Monday, November 4, 2019

November 2019


It’s been a long time since I’ve posted a play analysis but this time I have. As I wrote last time, we were inspired by Mark Haddon’s book The Porpoise. I have written my text as a memorial for Professor Harold Bloom, Shakespearean extraordinaire, who died in October. He has figured many times in this blog, and of course in Shakespeare calling – the book. He will, no doubt, continue to appear in coming analyses.

The book is available for those of you in Great Britain and parts of Europe on this site:

Or in Sweden
or Adlibris. Or contact the publisher info@vulkan.se

Shakespeare sightings:
  • In Dagens Nyheter Netflix was mention as having produced ’The King’, a ‘wild mix of Shakespeare’s plays.’
  • In Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel, the anonymous interrogator doesn’t want to give his name, so he tells the man he is interrogating ‘So Romeo, were he not Romeo called, retain that dear perfection which he owes without that title.’
  • It would be very strange if the marvellous novel The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows didn’t have Shakespeare references. And indeed, it has:
    • Juliet calls her friend Sydney ‘too King Lear’ when he criticises her American beau.
    • Eben Ramsey believes that Shakespeare was thinking of men like him when he wrote his plays. His favourite quote is, ‘The bright day is done, and we are for the dark.’ It’s from Cleopatra (I cheated and Googled it).
    • Dawsey writes that the Society will be attending a performance of Julius Caesar because Society members John Booker and Clovis Fossey are playing Mark Antony and Caesar.
    • In the film, which we saw this weekend, Charles Lamb’s book of retelling the plays for children played a large part.

Further since last time:
  • Read aloud to Hal: Pericles.

Posted this month
  • Text ‘Jand and Bloom on Pericles
  • This report 

Shakespeare Calling – the book is promoted by

Read more about my alter ego’s books, in one of which Shakespeare appears live and in person, on:



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