September is here.
The mountain ashes are heavy with fruit. This time between summer and autumn
does not loom large in Shakespeare and indeed one feels suspended between the
seasons. But September it is and though it has been quiet on the Shakespeare scene,
you have here a short report.
But first I’ll start,
this time as well, with these questions:
- Have you bought Shakespeare calling – the book? I would be so happy if the answer were yes.
- Have you asked your local library to buy it? Ditto.
- Have you told your friends about it? Ditto.
- Have you promoted it on Facebook and all the others? Ditto.
- Have you put the book on your want-to-read list on Good Reads? Ditto.
- Have you read it, rated it, even reviewed it on the sites available, Good Reads, your library, Amazon etc? Ditto.
In other words, I really need your help in promoting the book, and
keeping the project alive. It’s a very large book jungle out there and even
Shakespeare’s voice can disappear in the din without your help. So, if you see
this, please feel inspired to act on these questions!
Thank you!
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:
- Stephen King is a very literary author and Sleeping Beauties offers an excellent opportunity to refer to Shakespeare, which he and his fellow author son Owen do
- regarding sleep: ‘…it knitted up the ravelled sleeve of care.’
- in quoting Queen Mab from Romeo and Juliet: ‘She is the fairies’ midwife…’
- when the mysterious Evie suggests to one of the main characters Clint that they discuss Shakespeare’s history plays or the last season of Doctor Who. Clever woman, getting two masterpieces in one sentence!
- In Dagens Nyheter Johan Hilton has written a full-page article about which Shakespeare characters best fit the current Swedish government. Much of the article discusses Stephen Greenblatt’s book Tyrant – Shakespeare on politics. Hilton compares the government to A Midsummer Night’s Dream with the comment that our prime minister Stefan Löfvén can’t tell who’s together with whom or how long the current alliance will hold. It’s a very interesting article.
- Dagens Nyheter also had an article
by Björn Wiman about the climate and asked the question, ‘What if it was the
weather that drove Hamlet crazy?’
- On the Art of Reading by Sir Arthur Thomas
Quiller-Couch is a collection of lectures given in 1916. Having read about a
third of it there are already several Shakespeare references:
- In studying literature, it is natural that one should have ‘more than a bowing acquaintance’ with Shakespeare.
- Everything that Shakespeare says about a king even a young boy can recognise in himself.
- It is natural in humans to construct things and if we don’t carefully control the urge, we might just construct an Othello.
- The Tempest and other great
literature can be truer than a police report.
Further since last time:
- We’ve just spent a few days in Riga and didn’t come across Shakespeare in any way, shape or form. Other than the copy of Shakespeare calling – the book that I gave to our friends as thanks for their help in arranging the trip.
- Just ordered today: the above-mentioned book by Stephen Greenblatt Tyrant – Shakespeare on politics.
Posted this month
- 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:
