Shakespearean: On Life and Language in Times of Disruption

by Robert McCrum

Overview

* A Washington Post Best Book of the Year *

"A remarkable book that takes us to the heart of Shakespeare's art and influence."—James Shapiro

When Robert McCrum began his recovery from a life-changing stroke, he discovered that the only words that made sense to him were snatches of Shakespeare. Unable to travel or move as he used to, the First Folio became his "book of life"—an endless source of inspiration through which he could embark on "journeys of the mind" and see a reflection of our own disrupted times.

An acclaimed writer and journalist, McCrum has spent the last twenty-five years immersed in Shakespeare's work, on stage and on the page. During this prolonged exploration, Shakespeare’s poetry and plays, so vivid and contemporary, have become his guide and consolation. In Shakespearean he asks: why is it that we always return to Shakespeare, particularly in times of acute crisis and dislocation? What is the key to his hold on our imagination? And why do the collected works of an Elizabethan writer continue to speak to us as if they were written yesterday?

Shakespearean is a rich, brilliant and superbly drawn portrait of an extraordinary artist, one of the greatest writers who ever lived. Through an enthralling narrative, ranging widely in time and space, McCrum seeks to understand Shakespeare within his historical context while also exploring the secrets of literary inspiration, and examining the nature of creativity itself. Witty and insightful, he makes a passionate and deeply personal case that Shakespeare’s words and ideas are not just enduring in their relevance – they are nothing less than the eternal key to our shared humanity.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781643137902
Publisher:	Pegasus Books
Publication date:	09/07/2021
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	400
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Robert McCrum was born and educated in Cambridge. For nearly twenty years he was editor-in-chief of the publishers Faber & Faber, and then literary editor of the Observer from 1996 to 2008. He is now an associate editor of the Observer. He is the author of Every Third Thought, My Year Off, Wodehouse: A Life, six novels, and the co-author of the international bestseller, The Story of English.

Hometown:

London, England

Date of Birth:

July 7, 1953

Place of Birth:

Cambridge, England

Education:

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, England, 1972-75; University of Pennsylvania, 1975-76

Table of Contents

Part 1 1564-2016: 'Who's There?'

Prologue: 'Was This the Face?' 3

1 'The Book of Life' 8

2 'To Be, or Not To Be' 14

3 'The Whirligig of Time' 24

4 'Something Is Rotten in the State' 40

Part 2 1585-1593: 'Shake-scene'

5 'The Very Cunning of the Scene' 49

6 'Hot Ice' 62

7 'The Death of Kings' 77

8 'Upstart Crow' 92

9 'Dead Shepherd' 103

Part 3 1594-1599: 'Words, Words, Words'

10 'Sin of Self-Love' 121

11 'Wood' 140

12 'W. Shake-speare' 154

13 'A Kingdom for a Stage' 168

Part 4 1600-1609: Shakespearean

14 'Distracted Globe' 191

15 'What You Will' 207

16 'Tell Me Who I Am' 218

17 'Shameful Conquest' 234

18 'Brave New World' 253

19 'A World Elsewhere' 258

Part 5 1610-1616: 'Exit Ghost'

20 'Chaos Is Come Again' 271

21 'Our Revels Now Are Ended' 284

22 'Sans Everything' 299

23 'The Undiscover'd Country' 308

Epilogue: 'Remember Me' 316

Postscript 325

Notes 329

Acknowledgements 363

Select Book List 365

Index 367

Editorial Reviews

06/14/2021

Observer editor McCrum (Every Third Thought) delivers an amiable and informed take on Shakespeare’s everlasting impact in this fascinating account that wonders why it is that the Bard “live on as one of us, not merely in Britain, but across the globe.” The author describes how audiences connect with Shakespeare’s work (as he wrote with “ordinary Londoners” in mind), explains how staged performances enhance readers’ understanding of the texts, and shows how the plays relate to “our shared humanity” with themes worth returning to no matter the era: mortality, progress, love, and language. McCrum offers historical context for the plays, pointing out that they built upon each other, as in thematic similarities between Hamlet and Twelfth Night, and argues that the plays transformed the theater into something “for his people.” He also makes entertaining connections between Shakespeare and contemporary pop culture, finding his subject’s influences in Snoop Dogg (with his wordplay) and Game of Thrones (which exemplifies the popularity of “dramas of history”). Full of close readings and enlightening observations, this is a poignant immersion into “Shakespeare’s extraordinary power.” Readers looking for an unpretentious introduction to the Bard should check this out. Agent: Clare Conville, Conville & Walsh Literary Agency. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

I can’t think of anything better than listening to Robert McCrum talk about Shakespeare. Enchanting.”

Sir Simon Russell Beale

In the wake of a tumultuous time comes Shakespearean, a deeply personal look at the most admired playwright and poet in history. An immensely stylish, entertaining, and informative book. Engrossing.

