William Shakespeare's last English history play reads depressingly as if the magnificent Henriad had not existed. Thematically and stylistically it is a companion piece to Shakespeare's Wars of the Roses plays from the dawn of his career as a playwright. Like H VI 1-3 this is written in collaboration. If this is a sequel to RIII then it is a very mediocre one. The characters of Katherine and Wolsey are the main - in fact the only - highlights of the play. In sum the drama appears a weak pretext for depicting a Grand Pageant for the Tudor succession which backfired (literally when the Globe was set on fire by a stage cannon).
New Grub Street through the eyes of Anthony Trollope. A mixture of tragedy, comedy and a dollop of sentimentally. The highlight here - indeed one of Trollope's very best short stories - is Mary Gresley. This story, combined with The Adventures of Fred Pickering (Lotta Schmidt and Other Stories), does succinctly and to much better effect, what George Gissing takes over 500+ pages to do in his novel New Grub Street. That, I suppose, is the difference between a good writer and a great one.
Typical of Hardy to take what was already a great tragedy and make it needlessly more depressing, indeed nihilistic.
Shakespeare's farewell to the stage - and his most artistically successful collaboration with John Fletcher - is a pared down drama with an excellent subplot that doesn't deserve its relative neglect.
The amount of boat related incidents in this play borders on the farcical.
No wonder that Thomas Middleton is thought to have had a hand in this play, it has his bleak, fatalist conception of mankind written all over it. In pace and structure as well as in its themes it anticipates post-modern 20th century theatre. A marvelous work that, alongside its convoluted creation, is clearly a one-off.
Aside from the wealth of personal accounts, military reports, newspaper articles and speeches included, this book contains some of the most powerful and impassioned prose that William Wells Brown wrote, especially in the closing chapters.
You can never have enough of Sir John Falstaff, Shakespeare's finest comic creation and although he plays even more of the idiotic buffoon than he does in the Henriad it is still a pleasure to read (or to watch).
Solid introduction to Glastonbury, its history and it's part in the legends and myths of King Arthur. A healthy skepticism marred only by Ashe's quixotic theory that the Tor's sandstone terraces are some sort of pagan maze. His identification of Arthur with Riothamus is interesting; but apart from one or two points which he claims have similarities to the Arthurian story as it evolved (Riothamus disappeared 'near' the French town of Avalon for example), it is not convincing.
I've rated this 5 stars as this is an absolutely crucial text for Post-Romano British history if only because we have so little written records for that period. However, in saying that, Gildas is an unreliable authority and should be treated accordingly. The fact he nowhere mentions Arthur in what is, it has to be admitted, an old man's rant is not proof he (or whoever we associate with Arthur) did not exist; although it has been used extensively as such. Treat Gildas as one piece in the Arthurian puzzle, that because of our lack of contemporary accounts, has given him more weight than he deserves.
Verne should have called this novel 'Off on an Iceberg'; it's far catchier than the title he came up with. An assortment of soldiers, hunters, an astronomer and an eccentric British explorer (recurring theme of Verne's this) suddenly discover that a piece of Canadian terra firma that they had built a stockade on turns about to be an ice shelf which floats off into the wild blue yonder complete with it's own eco-system of vegetation and wild animals (an early version of Silent Running as it were). It's reasonably interesting but any suspense in the plot is vitiated by an A-Teamesque ability of the group to survive any disaster which is thrown at them. Not one of Verne's best, but passes the time.
Crowest's short biography is useful for giving a 19th century perspective of Verdi and he actually met the man. There is nothing here that won't be found in other bios but the author makes a robust defence of the early operas, admires the middle period works but thinks they may drop out of favour(!) eventually and groups Aida with Otello and Falstaff as Verdi"s greatest operas. The Requiem he likes but it is not the right sort of music for the Church, especially for the British. O, and that supposed Wagner influence? Not so much.
