Stuart Kells

I went to a talk by this author at my local library and enjoyed this so bought signed copies of this book for a friend, my boss and myself. For that reason I was hoping this book would be good. I did enjoy most of it but with some reservations. Some of it was a little highbrow for my taste and read like lists of authors, scholars and libraries. When the author introduced anecdotal stories of libraries, authors and book collectors etc.. I liked it a whole lot more. Overall though a subject I am passionate about so glad to have read this Aussie book.
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My proposal for a book on Shakespeare’s life:

Chapter One: "He was as tough and romantic as the town he lived in" ... nah too preachy , let’s face it. I want to sell some books here ... "Inside his tights lay the coiled sexual tension of a jungle cat" (I love this!), "Stratford was his town ... and it always would be ..."

Chapter Two: "But at the very moment a visiting group of players draw back the curtain on a startling and spectacular thespian future,and he's smitten by a star-crossed love affair, then weighed down with the responsibilities of a parent before he can break with the Forest of Arden..."

Authorship dispute coming up with some bits about "Shakespeare's Library" on the side...

This book conveys the excitement of looking for evidence of his identity at the Folger Shake-speare Library (no, they don't actually use that hyphen, thank God!). Many eons ago, the New York Times reported that Roger Stritmatter got his Ph.D. in comparative literature for a dissertation on the Folger's copy of Edward de Vere's Geneva Bible. If Shakespeare scholarship were truly scholarly and objective, rather than an exercise in snake-oil tradition, pseudo-authority, and groupthink, Stritmatter's research would never have seen the light of day.

Following up on Professor Stritmatter's snake-oil research, I had the good fortune to find that the heavily annotated copy of the Whole Book of Psalms bound with Oxford's Geneva Bible is the key that unlocks the mysteries of many Sonnets, the "Rape of Lucrece", and passages in plays, that echo the distinctive psalm translations in that Elizabethan "hymnal." I just hope that Stuart Kells's implication that evidence, not faith, should settle who wrote Shakespeare will some day be adopted by the community of Shakespeare alternative "scholars."

We've now had everyone from William Kyd to Rodney Dangerfield proposed as the true Boss. I find it all great fun. I'm not entirely persuaded that the opposition to William of Stratford is solely based on class prejudice (though that certainly obtains). But the plays were written by someone who signed his name William Shakespeare (or some variation, spelling being a bit lax in those faraway times). And they're pretty good, on the whole. If someone, say, Francis Drake, were once proved of being WS, that would dominate the headlines for at least a week. Wouldn't change the plays. They were written by William Shakespeare. I've always admired the English for allowing their harmless lunatics to walk about freely.

Shakespeare - probably the number 3 after Brexit and Trump/Putin to bring out the fanatics beating drums....any mention that it might not have been the geezer from Stratford who wrote all those dramas and sonnets is assured a number of furious posts, all by people convinced that they know who did what several centuries ago. For some people it's much more entertaining than reading most of his plays...!

Bottom-line: I’m happy to assume that William Shakespeare, playwright and genius was William Shakespeare, playwright and genius and that it was this William Shakespeare, playwright and genius who wrote the plays by William Shakespeare, playwright and genius. I know that this statement is wildly controversial but hey - I’m that kind of guy.… (mehr)