Children's Books discussion
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November and December 2020 — Shakespeare as well as Elizabethan and Jacobean Theatre
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Really? It is sunny, warm, and beautiful here.
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Really? It is sunny, warm, and beautiful here."
It’s been raining on and off for two weeks now.
Wicked Will would have been up my alley when I was younger. Most of the Shakespeare books I've read have been YA. Loving Will Shakespeare
Ophelia
The Fool's Girl
The Steep & Thorny Way, a retelling of Hamlet was interesting for the 1920s background and bi-racial main character. Also deals with LGBTQ issues and how people whose brains operated differently were treated.
There was a book I loved as a young teen where a bunch of contemporary high schoolers put on a production of Hamlet. It was my first introduction to Hamlet. I don't remember the name of it and it's probably even worse than the above mentioned YA novels.
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If you have not read King of Shadows, I do highly recommend it.
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So yes, Susan Cooper's King of Shadows, where 20th century Shakespearean actor Nat Field's ends up in historical 16th century London as a theatre apprentice (and under none other than William Shakespeare's tutelage at that) and indeed in the at that time just newly constructed Globe Theatre (having been mysteriously transported back in time from the 20th century, well actually, having been made to switch places with a 16th century apprentice of the same name ill with the bubonic plague) is for all intents and purposes an engaging, fun, and delightfully informative historical fiction romp. For author Susan Cooper absolutely and totally knows her history, and 16th century London thus remarkably and magically comes wonderfully alive under her pen (from the sights, the sounds, even the smells of the city to how the Globe as a theatre works, how it is run and managed). And yes indeed, having Nat also speak in an Appalachian drawl, read dialect, is really and truly an ingenious narrative device and tool, considering that many linguists now surmise that standard Elizabethan English would have sounded rather similar to the dialects and parlances of Appalachia (and this factoid, it of course and naturally smoothes out potential problems of communication and comprehension, as Nat Field due to his background, due to his hailing from Appalachian Tennessee, is therefore able to for the most part easily communicate in 16th century London, whereas a more standard modern American vernacular would likely sound very strange and perhaps even incomprehensible to a 16th century Londoner and vice versa).
But although I have definitely and personally simply enjoyed and continue to much appreciate King of Shadows as basically an entertaining time travel fantasy in and of itself (and about one of my favourite playwrights), there are also and nevertheless some rather heavy and potentially saddening issues and scenarios presented and approached within Susan Copper's narrative. Because main protagonist Nat is not just a talented young American Shakespearean actor, he is also dealing with much personal sadness and trauma (grief, loss, mental anguish both in the present and also later in the past, as the warm and nurturing father figure he encounters in William Shakespeare is subsequently torn from him when he is, and definitely against his wishes and desires, simply transported back to the present time once the reasons for which he was catapulted into the past in the first place no longer exist).
Now as a child reader, or perhaps more precisely, as an older Middle Grade reader, as I believe King of Shadows is suitable from age eleven or so onwards, I would likely have simply taken and accepted the above mentioned reasons as to why Nat Field has to be switched with his namesake and Elizabethan counterpart Nathan Field as a basic and yes, even logical given (that because the historic, Elizabethan Nathan Field is ill with the bubonic plague, he might easily infect and likely kill William Shakespeare and thus destroy his literary legacy and fame). However, my adult self is of course a bit more jaded, cynical and fond of basic logistics. And if Shakespeare catching the plague from Nathan Field would kill him and thus prevent him from penning many of his most famous plays, then these plays should really by simple logic and deduction not even exist in the present day (but they in fact do, yet are deemed as threatened and in need of rescuing).
Also and finally, I do kind of find it rather hard to completely believe that when the newly returned to the present Nat Field tells his story to his friends and fellow actors Gil and Rachel, they not only IMMEDIATELY believe him, but almost AUTOMATICALLY surmise the reasons as to why Nat was sent to the past in the first place (to protect Shakespeare, or rather, his literary legacy). For yes indeed and in my opinion, it would feel a bit more authentic and realistic for Gil and Rachel to originally have entertained at least some doubts, to not have immediately captured and focused on the reasons for Nat's "voyage" to 16th century London. All in all though, Susan Cooper's King of Shadows is both a fun and solidly readable time travel adventure, perfect for young Shakespeare and history enthusiasts, and really for anyone in the mood for a delightful and engaging escape from the present into the past (into 16th century England, London and its environs).
