Shakespeare Books

The intro material in the front of "The Rough Guide to Shakespeare" says that it was "written by" Andrew Dickson, and that Dickson was born in 1979. This means he would have been 26 years old when it went to press. This fact is about as extraordinary as any in the book: even making allowances for institutional backup (Joe Staines gets "editor" credit on the same page as Dickson's "writer" credit, though in smaller type)--even making allowances, this is a book that would do credit to an author at the other end of his career. It's a work of capacious learning (which it wears lightly) and balanced good sense. I don't know of any one book that comes as close to being as handy for people who attend or read the plays, or who shop for videos. And while it doesn't presume to great scholarship, it even provides a helpful introduction to what academics would call "the literature"--with pointed commentary, not just bibliographical lumber.

Dickson's comments for videos (as, indeed, for everything else) are suggestive, not comprehensive. One isn't at all required to sign onto everything here in order to enjoy them. I think he somewhat underestimates the Branagh "Hamlet," and vastly overestimates the overblown pop-Freudian Olivier version, which almost put me off Shakespeare for life when I first saw it at the Rex Theater in Manchester, New Hampshire in 1952--and yes, I am still annoyed. But he isn't afraid to trust his own intuitions: who would have thought to include, as one of only three "Hamlet" choices, the "expressionist retelling" of Grigory Kozintsev? (He also recommends Kozintsev's "Lear"--both appear to be available from Amazon resellers).

One telling curiosity in Dickson's guide is the way it feels free to ignore the usual suspects you might expect at the Shakespearean banquet. The index includes no reference to John Berryman, none to Peter Levi, none to Harold Bloom, only one each to Mark Van Doren and Marilyn French (but he does catch Van Doren in a famous moment, asserting that "no play of Shakespeare's is better than Henry IV"). This isn't a criticism. Rather, the point is to demonstrate that Dickson is trying to exercise some critical judgment, not merely to catalog.

For the moment, I am going to stack this one with the movie guides, in the hope it will prompt me to pick and choose among Dickson's pickings and choosings of DVD performances I never heard of, or haven't got round to sampling. But it could just as well go in the library, and surely into the baggage for one's next outing to the Shakespeare festival. In short a remarkable work, with much to appreciate.

There are 3 volumes; the first of which contains five copies of genuine autographs of Shakspeare taken from his mortgage, and will documents. These documents are also contained within the first volume. There are also the most wonderful abundance of black and white plates within all 3 volumes, all of which are blank backed and some of which are signed.

There is a wonderfully lengthy and detailed preface explaining, in a very orignal manner the background to all his plays and sonnets. These books are a joy to have.

Professor Lawrence Besserman of the English Department of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem was the prime moving force behind a two- year faculty- student seminar in Jerusalem on the subject of the 'Secular and Sacred in Medieval and Modern Cultures'. The essays collected in this volume are the product of that seminar. They are ably gathered together by Professor Besserman who contributes his own illuminating overview essay as an introduction to the volume. He traces the theme from " its roughly simultaneous appearance in ancient Greece and among the Israelite tribes and later Jewish urbanites depicted in the Hebrew Bible, through its development in New Testament and patristic times, and on into medieval and early modern European civilization." His principal emphais is on the fluid character of the categories and how phenomena of sacred and secular intermingle in such a way as to mean that their borders are always elusive and shifting. He questions the simplistic reading of the whole process of ' secularization' and in effect argues that the proces of 'desecularization' is an ' ancient and ongoing phenomenom."
Among the other essays in the first part of the book, which is devoted to 'Medieval and Early Modern Literature:Lyric, Narrative and Drama,' are the following:
Cyril Aslanov writes on ' the influence of the Golden Legend by Jacob de Voragine on the genre of troubadour 'vidas'. ( lives of the troubadours). He also tries to show the influence of these 'vidas' on Provencal lyrical poetry.
Thomas C. Duncan focuses on the ' expression of the sacred in heroic mode of Old English literature through the exploration of secular Germanic images and concepts in the representation of Christ as a young warrior in 'The Dream of the Rood.'
Alan J. Fletcher centers on the Middle English poem 'Pearl' and the figure 'metonymy'which is pervasively used in the poem. He argues that 'metonymy' provides a key to understanding the 'aesthetic and cultural dynamics of the poem.
Alastair Minnis discusses the 'material and spiritual economies on the Canterbury pilgrimage'. And in considering Chaucer's most reprehensible character 'The Pardoner' argues that ' the poet's point is that this inveterate sinner ia exaggerating and exploiting shamelessly whatever limited spiritual authority he may have." The Pardoner is shown as one whose 'obsession with the material economy has utterly subverted any chance he may have of profiting from the spiritual economy.'
Murry Roston in discussing the sacred and secular in 'The Merchant of Venice' argues that the major theme of the play is the conflict between 'precepts of Christianity denouncing financial acquistion and the demands of the burgeoning world of commerce.' He argues that by merging these two disparate sides in the figure of Antonio Shakespeare in effect works to justify his own ' current commercial ventures.'

