something else for the weekend'). He followed that with 'The Waterproof Bible' which is, shall we say, his 'difficult 2nd album', (his charming, quirky style is better in short bursts - but it's still worth a read).

The tiny wife begins with a bank robbery, but the mysterious, enigmatic thief isn't stealing money. Instead he takes one emotionally resonant item from each customer in the bank (''51% per cent of their soul''). The book then follows the victim's post robbery lives as strange & inexplicable & even fatal things occur. The 'Tiny Wife' Stacey begins to shrink very slowly & the book is based round the reasons for this & the attempt to stop this happening.

Now, Kaufman is not subtle, (Stacey is literally shrinking due to a loss of self worth/love from her marriage... a baby excretes cash until it becomes a choice between the baby's life & the money..) however he is funny & engaging & very easy to read (ideal for the weekend!). Plus in this book he has delightful silhouettes drawn by Tom Percival which add to the grown up fairy tale feel of the whole thing. (All in all it would make a lovely little gift). So if you're a fan of 'Amelie' (the Jeunet film), or the works of Tim Burton or any kind of magic realism - give Kaufman a go.

Gary

Buy it here

Something for the weekend.

The Somnambulist by Essie Fox

While I’m not normally a fan of writing set in the Victorian era, this is an exceptional book. A well written gothic tale of young Phoebe who lives under the heavy strain of her sanctimonious and puritanical mother, Maud and her vivacious, glamourous aunt Cissy. Phoebe suffers one of the biggest tragedies of her young life only to find out that she has been lied to about where she comes from, who she is and most things about her life so far. The characters are excellently moulded, particularly Cissy and one gets a vivid impression that the character is based on someone the author may know/have known. Set in Victorian London’s East End in real locations such as Tredegar Square near Mile End Station and up the road in Bow, there are very believable situations constructed in the book dealing with racism and in particular, anti-semitism as well as sexism. Fox has crafted a tale unlike any other I’ve read here and having just finished it I want to read it all over again! A dream to read, this is an absolute page-turner and I recommend you read it if you’re a fan of the Victorian era, or just generally good writing.

Michelle

Buy it here

Something for the weekend.

One Day

I might be the last person in the world to read One Day but read it I did last week. The fact that I read it in a mere 3 days of commuting is testament to David Nicholls's brilliant writing. I have read his other two novels (Starter For Ten and The Understudy) and thoroughly enjoyed them so thought I would jump on the band wagon of people that love One Day.

I liked the structure of the book, where you see the lives of Emma and Dexter on the anniversary of their first meeting for 20 years. When I heard that this was the format, I thought it meant that they arranged a reunion on their anniversary each year, but actually sometimes they are together on that day and sometimes they are apart. I'm not sure if anyone else felt the same, but on some of the days I wished it had gone on to the next day as I wanted to find out what happened next, but you then jump ahead another year. Where Nicholls is clever, though, is by mentioning important events we've missed because they have happened in between these anniversaries. It didn't seem forced or over the top, however; just the right balance of finding out what you've missed and discovering what they do next.

I liked the character of Emma very much - I'm sure a lot of us can relate to her wanting to change the world but instead taking a job, any job, to pay the bills. I didn't like Dexter so much to begin with - but I don't think you're meant to. He is likeable all along (despite all of the things he does) because of how much he cares about Emma. You get the impression that she makes him a better person - maybe even the best version of himself. I liked, also, that their success seemed to happen inversely - his all straight out of university and hers after years of slogging away, but they find a balance in the end.

I'm not sure if I had too high expectations, but although I liked the book, it didn't blow me away as it seems to have done a lot of people. I would recommend it as a nice, easy, modern fiction book to read during the first weekend that feels like Autumn.

Buy it here

Amelia

Something for the weekend.....

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon

This book is more likely to be something for several weekends as it comprises of 656 fantastically well written pages, deservedly winning the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2001.

I had just finished reading Chabon’s ‘The Yiddish Policeman’s Union’ (anyone partial to a bit of ‘Noir’ should definitely give this a try) & was looking for something engrossing to read on holiday, so ‘Kavalier & Clay’ seemed to fit the bill nicely.

The story begins in 1939 & centres on two cousins, Sam Clay & Josef Kavalier. Josef, amateur magician & gifted draughtsman, has escaped to New York from his native Prague to live with Sam just as the Nazis are tightening their grip on Europe. His main concern is to earn enough money to bring the rest of his family to America. Together Sam & Joe create a comic strip featuring ‘The Escapist’, a Houdini inspired, Nazi-busting superhero, who aims to liberate the oppressed of the world.

What follows is a brilliantly realised portrayal of the Golden Age of the comic book in America, which serves as a background to the very human drama unfolding in the lives of the main characters. Chabon is able to combine humour with moments of real poignancy while maintaining a narrative which will keep you turning those pages.

This is an adventure story, a love story, a story about real heroes as well as the caped variety. Read it & weep.

Steve Orchard

Buy it here

Something for the weekend...

In the first of our books recommended for a weekend read...

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Stockett’s novel about the lives of African-American maids and their white employers is one of the best books I’ve ever read and one I will pick up many times in the future. The subject of affection between white and black people in times of segregation, is rarely handled with such skill and elegance.

The characters are all so well written, from the maids and white employers to their children and husbands that each one becomes deeply ingrained in the readers imagination. Before long, one feels as though they know each individual intimately. Their struggles and fears, hopes and dreams become those of the reader and subsequently readers can only be better for knowing these characters in all their idiosyncrasies and habits.

Whether or not Stockett can surpass The Help remains to be seen particularly with the lawsuit she is facing over her debut novel from her brother’s maid as of February 2011.

The subjects covered in The Help are indeed risky topics for a white author, even with Stockett’s experience of being raised by a black maid herself, but a good novel is a good novel in my opinion and Stockett has accomplished a fine piece of writing if nothing else from this. A wonderful account of the struggle against the KKK and white supremacy in 1960′s segregated America, The Help is a classic of its time. Stockett has achieved something truly moving and important with this book and will hopefully go on to further her talent.

Buy it here

Michelle