Shakespeare: The World as Stage by Bill Bryson

This was another one of my getting-ready-for-our-trip-to-England books, although we aren't going to make it to Stratford-upon-Avon this trip (although I would love to). It just so happens that Bill Bryson wrote this, in addition to the British travelogues that I've been reading as well, but it has a very different feel from his other books, since it is much more research-based and factual than just wandering around England and writing about how he got annoyed getting soaked in the rain. I really liked how this book was very concise and to the point--I felt like I understood all of the salient facts about Shakespeare's life, all that we really know about him, and that I was able to point out what is conjecture (95% of what people say about him) and what is fact (just a few basic things based on governmental records, saying where he was baptized and married and a few other things). I loved his (not super-in-depth) analysis of how Shakespeare wrote and how he changed the English language--I found it fascinating to see how many new words he coined and how many commonly used phrases all came from his writing. I also liked how he pointed out his imperfection with writing, and how there are some lines in his plays that are impossible to understand (suggesting that he was sloppy or rushed as he wrote). I also really liked how Bryson basically demolishes all of the arguments about how Shakespeare didn't really write Shakespeare in the last chapter, and very logically takes apart all their reasons for dismissing Shakespeare as the true author. I'm on his side--it seems a little silly to assume now, 500 years later, that we can argue with Shakespeare being the author when there is absolutely no contemporary proof to assist that argument.

I think this is a perfect layman's biography for Shakespeare. I have a few other books about Shakespeare checked out from the library that I'm going to try and read because I found this so interesting, so we will see how that goes. I feel like I got everything I really need to about Shakespeare from this book because it's not like there's anything else to go on.