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Now as a story in and of itself, as a time-travel (or perhaps in this case, one should say more a play-travel) fantasy, Suzanne Selfors' Saving Juliet really and truly presents itself as a massively fun romp, a bit chick literature-like perhaps (and most definitely conceptualised for and specifically geared towards teenaged girls) but I have indeed very much enjoyed the entire premise of Mimi finding herself in William Shakespeare's vision of Verona, in William Shakespeare's story of Romeo Monatgue and Juliet Capulet, and absolutely do love the voice of the narrator, of the main protagonist, as Mimi to and for me feels totally authentic, lovable, adorable, and is also very much someone whom I would consider a so-called a kindred spirit (and of course, romantic and sentimental I indeed also very much appreciate that the title Saving Juliet really speaks the truth, that Juliet and even Romeo are saved, and that in fact after actually almost never even meeting in this adaption, in Suzanne Selfors' Romeo and Juliet take-off, Romeo and Juliet actually do end up together as a couple and permanently so, and certainly very much alive). And yes, if I had read Saving Juliet as a teenager (in other words, if the novel had been published in the 1980s, when I was a teenager) I would most definitely have both devoured Saving Juliet and rated it very highly, with four and perhaps even as high as five stars.
However, and as much as I have indeed enjoyed Saving Juliet, I am also no longer a teenager, but rather an often critical older adult reader (and one who does usually tend to read closely and often with potential criticism in my mind, especially when it pertains to characterisation). And there unfortunately are two minor but still worrisome and frustrating issues that I have found with Saving Juliet (both literary and personal) that have at least somewhat affected my own potential reading pleasure and have also made me only consider a high three star rating at best. For one (and most importantly, in fact), I have not all that much appreciated how wooden and how incredibly flat many of the more unilaterally negative and nasty characters encountered in Saving Juliet tend to be (in particular, Lady Capulet and also at the beginning of the novel Mimi's mother both do appear and are depicted, are presented by the author, are shown and described by Suzanne Selfors as almost caricature like fairy tale witches, as so inherently and one-sidedly horrible and vicious that one almost feels like laughing with and in disbelief at times).
And for two (and on a more personal and emotional level) I also cannot say that I find Suzanne Selfors' changes to the character of Benvolio in any way even remotely to my taste. He has not only been made rather massively possessive, he actually tries to force himself on Mimi; in other words, he basically tries to rape her. Now did this novel, did Saving Juliet really need scenes describing and depicting sexual abuse and interference, as this all seems rather gratuitous and really, truly totally unnecessary to and for me? And of course, the fact that of all the characters in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Benvolio is the one whom I have always liked the most and is a character on whom I also had a massive literary crush in grade eight, when we read the play for school, this makes me by nature and even necessity despise any character changes in Saving Juliet that make Benvolio appear negative, nasty or in this case sexually violent. But really, even if I did not have that personal connection to Benvolio as a favourite Shakespeare character, I also find it rather problematic, sad and even a trifle worrisome, that so so many Young Adult novels nowadays almost seem to require scenes of sexuality, and considerably worse, often scenes of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, or at least the possibility thereof. Now would I still recommend Saving Juliet? Yes, most definitely, and especially to anyone who enjoys time-travel or time-slip novels, as even with the issues shown above, and although especially the sexual abuse scenarios do leave a bit of a frustrated and problematic taste in my mouth, Saving Juliet is a fun and engaging reading experience, and Suzanne Selfors has indeed created a lovely story, and with especially Mimi and Troy, two very likeable, approachable and relatable main protagonists (my issues with certain parts of the novel, with set-up, characterization and thematics quite notwithstanding).
