Shakespeare: The World As A Stage: Bill Bryson

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PM in conversation with Bill Bryson", number10.gov.uk, UK Prime Minister's Office (published 30 November 2006), 29 November 2006, archived from the original on 27 October 2007 , retrieved 10 April 2009 Bryson, Bill (3 July 2014). "Interview: Bill Bryson". nursinginpractice.com. Interviewed by Jenny Chou. Cogora Ltd. It's not a surprise that this is short. First off, it belongs as part of a series of concise biographies. Secondly, there isn't much known about Shakespeare, so biographies of him should be short. Why go on and on about something if there's nothing to go on about?!

Bill Bryson stepping down as Chancellor". Durham University. 20 September 2010 . Retrieved 4 July 2011.Bryson also wrote two popular works on the history of the English language, The Mother Tongue and Made in America—and, more recently, an update of his guide to usage, Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words (first published as The Penguin Dictionary of Troublesome Words in 1983). Bill Bryson Library renaming event, Tuesday 27 November 2012". Durham University. 22 November 2012. The parts I enjoyed most were the discussion on the various remaining First Folios, and particularly the last chapter, the one on the Claimants. All success stories invite detractors. These come across as really foolish.

In the work he cites scholars such as Stephen Greenblatt, Frank Kermode, Edmond Malone, Samuel Schoenbaum, Caroline Spurgeon and Charles William Wallace. Bill Bryson - Honorary Degree". University of Leicester. 24 June 2009. Archived from the original on 10 November 2021 – via YouTube. In 2012, he received the Kenneth B. Myer Award, from the Florey Institute of Neuroscience, in Melbourne, Australia. [ citation needed] We thrill at these plays now. But what must it have been like when they were brand new, when all their references were timely and sharply apt … Imagine what it must have been like to watch Macbeth without knowing the outcome, to be part of a hushed audience hearing Hamlet’s soliloquy for the first time, to witness Shakespeare speaking his own lines. There cannot have been, anywhere in history, many more favored places than this. Bill Bryson library opens 200 new study spaces and 'Small Island' café – Palatinate". 21 February 2019.Nyilván ha valaki írt egy könyvet "majdnem mindenről", és utána szükségét érzi, hogy külön Shakespeare-ről is írjon egyet, akkor Shakespeare nem tartozik a "majdnem mindenbe". Hát kösz, Shakespeare nevében. On 22 November 2012, Durham University officially renamed the Main Library the Bill Bryson Library for his contributions as the university's 11th chancellor (2005–2011). [40] [41] The library also has a cafe named after Bryson's book Notes from a Small Island. [42] In 2005, Bryson was appointed chancellor of Durham University, [23] succeeding the late Sir Peter Ustinov. [31] He had praised Durham as "a perfect little city" in Notes from a Small Island.

As a reader of Bryson's books and somewhat of a Shakespeare obsessive (it took me around 30 years to see theatre productions of all 37 of his plays – many several times) I had high hopes for this book and wasn’t disappointed. In 2003, in conjunction with World Book Day, British voters chose Bryson's book Notes from a Small Island as that which best summed up British identity and the state of the nation. [22] Also in 2003, he was appointed a Commissioner for English Heritage. From my limited experience with author biographies, I've learned that the less I know about an author, the happier I am. Thankfully (or regretfully, perhaps), I or anyone else is at little risk of having the Bard's work spoilt by too much biographical information of its creator. The aim of this slender book is to collect all of what we know about Shakespeare, which is precious little indeed. In many ways Shakespeare is the perfect subject for a Bryson book. Shakespeare scholars have included some colorful and eccentric characters—such as Delia Bacon and J. Thomas Looney—which is one of Bryson’s specialties. Shakespeare is also sufficiently mysterious, most of his life being buried in the oblivion of history—an important thing for Bryson, who is attracted to gaps in our knowledge. Two more of Bryson’s fixations come into play: his interest in the history of the English language, and in daily life of bygone days.It reads like a lighthearted text book for teenagers/high school - except that it has no index (a cardinal sin for any non-fiction book). His work matured just like every other world-class practitioner – and he certainly put in the time and effort. His creativity was definitely put down to work and environment over any in-born “talent” Even the few surviving portraits that are purportedly of Shakespeare cannot be verified. "The paradoxical consequence is that we all recognize a likeness of Shakespeare the instant we see one, and yet we don't really know what he looked like. It is like this with nearly every aspect of his life and character: He is at once the best known and least known of figures."

The series in question is Eminent Lives, which describes itself as “brief biographies by distinguished authors on canonical figures.” (The general editor, James Atlas, is the matchmaker.) Thus, Mr. Bryson sets off on a mission: “[To] see how much of Shakespeare we can know, really know, from the record.” Bill Bryson receives honorary doctorate". King's College London. 14 November 2012. Bill Bryson OBE: the UK's highest-selling author of non-fiction, acclaimed as a science communicator, historian and man of letters. I would heartily recommend this book to fans of English literature and history. It has Bryson's trademark dry wit and humorous phrasings, so Bryson fans should also be satisfied. The audio CD I had also included an interview with the author, which was delightful, as expected. Nancy Dalva wrote in the New York Observer: "Right off, the author’s established his blithe and sunny tone: If a trio of witches were cooking up this book in a cauldron, there’d be a pinch of P.G. Wodehouse, a soupçon of Sir Osbert Lancaster and a cup of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. One can be firm of purpose and blithe at the same time, it turns out; one can write a seriously entertaining book." [3]At the outset - if you are looking for a scholarly tome on the life and times of William Shakespeare, you are going to be disappointed. Bill Bryson simply doesn't write like that. Those of you who are familiar with his oeuvre would know that he is a "love-him-or-hate-him" author: people either love his snarky humour, or hate it with passion. And there are merits to both viewpoints.