The Daily Beast - Jay Parini

Engaging and animated. McCrum guides us rather like someone walking through a gallery."

The New Statesman

Shakespearean is a remarkable book, an illuminating and personal journey that takes us to the heart of Shakespeare’s art and influence. From his account of the plays’ quintessential Englishness to his exploration of what he shrewdly terms their 'negligent ambiguity,' McCrum’s insights are hard-earned and deeply rewarding."

author of A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE and THE YEAR OF LEAR - James Shapiro

"A beguiling mix of memoir, literary criticism and biography"

iNews

Reading Shakespearean was a joy. By far the most accessible and erudite contemporary critique evoking with wit and profound insight that conscious (and subconscious) acknowledgement of the degrees to which Shakespeare‘s work continues to influence our cultural and political lives. It is also an essential entertaining book for anyone who like me shares a love of the great man’s plays and sonnets.

Don Boyd

If you ever had any doubts about the relevance of Shakespeare to the modern world, read this book!

Henry Marsh

In this biography and literary analysis, McCrum finds plenty of parallels to contemporary events within Shakespeare’s life, poetry, and drama...Shakespeare fans will find this book engrossing, comprehensive, challenging, and thrilling.

Starred Review Booklist

Robert McCrum beautifully connects Shakespeare to ourselves. love his curiosity. He seems to live each day as if he’s talked to Shakespeare on the phone that morning.

Michael Grandage

Wonderful and inexhaustibly fascinating.

Richard Eyre

Shakespearean is a brilliant, wise, elegant, and profoundly moving book. Beautifully written, inspired and inspiring: a captivating portrait of Shakespeare and ourselves.

Joanna Kavenna

"‘Excellent . . . the winning combination of McCrum's own insights and sparkling language lifts Shakespearean to the must-read list . . . an ambitious and exhilarating ride’"

The Daily Mail

Magnificent. McCrum addresses how Shakespeare moves us (from dread to laughter), and how his fearless creativity grew out of his tumultuous era and personal history. Shakespearean is not only thought-provoking but also moving and inspirational. McCrum’s living and breathing book reminds us why the fire of literature warms the soul.

The Washington Post - Michael Sims

McCrum writes brilliantly about writing . There is much here to stir the blood."

The Times

Wonderful. . . . a beautiful personal testament to why Shakespeare continues to matter so much. Shakespearean is crammed with original insights, and springs equally from a deep knowledge of Shakespeare’s own world and a totally persuasive conviction that his plays speak to our own world, and our own selves, as cogently as they did to the Elizabethans. Compulsively readable.

Nicholas Hytner

"Using accessible prose and modern reference points, McCrum addresses how Shakespeare moves us — still — and how his fearless creativity grew out of a tumultuous era and personal history."

Washington Post; 50 notable works of nonfiction in 2021

2021-07-10
An affectionate, personal homage to the Bard.

Novelist and former editor-in-chief of Faber & Faber, McCrum is a lifelong Shakespeare addict. At the heart of his book—a mix of biography, literary history, and memoir—is a profound pondering: “How was it…that he became, and still becomes, ‘Shakespearean’?” Writing in lively, conversational prose, McCrum sets off to find an answer as he weaves his way through his subject’s life and works, which “enthrall, baffle, and provoke each new generation.” In 1995, he suffered a severe stroke, and during recovery, Shakespeare’s works “became my book of life.” McCrum explores his reception—“at once global and local”—up to the 2016 election, when the titular term “became a consoling shorthand for bewildered American democrats.” The author delves into the key early years when the Bard matured as a poet and playwright during difficult times, mixing “high and low culture, a declaration of artistic intent that was almost avant-garde,” and his work “became all about language” woven through landscape and history. McCrum sharply examines the “haunting, strange, and tragic tale of Christopher Marlowe and Shakespeare” and how the latter became a “playwright for his people.” As he surveys Shakespeare’s career, McCrum pauses for close readings of specific plays.A Midsummer’s Night Dream, he writes “brings all [his] natural poetic and dramatic gifts into a perfect, at times thrilling, harmony.” Hamlet, “something utterly and uniquely new,” was the play “that would finally make Shakespeare ‘Shakespearean.’ ” In The Winter’s Tale, Shakespeare is “fully in command of his stage, his audience and his art.” McCrum also insightfully juxtaposes the works with those of later writers to show how Shakespeare “gets remodernized.” He dismisses the authorship debate curtly: “Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare.” The unauthorized publication of the sonnets in 1609 moved Shakespeare “from metropolitan renown to the grandeur of myth.” McCrum’s Shakespeare is “omnivorous, witty, sophisticated, wise and—from page to page—the most wonderful company.”

McCrum’s enthusiastic paean is a warm, welcoming place for Shakespeare novices and veterans alike.

Kirkus Reviews