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Yes indeed, Secrets of Shakespeare’s Grave has generally been engaging (and in certain parts of the featured plot also hilariously funny), albeit at the same time and unfortunately also a trifle too cinematic and predictable for my adult reading self (even though my inner child certainly has very much enjoyed author Deron R. Hicks’ presented narrative and my actual childhood self would most likely have absolutely loved Secrets of Shakespeare’s Grave, both the modern day mystery elements and the ample historical background details), a very quick and for the most part satisfying reading experience, but also not a novel that I would ever consider as a personal favourite or indeed as a story that if I had encountered Secrets of Shakespeare’s Grave as a child, as a middle grade reader, I would have wanted to keep rereading over and over again.
For although main protagonist Colophon Letterford is delightful and I appreciate her ingenuity, she also feels just a bit too good to be true, she is also simply too much of a total and utter genius who almost immediately and with ridiculous ease finds and understands precisely those very and important Letterford family treasure clues that have been languishing and hidden in plain sight for hundreds of years, and that even her adult and obviously well educated and interested cousin Julian has never been able to even remotely figure out (and at proverbial breakneck speed at that and by simply watching and thinking for usually only scant minutes and sometimes even seconds). Because honestly and in my humble opinion, Deron R. Hicks actually does in Secrets of Shakespeare’s Grave, while of course depicting Colophon Letterford as intelligent and as someone who unlike her older brother Case is actually interested in her family’s history as world famous booksellers, still first and foremost makes Colophon appear (at least from the beginning to about the middle of Secrets of Shakespeare’s Grave) as a typical teenager and not to and for my reading eyes as someone with totally supercharged brains, like a budding teenaged Sherlock Holmes.
And therefore, it has stretched and it does stretch my belief when suddenly in Secrets of Shakespeare’s Grave, when push comes to shove, when the Letterford family future and fortunes are being threatened by Cousin Treemont (who is also rather a tediously stereotypical villain), Colophon basically develops into a genius sleuth quasi overnight so to speak and really also into someone whose guesses and deductions are always and immediately right (and not to mention that Case’s transformation from slacker and annoying older brother into a valued helper and someone as proud of the family bookselling tradition as his sister, as Colophon, this all really feels too fast and instantaneous to be all that realistic). So three rather forced stars for Deron R. Hicks’ presented narrative, for his Secrets of Shakespeare’s Grave, for a decent and fun middle grade mystery and family history story which nevertheless does for me as an adult reader feel a bit artificial and overly simplistic in particular with regard to how easily and painlessly the Letterford mystery has been solved (but yes, I do remain engaged enough to most likely want to read the sequel, and sooner rather than later).
" Manybooks wrote: "If you have not read King of Shadows, I do highly recommend it.
No, not my thing at all!
Isabel: Taking Wing is good for the age group but not for nit-picky adults who will poke holes in historical plausibility. It's possibly the least depressing of all the Girls of Many Lands books. The books are out of print and the beautiful collectible dolls no longer sold.
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If you have not read King of Shadows, I do highly recommend it.
No, not my thing at all!
Isabel: Taking Wing is good for the age group but not for nit-picky a..."
Well, you do have to be both into Shakespeare and especially into time travel novel for King of Shadows.
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If you have not read King of Shadows, I do highly recommend it.
No, not my thing at all!
Isabel: Taking Wing is good for the age group but ..."
I did read King of Shadows several decades ago, and although I don't remember much about it (your review helped me remember some of it!), I do remember that I enjoyed reading it, as I am a fan of Susan Cooper's MG novels.
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If you have not read King of Shadows, I do highly recommend it.
No, not my thing at all!
Isabel: Taking Wing is good for ..."
What I really appreciate in King of Shadows is that Susan Cooper really seems to have done her research and you feel a wonderfully realistic sense of time and place. And how linguistically spot on having Nat speak in an Appalachian drawl, since most historical linguists think that Shakespeare and his contemporaries would have been speaking similarly (and that would of course have made it much easier for Nat to communicate once he travels back in time, once he is sent back in time).
