Absolutely worth listening to the audiobook (read by the author). Each chapter is self-contained, one per play (there are only 20 covered in this book). Insightful, interesting ideas, and a fresh perspective to thinking about a given play. I listened more than once to chapters about my favourite plays, and certainly broadened my perspective on those I didn't care for.

I also read the hard copy, dipping in and out of different plays, and then bought my own copy. ( )

When I took English Literature classes at school, studying a Shakespeare play was de rigueur. And I can’t say I disliked that. Quite the contrary. I took a (worryingly?) nerdish pleasure in comparing different editions of Julius Caesar and Macbeth, reading every last footnote, looking up difficult essays on the plays. And yet, this precocious enthusiasm failed to translate into love for the Bard. It pains me to admit that besides these two plays, my knowledge of other works by Shakespeare works is limited to the few productions and movie adaptations I’ve watched over the years. I have occasionally attempted to read other plays of his, but it always seems too daunting a prospect.

In her introduction to This is Shakespeare, Professor Emma Smith highlights this problematic aspect of the playwright. Precisely because he is so often presented as an undisputed genius, Shakespeare too often comes across as a figure to admire rather than love. Smith, however, argues that what makes Shakespeare so “contemporary” and relevant is not that he is some sort of prophet, but because his plays are “gappy”, leaving much to interpretation, and allowing us to project onto them differing and sometimes diametrically opposite views. Just by way of example, it is surprising to note how rare it is for Shakespeare to physically describe his characters, thus giving free rein to a director’s (or reader’s) imagination.

Smith’s book started life as a series of lectures/podcasts and while the playwright’s “gappiness” remains an overarching theme, the book’s twenty chapters (and epilogue) are dedicated to specific plays and can be enjoyed as self-contained essays. Indeed, Smith herself suggests that for many of her readers, this will be a book to “dip into”, perhaps before going to watch a specific play.

The chapters provide intriguing insights and, more often than not, a discussion of one work leads Smith to investigate a more general subject. For instance, The Taming of the Shrew (unsurprisingly) prompts a discussion about Shakespeare’s views on women and marriage, whereas the essay on The Merchant of Venice explores the themes of business contracts and the play’s inherent homoeroticism.

Smith’s approach is fresh and engaging. She wears her scholarship and erudition lightly, and does not deem it beneath her to cite pop culture to drive home her points – she is just as likely to refer to Homer Simpson or to an episode in the sitcom Friends as to an avant-garde Shakespeare production. Throughout, her message is at once iconoclastic and enthusiastic – by taking Shakespeare off his pedestal, we might learn to love his works more.

https://endsoftheword.blogspot.com/2020/06/this-is-shakespeare-Emma-Smith.html ( )

This is a fitfully illuminating book, particularly good on those plays which have received less critical attention (the chapters on The Taming of the Shrew and The Comedy of Errors are the best examples) but less rewarding on the 'core' Shakespearian canon: the chapters on Lear and Hamlet feel really tired and that on Macbeth almost perversely (although not unenjoyably) eccentric. I found Smith's relentlessly slangy style both irritating and complacent, like a bad actor reaching for a comedy accent. Perhaps her students and listeners (the chapters originated as podcast lectures) loved it. But if anyone mentions 'gappy' in the context of Shakespeare again, I shall do such things... ( )

Emma Smith is one of the leading contemporary Shakespearean scholars, and this book is drawn from a series of her Oxford lectures, which also formed the basis of a very successful podcast.

The book includes her thoughts on twenty of the plays, and offer a welcome mix of erudition with accessibility. Her scholastic insights are powerful, but offered up in a readily understood manner. It is clear that she wants an understanding of Shakespeare and his work to be universal, and not the preserve of a small academic clique. I was also struck by her understanding of theatricality – she understands how the plays work as acts of theatre, and not simply as text on the paper.

Along with James Shapiro, she has made a huge contribution to bring Shakespearean scholarship to a wider audience. ( )

This is a highly readable analysis of Shakespeare's dramas, focussing on questions raised, rather than on providing answers. The play-by-play study only includes about half of the canon, but most of the major works are examined. The style is light and entertaining, though the editing seems a little sloppy on occasion. The analysis is interesting, and in some cases gave me new insights. She doesn't give a character-by-character, act-by-act synopsis, so if you are looking for something to read to bring you up to speed before you see one of the plays, look elsewhere. But if you want clever analysis, this book provides it. ( )