Nine Lives of William Shakespeare (Shakespeare Now!)
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.26 (977 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 147251730X |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 240 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2015-03-27 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Instead, this study builds upon and examines the many theories that surround the life of this well-known, yet remarkably unknown man. Nine Shakespeares are presented: writer, player, butcher boy, businessman, husband, friend, lover, Catholic and portrait. By carefully critiquing these biographies and reimagining these nine men, Nine Lives of William Shakespeare creates a unique picture of how this playwright became Shakespeare as he is understood today.Shakespeare Now! is a series of short books that engage imaginatively and often provocatively with the possibilities of Shakespeare's plays. It goes back to the source - the most living language imaginable - and recaptures the excitement, audacity and surprise of Shakespeare. Or does he? Going beyond Shakespeare the writer and actor, Graham Holderness explores the fact and fiction, tradition and myth, surrounding Shakespeare's life.Combining biography and fictional narrative, Holderness takes a fresh critical approach to the problem of piecing together a definitive account of Shakespeare's life and work from scant historical information. Acclaimed as the greatest dramatist of all time, William Shakespea
Graham Holderness is Professor of English at the University of Hertfordshire, author or editor of numerous studies in early modern and modern literature and drama, and General Editor of the peer-reviewed journal Critical Survey. He is also a creative writer, novelist and award-winning poet.
The 'Speculations' in the faux voices of Burgess & Hemingway nearly ruin the interesting 'Fast' and 'Tradition' elements. I enjoyed the clarity of the very few supported facts known about Mr Shakespeare, as quoted by Graham Holderness. The 'Tradition' elements were also very interesting, and it was fascinating to compare them with 'facts' I have read widely over some time. I was less happy with the 'Speculation' sections. Even if writing in the style of Ernest Hemingway, I believe it did not give Holderness to write about a 'negro', and to describe "Willie" (no surname), as an archetypal sexually voracious black woman, unable to resist the narra. "Bizarre" according to Tad Davis. Definitely not my cup of tea. The author has decided that since we will probably never have the kind of deeply personal information about Shakespeare we want, he will provide a generous helping of deeply personal speculation. The speculation is all clearly labelled and set off from the factual summaries of each topic; but that doesn't change the fact that some of the "stories" are bizarre in the extreme, nor does it change the fact that the factual summaries are superficial at best. It's certainly one way of solving the probl. Brilliant This is like no other biography of Shakespeare. Celebrity biographer Roger Lewis says that it's the best book of is kind since Anthony Burgess's Nothing Like the Sun. That's a tall order but you can see why he says it. Holderness gives the basic facts of Shakespeare's life, grouped under nine headings - Shakespeare the writer, the actor, the businessman, and so on - and then shows how biographers have interpreted them. But he goes on to show how much biographical writing is invention and speculation, and goes one better by wr
"The Adventure of Shakespeare's Ring" is a pastiche that has Holmes, Watson, Lord Alfred Douglas, and Oscar Wilde examining the possibility that Shakespeare was a homosexual.” Peter E. The nine Shakespeares on show here - writer, player, butcher boy, businessman, husband, friend, lover, Catholic and portrait - are each lovingly dissected before being painstakingly reassembled” Times Higher Education“Hugely enjoyable brilliantly imagined the most fun I have had from a Shakespeare biography in a long time.” Peter Holland, Shakespeare“Genuine, and often excellent, fiction a gifted writer.” Lois Potter, Shakespeare Quarterly“As a biographical study, this is fascinating for the way in which it looks at possible interpretations of a long-by