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After not really finding the first novel of Deron R. Hicks’ The Shakespeare Mysteries all that spectacular, after already not considering his Secrets of Shakespeare’s Grave a total and complete personal reading pleasure (a decent enough Middle Grade mystery to be sure, but with in my opinion much too stereotypical both heroes and villains), I do have to admit that I only bothered to even read Tower of the Five Orders in the first place since I had recently perused Secrets of Shakespeare’s Grave and thus felt kind of obliged to also consider the sequel. And yes indeed although the main storyline of Tower of the Five Orders does fortunately focus a trifle more on William Shakespeare and his literary legacy (and whether the manuscripts located by Colophon and Julian Letterford in Secrets of Shakespeare’s Grave are authentic and not as it has been suggested forgeries) the very and exact issues I experienced with book one, with Secrets of Shakespeare’s Grave, these also do from where I am standing consistently plague Tower of the Five Orders.
For while main protagonist Colophon Letterford might perhaps appear in Tower of the Five Orders as a bit more believable intelligence wise, to and for me, she (in the sequel) has still been depicted and rendered by Deron R. Hicks as much too precocious and unnaturally clever for her age, so that Colophon’s smartness and problem solving ease in Tower of the Five Orders once again rather annoyingly feels as though this has simply like a deus ex machina just dropped from the sky so to speak (something that I kind of even expected since Colophon’s unnatural and out of the proverbial blue intelligence has been one of my main peeves regarding book one of the series, regarding Secrets of Shakespeare’s Grave but just because I was expecting Colophon Letterford to once again appear as rather too stereotypically good and clever in Tower of the Five Orders does not mean that I have not been massively disappointed when this indeed has proven to be the case).
Combined with the fact that in my humble opinion main antagonists Cousin Treemont Letterford and his hired minions (his gang of thugs) are even more pronouncedly stereotypically villainous and evil in Tower of the Five Orders than in book one (and yes, I already found how ridiculously cardboard flat and thin a character with totally on the surface nastiness Cousin Treemont is presented and featured as being a total and often really infuriating reading drag in Secrets of Shakespeare’s Grave), I certainly have not at all enjoyed my reading time with Tower of the Five Orders and am thus only willing and able to grant a two star rating at best. And furthermore, if Deron R. Hicks were to ever decide to actually pen a third novel for his The Shakespeare Mysteries I honestly doubt if I would (at least at present and for the time being) consider reading it.
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The topic is for two months and of course always remains open.
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Maybe even a four-star read. I mean, I'm familiar with the original, have read it, have watched a faithful performance of it, but Wishbone was the only one who made the framing theme clear to me - the story is about more than the youngsters. It's about what it takes to bring feuding families to peace. The Prince couldn't stop them, mothers and wives couldn't stop them, but loss of their teens to the quest for True Love stopped them. Wishbone made me like the play more.
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I agree that the history of plays shouldn't be all WS all the time, but I don't know anything/anyone else, actually.
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I agree th..."
I am no expert, but aside from William Shakespeare, there is of course Christopher Marlowe, who was not only an actor and playwright like Shakespeare but also seemingly a spy for the crown (and as such a hunter of Roman Catholic radicals) and which likely got him killed.
Doctor Faustus
The Jew of Malta
Tamburlaine
are three of Marlowe’s most famous plays
I would suggest checking Elizabethan and Jacobean theatre as a topic on Wikipedia and I do recommend Marlowe’s Dr. Faustus.
And the Wikipedia article on Elizabethan Renaissance theatre is extensive and also provides a very large list of playwrights.
Check out of course William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe but also William Kyd, John Webster and Ben Jonson.
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Maybe even a four-star read. I mean, I'm familia..."
Yes, the loss of not only Romeo and Juliet but also for the Capulets Tybalt had something to do with the two families burying their hatchets. But I do wonder if Romeo and Juliet had actually not died, if they had escaped from Verona and lived together somewhere else in what is now Italy away from their feuding parents, would the Capulets and the Montagues have finished feuding or would the feuding have in fact increased. I do have to say that I find the ending with the two families suddenly making up a bit hard to believe as that feud has gone on for generations with likely multiple corpses so why would Romeo and Juliet’s deaths suddenly change this all.
