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[threemonkeys]

Shakespeare by Bill Bryson. It confronted me on the shelves and just dared me to buy it. Bryson is justly famous for his travel stories which morph into slices of his life, but he also has written about the English language and history. It is no great stretch to go from language and history to Shakespeare. But Bryson's language books are not quite the entertainments that his travel books are. This is because the necessity to drop a bunch of information in gets in the way of the wry observation and the wit. Having said that, Shakespeare gets off to a good start with Bryson taking a jab at himself for writing a book in an area already overflowing with offerings. He simply reports that this book is part of a series ("Eminent Lives") and that he is just filling the Shakespeare sized hole in that series. That the first sentence in the book references a distant relative of mine is no bad thing either (although he was - "bad" that is). Actually another distant relative is mentioned in the short front piece describing the series. I feel connected.

The rest of the book is a series of disclaimers dotted around the very few things actually known about Shakespeare the man. There just isn't all that much known. What there is is put forward while some of the more well known interpolations (the polite word) are dismissed. Concentrating on actual facts does not leave much to write about and so it is a short volume. Bryson's prose is, as always light and readable even if a bit wit-light compared to his usual work. A short snack of a history book really. I would also add that it makes a good companion piece and occasional counterpoint for Michael Wood's In Search of Shakespeare TV series.

Comments

[capnoblivious.livejournal.com]

Bryson's language books have been lambasted for factual innaccuracies - but, you know, I looked at a list of purported errors and thought, "You know what? He's mostly chosen in favour of the better story, and I respect that."

I think Mother Tongue and Made in America are as fun and interesting as his travel books.

[threemonkeys.livejournal.com]

He was a lot more careful about facts (such as they are) in Shakespeare than any of the other books.

The two you mention are the better of the non-travel ones and for me do come close to the travel ones - they could do with fewer lists though. I didn't enjoy A Short History of Nearly Everything because the sheer weight of factual errors really bugged me and Troublesome Words is just dull although a sometimes useful reference.