Easy, not stupid, introduction to Shakespeare

Effortless scholarship, warm and engaging delivery, fascinating topic. What's not to like? Bill Bryson takes his 'ordinary bloke' persona deep into the thickets of Shakespearean scholarship, gives all the facts, of which there are not a lot, punctures a bunch of theories many of which are examples of the High Stupid, and leaves me wanting more Bryson AND more Shakespeare.

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4 people found this helpful

A MUST if you're a lover of Shakespeare

I'm a Shakespeare nut (I've seen 38 different Hamlets and hope to make it 40). And this book is a breath of fresh air amongst the tsunami of learned tomes, and pointless speculations, on the subject.

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Enjoyable

Bill Bryson is such an easy listen, and I learned a lot. It brought alive the atmosphere of Shakespeare 's life and time.

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Enjoyable for Shakespeare aficionados

Despite there being very little known about the playwright, Bill Bryson has gathered together some interesting information tangential to Shakespeare’s life, particularly the dismissal of all the misguided and frankly weird theories that other people wrote his plays. The author fleshes out what was happening the the country during Shakespeare’s lifetime and it was certainly an eventful period of English history.

I guess if you’re not familiar with his plays much of the book will be of little interest other than the historical background. The minutiae of statistics of the playwrights inclusion of certain words etc., are there for true devotees. For me it’s seeing the plays performed that matter and I’m grateful that the texts were saved as it was obviously a close-run thing as it appears that Shakespeare didn’t appear to care about his place in posterity and it was left to others to gather together the material from diverse sources to produced the First Folio. I’m left with the impression that Shakespeare would be amazed at the veneration he attracts four centuries after his death.

I have enjoyed reading several of Bill Bryson’s other books and while I did enjoy the present book I don’t think he was the ideal narrator. He tended to gabble the text which made the quotations in more antique English from the plays and poems even more difficult to grasp. I reduced the speed of the recording which helped.

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Shakespeare

An interesting book, well read by Bryson. I learnt a lot without having to concentrate too hard - exactly what I want from an audiobook

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4 people found this helpful

Try this much better than you might think

A great listen well worth a visit , you learn alot more about the history of times try it treat yourself

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A witty and informative introduction to the bard

As is usual with Bryson he writes fluently and amusingly in this guide to Shakespeare.
By its nature this is not an in-depth guide to the minutiae of Shakespeare but an overview of what is, and more often not, known. It was also lovely to hear Bill narrate his own work! All in all a worthy addition to the canon of Brysonia!

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A truly informative biography of Shakespeare

What I loved about this book was it did not speculate on things that the author does not know. it was very interesting to hear How Little We Do actually know about Shakespeare. like not really knowing what he looked like.

my favourite chapter was at the end though where Bill debunks all the nonsense about Shakespeare being a fraud.

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Another take on our William

I really enjoyed Bryson’s take on the Shakespeare story but don’t expect any major revelations - because we know so little about him this could accurately be subtitled (if you’ll excuse the shameless pun!) ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ but, nonetheless, worth listening to, I just wish Bryson would sometimes use a professional narrator as his mellifluous tones can induce sleep and possible coma!

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Shakespeare for all

This book brought Shakespeare and his work and times to life. I have not read or saw any Shakespeare but this great insight into the genius of the man both Will and Bill has give me a thirst for more. Well worth the time for a Shakespeare fan and a novice like myself.

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