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I'm looking at some non-fiction, too. William Shakespeare is a juv. bio. that includes excerpts, sonnets, and artistic photos by Marcel Imsand. I liked Sonnet 130 (esp. after reading Romeo's infatuated exaggerations) and I appreciated learning that Proust got Remembrance of Things Past from Sonnet 30.
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How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare
The Shakespeare Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained
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I especially appreciate the appendices, which includes an annotated list "Plays not in the Folio but occasionally attributed to Shakespeare." That list includes A Yorkshire Tragedy, which Haines attr. to possibly Thomas Heywood but which goodreads attr. to Thomas Middleton. (?) Haines say it's "powerful" and I'm adding it to my lists.
This is an older book but very readable; I'll have to keep it in mind as an accessible reference for children.
Ben Jonson and Kit Marlowe Christopher Marlowe are the two other significant playwrights of the 17th century. There's also the little known female playwright, Aphra Behn. She was Restoration though rather than Jacobean. Google lists more male playwrights of the Jacobean era but we never got around to them in school. I took an upper level/grad college class on Shakespeare and then Theater in London and they took us to a new play every other week and then to Stratford-on-Avon. I fell madly in love with the Costwolds! The sun was shining for the first time and it seemed like spring was on the way. It was a lovely trip even if it was a whirlwind and I was so tired and carsick it's a bit of a blur.
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Well and honestly, with regard to how Gary L. Blackwood presents a sense of historical time and place in his 1998 middle grade novel The Shakespeare Stealer, this part of my reading experience has most definitely been both a delightfully fun and also much educational historical fiction (and historical mystery) romp, presenting a detailed slice of Elizabethan Renaissance life and of course in particular how plays, how dramas were performed during Elizabethan times and what the daily lives of actors generally were like (and yes, you can certainly tell that Blackwood has really and truly done his research here, since The Shakespeare Stealer does indeed feature and present a descriptiveness that is basically totally realistic, showing us as readers the sights, the sounds, the smells, basically the daily happenings of late Renaissance England, of London, and how William Shakespeare’s The Lord Chamberlain’s Men organised and ran their plays at the Globe Theatre).
But nevertheless, I would also not in any way yet consider The Shakespeare Stealer as being a personal reading favourite. Because albeit that I truly have appreciated the wonderful, realistically detailed and authentic feeling and reading description and depiction of Shakespeare’s acting company and the Globe Theatre, I also do think that aside from main protagonist and chief first person narrator Widge, all of the secondary characters present in The Shakespeare Stealer are basically kind of one dimensional in their scope and often equally rather stereotypical good or bad (with especially the given villains who make their necessary appearances in the Shakespeare Stealer usually being so obviously lacking in any kind of even remote character depth and background that their actions and behaviours are rather totally predictable and as such also quite monotonous and tedious, and of course therefore totally expected, such as for example Falconer being Simon Bass in disguise not at all turning out to be the surprise that I think Gary L. Blackwell was intending this to be).
Combined with the fact that William Shakespeare’s own role in The Shakespeare Stealer is much too limiting and small for my tastes (and that I did in fact expect Shakespeare to have been much more prominently featured within Gary L. Blackwood’s storyline and not to have him basically just seemingly play second fiddle to not only Widge and his attempts to steal Hamlet for Simon Bass but really with regard to ALL of the other actors, apprentices and shareholders of the Globe), while I have without a doubt enjoyed my reading time immensely (and would have absolutely adored The Shakespeare Stealer as a tween or as a young teenager), I do think that much more depth needs to be included in Blackwood’s text for me to consider more than a high but still a trifle disappointed three star rating (but yes, I am definitely planning on reading the two sequels to The Shakespeare Stealer and am also kind of hoping that perhaps both Shakespeare’s Scribe and Shakespeare’s Spy might be more in-depth and feature more developed and nuanced characters).
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Shakespeare's Secret was, imo, a disappointment. Mostly I can understand why some people love it, but it seems a little too hastily written and the themes superficially treated for me. One thing I had trouble with, one reason I would not actually recommend this to children, is explained in this part of my review:
Speaking of that tween angst, I do not appreciate the observation that she must blend in (become invisible) or fit in (choose an identity that will garner a position in a clique) or find a way in (as her sister does, to the point of hanging out with a mean girl). And no, she never really does find her own way to succeed, but rather finds a different way to be unnoticed.