The second section of the volume is devoted to 'Medieval and Early Modern History: Church and State.'
Lior Barshack opens with a reading of 'The Communal Body, the Corporate Body, and the Clerical Body; An Anthropological Reading of the Gregorian Reform."
Esther Cohen 'examines the question of late medieval discourse and its approach to torture.'
Rita Copeland looks at 'how the history of rhetoric provides a test case for the stability of the boundary between the sacred and the secular."
Robert M. Stein's piece considers 'the huge three - part chronicle , The Deeds of the Bishops of Cambrai' in conjunction with the rebuilding of the Cathedral. He shows how it is a 'political weapon'in the hands of the bishop in his effort to achieve supremacy over 'secular and ecclesiastical rivals.'
Miri Rubin ' focuses on the efforts invested iin the design of the Mass from the twelvth century and the array of dilemnas and questions that the priest's role at the altar raised for theologians and practicioners alike'.
The essays as a whole provide a solid body of evidence for the fundamental thesis of the volume regarding the permeability of sacred and secular in Christian Medieval and early modern cultures. They also provide clues as to the persistence of the 'sacred' in a supposedly post- Christian world today.
While many of the pieces are in quite complex scholarly language the volume is extremely user- friendly as for instance in the editor's having provided clear abstracts as introduction to each essay.
This is a very rich and thought- provoking group of essays which show how varied and intricate are the connections between what we would set aside as ' sacred' and what we might somehow suppose only belongs to a deconsecrated world.

This book is just what I was looking for. A way to share the feeling of Shakespeare's life with children from the view of a child.

I used this book as a source for my term paper which was on shakespeare. I wanted to get essays written by people during the time the plays were performed. This was a great book with lots of essays written by people from all different centuries since the plays have been published. It was an easy book to use...just like a dictionary. All you basically need to find out if the volume number which you can find out quite easily. It was a great book to use and from now on it's the first one I think about using.

I teach Drama at a Classical Christian school and whereas Shakespeare is encouraged, some of his work is well, um...shall we say, a bit "naughty".
I like this book because Mr.Wilson gives brief scenes that show range of character without making me blush in front of the Headmaster!

If you saw this exhibition when it was up at Yale, you know how interesting it was. You either had all the time in the world to read the exhibition material, or if you're a normal person, you wanted a cup of coffee and said to yourself, "I'll buy the catelogue and read everything a little at a time if I have this catelogue on my coffee table." Even if you don't read it all, you should, and the only way to hope to do that is to break down and buy a copy.

Who says that sequels never live up to the original? Part 2 of this trilogy does just that! Immediately, Shakespeare grabs us with Gloucester's understandable fury at King Henry VI. This is soon followed by York's conspiracy to seize the crown himself. Later we are offered some comical touches with a false miracle. Some chilling pagan prophecies also grab our attention. Also Later, there is the hard passage where Gloucester uncovers the treason of his wife and later stands trial and is found guilty of crimes he is innocent of. Later his corpse is discovered. Shakespeare does not stop here! There is the chilling triangle between King Henry VI, Queen Margaret, and her lover Suffolk. King Henry VI is at his best in the trilogy when he banishes the vile Suffolk and faces down his queen. The scene where the delirious cardinal confesses his guilt is a scene of horror followed by Henry's touching forgiveness. The rebel Jack Cade simultaneously offers comedy and horror. His death at the hands of Iden is artfully drawn. But Shakespeare does not stop here! The War of the Roses actually starts.The demonic Richard III actually makes his first appearance in this play. The icing on the cake is yet to come. Clifford's father is killed in the war, and Young Clifford offers a sorrowful, terrifying, and yet beautiful passage on his intent for revenge!

Dr. Gordon's book, THE SECRET LOVE STORY IN SHAKESPEARE'S SONNETS, should be a required supplement to any British literature studies. Students and professors alike would surely find this book exciting and educational.

THE SECRET LOVE STORY IN SHAKESPEARE'S SONNETS gives the reader an insight to the life and loves of William Shakespeare. I was riveted by the stories of Edward De Vere and Queen Elizabeth, and Henry Wriothesley, the man who may have been their son. For me, this book brought new meaning to the words "Shakespeare in Love".

Prior to Dr. Gordon's book, I knew little about William Shakespeare or what his true identity might be. Dr. Gordon does an excellent analysis of Oxfordian theory, while expertly picking apart the theories of other scholars such as the Baconians. Normally I speed through books, forming my own opinions and conclusions, but Dr. Gordon's writing style and the information she presented was so engaging that I was afraid to miss even one word on a page.

Casey Elise Zagaria, MS
Associte Director of Development
Nova Southeastern University
Fischler School of Education & Human Services

Academics will wince. Many will throw the book down in anger. A few may even write angry letters to the publisher demanding that the book be recalled. After all the work they've done convincing the public that Shakespeare was a Marxist, feminist, proto-Nazi, homosexual, anti- smoker, imperialist here appears (or reappears) a little book suggesting that Shakespeare was just simply an inspired artist creating inspired art suggesting that there's something higher than the fully-accredited human being. This book is a to-the-point revelation of Shakespeare's Work's; justifiably forgettable when you go back to the plays themselves (as all books on Shakespeare should be forgotten when you go back to the plays themselves) but a revelation none-the-less. By itself it's worth all the books on Shakespeare in the New York Public Library; and it's a good aquisition for those interested in the esoteric side of life (what's NOT contained in Horatio's philosophy...).