How Shakespeare Changed Everything
How Shakespeare Changed Everything by Stephen Marche is a tiny, pretty (well, I like the cover and color) non-fiction book on the impact Shakespeare has had on culture and society. I found this to be fascinating. Old Shakes has changed everything from starlings in America to words in our lexicon.
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As a Shakespeare novice ? I?ve only read one play all the way through, Romeo And Juliet, although I did watch Julius?Caesar?and sparknoted Hamlet- I found this book easy to follow. There are short chapters on different aspects of culture which Willy S. left his imprint on. Never did I feel like I needed to be a Shakespeare expert to get this book. The writing was straight and to the point, but conversational. The best way I can describe it is that it is like having a beer with a college professor, you aren?t in lecture hall, but the conversation is on an intellectual plane, rather than the let?s pound this drink plane.
However, it?s not all roses. Some parts I definitely disagreed with. For example, there is a chapter on how Shakespeare changed sex. Apparently people only have crazy uninhibited sex because Shakes wrote about it? I?m pretty sure that statement is a stretch. Hello, what about the Kama Sutra? Also, from my sex in the middle ages class, we learned that a prevalent belief was that both people had to um, spill seed and stuff, to conceive. I just didn?t buy into that chapter at all.
As far as non-fiction goes, How Shakespeare Changed Everything is completely engaging. I never found the words dry. Nor did I find myself wanting to be reading something else. I enjoyed my brief time with this book. Also, I feel slightly more knowledgeable about Shakespeare, and thus more interesting.
Disclosure: Received for review.
Jenny?s Books
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