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Shakespeare's Secret was, imo, a disappointment. Mostly I can understand why some people love it, but it seems a little too hastily written and..."
And with The Shakespeare Stealer, make sure to also read the sequels, as I am indeed finding the second book of the series vastly superior to book one.
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Shakespeare's Secret was, imo, a disappointment. Mostly I can understand why some people love it, but it seems a little too hastily written and..."
Too bad that Shakespeare's Secret was disappointing. I was debating ordering a copy through ILL but the tween angst issue and that nothing is resolved according to your review makes me not really all that keen on this (especially since ILL is iffy due to pandemic rules and also costs a fee now).
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While Gary L. Blackwood's The Shakespeare Stealer certainly does provide a decently readable and historically realistic and accurate introduction to main protagonist and first person narrator Widge (who is a teenaged orphan in late Renaissance England and ends up joining the Lord Chamberlain's Men as an apprentice actor and under the tutelage of none other than William Shakespeare), I also have to say that the second book in the series, that Shakespeare's Scribe is in my opinion where Widge's story really matures and solidifies, really becomes totally and utterly delightful.
Because yes indeed, the frustrating and annoying writing style issues that Gary L. Blackwood's presented narrative at times does tend to show in The Shakespeare Stealer (mostly regarding one dimensional, rather stereotypical characters and indeed that the main villains are all and sundry cardboard thin, on the surface and lacking in any type of emotional depth), in Shakespeare's Scribe, this has thankfully and appreciatively all but disappeared, leaving both the main character (Widge) and even most if not actually all secondary personages (and indeed also and equally not so positive, villainous individuals) rendered by Blackwood with textual depth and nuanced emotions, showing instances of both intense joy and intense pain, both pleasure and heartbreak (with for example, in Shakespeare's Scribe, Caster's death from the bubonic plague of course being described as intensely sad and traumatic for his best friend Widge, but also presented as something that is a necessary part of Widge's maturation process from teenager to adult and from an apprentice to a full fledged actor and member of The Lord Chamberlain's Men).
And furthermore (and yes, much importantly, as in The Shakespeare Stealer this really has not at all been the case), I also do very much appreciate that in Shakespeare's Scribe William Shakespeare himself plays a much more important and omni-present role and is thankfully not like in The Shakespeare Stealer just some kind of a famous playwright placeholder but is in fact a richly rendered both living and breathing character, who in Shakespeare's Scribe shows to us readers how much work writing or dictating an original dramatic work is (or can be) for the author (and yes of course also for the scribe if the author is in fact dictating his words to the former).
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And there is also a sequel, where William auditions for the role of Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, William's Midsummer Dreams.
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When I signed Gordon Korman's ghost (and coming of age) middle grade novel Whatshisface out from my local library last fall, I fondly thought and hoped that I would really enjoy both the Shakespearean thematics and that main protagonist Cooper Vega's smartphone is indeed being haunted by a departed Elizabethan era spirit. However, if truth be told, I must indeed admit that I actually never did get very far at all with Whatshisface, since I really do not at all enjoy stories where things make no common sense because of basic geography gaffes and issues.
And with Whatshisface, since the action, since Gordon Korman's narrative seems to mostly take place in an American or a Canadian Stratford (and no, obviously not Stratford-upon-Avon, England), I do totally find it hard to believe that Roderick Northrope, that an Elizabethan era British ghost would be haunting Cooper Vega's smart phone in North America. For yes indeed, this just does not make any kind of sense with regard to place. And while I did in fact try to not let this geographical blunder bother me and to just enjoy Whatshisface as a story in and of itself, I just have not been able to do this and the amount of reading distraction, British phone ghost Roddy was causing me, it just became so annoying that I had to stop reading and to consider Whatshisface as abandoned (even though I do feel a trifle guilty doing this, but well, I just completely and absolutely ended up losing my patience).
