Shakespeare by Bill Bryson

 There are three blurbs on the paperback version of Brysons latest book and I have a comment on all three:

The first from the Sunday Times finds the book “brilliantly funny and gently insightful”. The book is far from being funny, and associating brilliancy with mirth is another conundrum. Bryson is perhaps a pioneer at a new genre of biographies that need to be brief for the publishers’ sake- limited to 40,000 words. He succeeds beyond words. As for insight , they come out ringing, not gently, but with a force of research that is awesome and yes, brilliantly highlighted. The last chapter for instance, is high-powered research thesis stuff, where Bryson takes on the claimants to Shakespeares’ name and concludes:

“When we reflect upon the works of William Shakespeare it is of course an amazement to consider that one man could have produced such a sumptuous , wise, varied, thrilling, ever delighting body of work, but that is of course the hallmark of a genius. Only one man had the circumstances and gifts to give us such incomparable works, and William Shakespeare of Stratford was unquestionably that man- whoever he was.” 

The second from Time Out finds the book “A joy from first to last” . Truth to tell there were portions that were somewhat tedious. Bryson has that unique ability with the powerful command of the English language to lull us into a relaxed reading mode, expecting a racy finish ,not realizing that the book is a serious biography and requires an added attention.

The third from the Mail finds the book “ a delight…a gem of a book”. Here I whole heartedly endorse it.

So, for lovers of the Bard , and biographies, this thin 195 pager should be in your library.

If time is still a hurdle , permit me to share a few facts from the book. Bryson admits in the first chapter to a dearth of authentic information , and goes on , with detailed reasoning to make some conclusions. 

Amongst them:

·      The Bard was baptized on 27 April 1564 for certain. His birth 4 days earlier on 23 April is a conjecture. It does however, coincide with his death on April 23 1616. It was a period of economic and social strife in plague -infested England. As he succinctly puts it- “...Shakespeares’ greatest achievement  in life wasn’t writing Hamlet, or the sonnets but just surviving the first year.”

“ What sets Shakespeare apart is his ability to illuminate the workings of the soul… but what really characterizes his work- is a positive and palpable appreciation of the transforming power of language.

 

·        Shakespeare earned around GBP3000 for each of his plays – by todays money ( GBP 6 then) . Income accrued to the producers of plays in theatres not the author! Shakespeare owned shares in theatres, and performed and directed plays, which were his major income sources.

·        The Globe Theatre on Bankside ( London) which I am sure you would pay homage to when next in the UK , is a few yards away from the earlier burned down edifice which itself was shifted from another locale- when it was called the Theatre.

 

·        Of the 154 Sonnets ( 14-line poems) written by the Bard, 126 of them refers to beauteous men, and the balance to a “dark Lady” , both aspects of great gossip value. Unfortunately, the sonnets are not as widely read as his plays.

 

·        Anne Hathaway gets a brief few words in the Bards three page will, wherein he bequeaths his “second best bed with the furniture” to her. Strange for this great writer to be so sparing with words for his wife.

 

·    Though his wife and two children lived for years after his death , no one thought it fit to seek their opinion on the Bard. Except for a few years when Shakespeare was in London at the peak of his career, the rest of his life has a fair amount of hearsay.

 

·     John Heminges and Henry Condell are two unknown heroes , who brought out the first edition of his works, in 1623, titled “ Mr. William Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies”. As Bryson puts it “Shorn of these eighteen plays, Shakespeare would not have been the pre-eminent dramatist that he is now.” Drop by at Folger Shakespeare Library , a few blocks away from Capitol Building in Washington to see one these editions.     

Many thanks to my dear friend Nandakishore in the USA, for making my day , when Amazon delivered the book a few weeks ago!   

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 a few weeks ago.