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Shakespeare

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Kasthu
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Shakespeare

Post by Kasthu » Sat December 13th, 2008, 3:43 am

Anyone know of any good HF about/ relating to Shakespeare?

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boswellbaxter
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Post by boswellbaxter » Sat December 13th, 2008, 4:41 am

I read a novel by Leo (Leon?) Rooke years ago called Shakespeare's Dog that was rather amusing (and yes, it was told by Shakespeare's dog). I don't know if I'd like it as much now (I was more in a literary fiction phase back then), but it's a quick read in any case.

It's YA, but I really enjoyed Carolyn Meyer's Loving Will Shakespeare about Anne Hathaway.
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diamondlil
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Post by diamondlil » Sat December 13th, 2008, 6:23 am

Karen Harper has something coming out soon that is somehow connected to Shakespeare.
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Perdita
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Post by Perdita » Sat December 13th, 2008, 3:18 pm

'Nothing Like the Sun' by Anthony Burgess is really good or there's a new one, 'Will' by Christopher Rush which is going to made into film

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Post by annis » Sun December 14th, 2008, 6:56 am

Faye Kellerman wroe an interesting mystery featuring the young Shakespeare and a girl who is a converso, a secretly practising Jew.
<Rebecca Lopez and William Shakespeare first encounter each other in a London graveyard where she is burying her betrothed and he his mentor and best friend. Their paths cross again as they seek to avenge these untimely deaths, she joining in her family's mission to rescue fellow Jews from the Spanish Inquisition, he searching for the murderer among London's criminals. Shakepeare offers excitement and intellectual stimulation to the brilliant, adventurous Rebecca, stifled by the restricted life of an Elizabethan woman, but political and religious events overtake them and doom the relationship.>
*Edit - a title's always useful! "The Quality of Mercy"
Last edited by annis on Sun December 14th, 2008, 8:03 am, edited 2 times in total.

Eigon
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Post by Eigon » Wed December 24th, 2008, 4:51 pm

The Player's Boy, by Antonia Forest, starts off with a boy running away from home with Christopher Marlowe, and when he is murdered, the boy joins Shakespeare's players at the Globe. It's a bit old-fashioned now, but still a good read, and there's even a walk you can do around the Globe to visit sites mentioned in the book. The original is hard to get hold of, but Girls Gone By, a small press specialising in obscure but good children's books, may still have some reprints.

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Post by annis » Fri December 26th, 2008, 11:06 pm

I recently came across this novel, "Will" , by Christopher Rush, Scottish poet novelist and biographer. The title is something of a play on words, as the book is told by Will Shakespeare himself as he discusses his life story with the lawyer whom he has engaged to write his last will and testament.

Has anyone read this book? Opinions in the many reviews about it vary wildly, although everyone seems to agree that it is an epic achievement. Many, however, feel that it is flawed to some degree by excessive wordiness and esoteric erudition.
Here is a straightforward and succinct review.

Joyce McMillan's review is worth a read as well
http://joycemcmillan.wordpress.com/2007 ... ook-review
Last edited by annis on Fri December 26th, 2008, 11:21 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Eigon
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Post by Eigon » Sat December 27th, 2008, 12:22 pm

Thinking of Will's Will reminds me - I've no idea if this is even available, but there was a play on Radio 4 a few years ago, called something like The Second-Best Bed. The writer had come across the clause in Shakespeare's will where he gives his second-best bed to his widow, but no mention of his best bed, or what happened to that.
The play has Ann Hathaway remembering the best bed, and how he acted out some of his later plays with her, while they spent about a fortnight in bed together!

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Jack
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Post by Jack » Fri July 3rd, 2009, 6:42 pm

THE DEVIL AND HIS BOY, by Anthony Horowitz is a YA title that works well for teens and goes through the time period, the palace intrigue, and the lower side of life at the time while still remaining appropriate to its audience. It's well written and draws in the reader.

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Post by annis » Fri July 3rd, 2009, 10:07 pm

An amusing story written in the 1940s is probably the basis for the movie 'Shakespeare in Love". Caryl Brahms and SJ Simon's 1941 comic novel,"No Bed For Bacon" is well worth hunting down.
Last edited by annis on Fri July 3rd, 2009, 10:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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