Originally attached to A Floating City on publication, this short story is the more interesting of the two. Attempting to run the Union blockade of the Confederacy, the Captain is seen the error of his ways by the daughter and servant of an imprisoned abolitionist who he ends up rescuing. Although Melville and Conrad are usually touted as two of the most perceptive writers of the sea, Jules Verne deserves to be placed alongside them. He might have been a land-lubber but he knew his boats. One amusing moment is when the Captain asks for more speed and the crewman (the ship is from Glasgow) replies along the lines of 'the engines cannae take it!'
I've read some strange books in my time but this could well be the strangest. I suspect that Melville started out writing one kind of book, shifted to another and then decided just to jump off at the deep end. An amalgamation of Swift, Bunyan, Rabelais, the Quest narrative for starters and a large dollop of fantasy - moose in the South Pacific? It's compelling in the fact that you don't know where Melville will take you next in this surreal journey. From Copernicus to free will to natural philosophy to the British Empire and slavery, in the company of travelers which include a philosopher Babbalanja (Plato?) whose oracle resembles Socrates, Mohi, a credulous historian (Herodotus?) and Yoomy the poet (Homer? Virgil?). The narrator himself, who is pursued by three avengers throughout the novel (the Furies?), drops out of most of the story until his Quest is achieved (somewhat) at the end. Weird, surreal but strangely enchanting.
A good introduction to Aristotle, especially the Metaphysics, one of the most mind-sapping books in ancient Greek philosophy.
The influence of Elizabeth Gaskell looms large over Deephaven - indeed Sarah Orne Jewett acknowledges the debt she owes to the British writer - but this is much more than Cranford-by-the-Sea. Jewett's descriptions of the New England seaboard are vividly sketched from soft pastels to the richest oils. She also describes a way of life, sustained by the ocean, that was rapidly passing way in her lifetime.
This anthology of essays by Virginia Woolf on English literature is arranged chronologically by writer from the high medieval (the Paston documents and Chaucer) to the then current era (post WWI). Many of these have gained classic status, and no wonder. The Paston essay places the documents within their historical context to an extent that you can relate to the persons described as living, breathing, human beings. If there has ever been a better piece on Jane Austen's genius I've never read it. Her portraits of the more obscure writers whose fame either died with them, or at best has flickered on, is of interest to readers of Woolf even if it is not for the subjects themselves. She skewers Wells, Galsworthy and Bennett as writers whose work has outlived their time and purpose (and admirer though I am of these three she does have a point). Her essay on the Brontes is of historical issue inasmuch as it shows the degree to which Anne's work has been rehabilitated since this essay was written (she is not even mentioned here). In her famous essay on George Eliot Woolf dances round Eliot without really getting to grips with her subject. Woolf clearly prefers the loam operas to Romola and Daniel Deronda; Middlemarch she damns with faint praise. I would have liked Woolf's opinion on why water is such a symbol of death throughout Eliot's novels, with the high number of drownings and near-drownings that occur - but hey-ho I'm not a professional literary critic. The last essay show more featured here, 'How It Strkes A Contemporary', is a passionate defence of modern (and Modernist) literature.
This collection demonstrates that Virginia Woolf was one of the most perceptive writers on English literature of the first half of the 20th century. show less
This collection demonstrates that Virginia Woolf was one of the most perceptive writers on English literature of the first half of the 20th century. show less
I suppose you could call this a Dracula 'outtake'.
Good introduction to Frederick Douglass' life. Stands up well over a century since its first publication.
Early play by John Fletcher (sans Francis Beaumont). Not much to say about this, the usual shepherd pastoral with a sort of anti-Prospero causing havoc. Nice poetry, the satyr gets the best lines.
Interesting take on Thomas More, a play written during a period where his role in opposing Henry VIII’s divorce, which led to the English Reformation, would have surely drawn the attention of the censors.
A wonderful hybrid - part poetry, part prose narrative, part theological treatise, part literary criticism with a fascinating glimpse into the Dante creative process.
A lot about the lyrics, not much about the music that accompanies them.
Well that's a few hours of my reading time I've never getting back.
In which you learn a little about Chopin and a lot about Liszt. Still I’m not complaining, it’s a good read. Shocked to find Chopin liked Hummel’s music, there’s no accounting for taste is there?