Furthermore, I also really do have to wonder why Gordon Korman does not realise that realistically speaking, and yes, even with a ghost story, the ghost, the departed spirit in question (and in Whatshisface this is of course Roderick) would need to hail from a similar locality as to where the presented and featured story is in fact taking place and to have in Whatshisface, the smart phone spirit come from England, from across the Atlantic Ocean (to North America), this really is neither reasonable nor is it believable.
So yes, the above has indeed been frustrating and annoying enough for me (personally) to not want to finish Whatshisface, to abandon Whatshisface and to only consider a very grudging (and probably even overly generous) two star ranking, because I really and truly do consider the fact that Roddy is a British ghost haunting a North American smartphone quite sloppy penmanship on the part of Gordon Korman, and author sloppiness does generally rather majorly annoy and grate on me to no end.
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Honestly, if an author is planning on making use of a “chatty” writing style where there either sometimes or generally is an actual and personal conversation between narrator, storyteller and author being presented, he or she in my humble opinion will also have to make sure that this featured interplay actually works, that it reads both smoothly and naturally and not artificially. And yes, this is especially the case if one is writing for children, for while some if not actually many adult readers might well find experimental narrational stylistics intriguing, most younger readers will in my experience generally want a narration that moves forward in a natural and logical fashion and does not meander back and forth with multiple and differently labeled narrators chatting amongst themselves and pontificating (and often, it seems, about nothing of significance).
And yes, with S.A. Cranfill’s A Shakespearean Tale! : The Power of Words Drives a Centuries-Old Quest for a Lost Manuscript, the annoying scenario mentioned and described above does indeed totally occur, with entire sections of multiple narrators clashing and chatting pointlessly and to and for me also always trying much too hard to be humorous and engaging. And thus, I do have to admit that I almost immediately lost interest and decided to not continue reading A Shakespearean Tale!: The Power of Words Drives a Centuries-Old Search for a Lost Manuscript because even when S.A. Cranfill actually and in fact presents a more standard and plot oriented style, his text feels annoyingly uninteresting and on the surface, throwing around Shakespearean character names en masse but not really in any manner ever telling me an interesting and readable, relatable enough plot line.
Now while the actual story told in A Shakespearean Tale!: The Power of Words Drives a Centuries-Old Quest for a Lost Manuscript might of course and even more than likely become a bit more interesting content and theme wise as S.A. Cranfill’s text progresses, the fact that his or her writing style and mode of literary expression (and no, I do not even know the author’s actual given first names) seem to be the same and to and for me similarly horribly grating throughout, yes indeed, this has definitely made me stop after about twenty pages or so and to rate A Shakespearean Tale!: The Power of Words Drives a Centuries-Old Quest for a Lost Manuscript as “could not finish” and with only one star. For truth be told, I more often than not do tend to rate pieces of writing where I cannot stomach the author’s narration and style with but one star (because that is and always has been an annoying and majorly frustrating personal pet peeve for me).
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Will know by tomorrow morning if I am actually going to continue but right now, I am not impressed and rather majorly bored, although I probably would not have minded this novel as a younger reader but as an adult, William Shakespeare as a young and annoyingly talkative character just does not feel like a real character but like a rhetorical figure.
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A Mystery of Errors
The Slaying of the Shrew
Much Ado About Murder
The Merchant of Vengeance
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Children's Books
Books mentioned in this topic
The Bard and the Book: How the First Folio Saved the Plays of William Shakespeare from Oblivion (other topics)As You Like It (other topics)
Much Ado about Nothing (other topics)
Much Ado about Nothing (other topics)
William Shakespeare's Macbeth (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Jenny Oldfield (other topics)C. Walter Hodges (other topics)
Tony Bradman (other topics)
Geoffrey Trease (other topics)
Jenny Oldfield (other topics)
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Here is a preliminary list.
MIDDLE GRADE
The Shakespeare Stealer
Shakespeare's Scribe
Shakespeare's Spy
Secrets of Shakespeare’s Grave
Tower of the Five Orders
Wicked Will: A Mystery of Young William Shakespeare
King of Shadows
Tales from Shakespeare
YA
The Playmaker
The True Prince
Saving Juliet
Still Star-Crossed