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SOUL OF THE AGE

Name: SOUL OF THE AGE
Author: Jonathan Bate
ISBN: 978-1-4000-6206-5

A BIOGRAPHY OF THE MIND OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

by Jonathan Bate ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 14, 2009

Lucid, rich and erudite—essential for libraries, students and Bardolaters.

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Few have anything new to say about Shakespeare, even fewer the ability to say it in refreshing ways. This exceptional book does both.

Breaking from the traditional biography’s unyielding march of chronology, British scholar Bate (Shakespeare and Renaissance Literature/Univ. of Warwick; The Song of the Earth, 2000, etc.) examines the social, political and cultural forces that shaped his subject’s mind—he wants to know what it was like being Shakespeare. For his narrative framework, Bate looks to the “All the world’s a stage” speech from As You Like It, in which “one man in his time plays many parts / his acts being seven ages”: infant, schoolboy, lover, soldier, justice, old man and, lastly, “second childishness and mere oblivion.” What could have been an arbitrary, imposed structure instead proves a sturdy formal platform from which Bate freely soars, offering a fresh, colorful and exciting portrait of a man whose portrait has been painted countless times before. Why so much rhetorical argument in Shakespeare’s plays? Bate points to the enduring effect of his schoolboy studies of Latin grammar. Why such sympathy for idiots and fools? The playwright felt out of place in London, a country bumpkin amid urban sophisticates. Why was Shakespeare so successful compared to his peers? Perhaps because he lived frugally, invested well and remained devoted to his family, while most of his competitors lived hard and died young. Bate’s ability to shuttle back and forth between what he calls “the Shakespearean mind” and what scholar Patrick Cruttwell usefully called “the Shakespearean moment” keeps the pace and content engaging. Occasionally, the author indulges in academic hair-splitting or wastes time criticizing those who doubt William Shakespeare was a real person who wrote his own plays. (Does anyone care about that debate anymore?) More often, though, Bate is generous with his learning, insight and wit, and more than willing to explain thoroughly.

Lucid, rich and erudite—essential for libraries, students and Bardolaters.

Pub Date: April 14, 2009

ISBN: 978-1-4000-6206-5

Page Count: 496

Publisher: Random House

Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2009

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
TED HUGHES
by Jonathan Bate

- BOOK REVIEW
THE SONG OF THE EARTH
by Jonathan Bate

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.