Shakespeare : the world as stage

If anyone were to describe an author or speaker as capable of delivering 200 pages of text on virtually nothing, it would not generally be interpreted as a compliment. Bill Bryson, however, has managed to do just that and it is interesting and informative to boot.

There is very scant information about William Shakespeare in the historical record. Of course, the less information there is, the more room there is for speculation and the theories about Shakespeare's life and works go a long way toward filling out this volume.

Bryson begins with background information about the time, place, and society of Shakespeare's day. We learn about food (only the very poor ate vegetables; tea and coffee were unknown), schooling (early morning to late at night, six days a week), landmarks (London Bridge could qualify as a city on its own), health (or, more accurately, the lack of it), and, of course, entertainment (bear-baiting and other blood-sports were the recreation of choice).

Contrast today's behaviour at St Paul's cathedral with what was standard in the 1600s:
"...the cathedral was an infinitely noisier and more public place than we find today. Carpenters, bookbinders, scriveners, lawyers, haulers, and others all plied their trades within its echoing vastness, even during services. Drunks and vagrants used it...as a place of repose; some relieved themselves in corners. Little boys played ball games in the aisles until chased away. Other people made small fires to keep warm." (pg. 52)

Or compare their badges of affluence to ours: "Such was the popularity of sugar that people's teeth often turned black, and those who failed to attain the condition naturally sometimes blackened their teeth artificially to show that they had had their share of sugar, too." (pg. 55)

Although there is scant information to provide details on exactly where Shakespeare lived or which school he attended, we do have a detailed picture painted of what life was like in his day.

As that picture is revealed, Bryson summarizes the major theories of how Shakespeare might have fit in that world, and then evaluates those theories based on whatever information he has been able to assemble. We are regularly reminded that this is mostly conjecture, rather than knowledge, but we are told why the author endorses some theories and dismisses others.

On the whole, I found this an entertaining book. Although it is packed with information, it is not dry. Bryson has done an admirable job of pulling out memorable details about the culture. The vivid cultural picture not only provides a background for suppositions on Shakespeare's life, but also frames a context for his plays and other works.

Shakespeare : the world as stage by Bill Bryson. Published in 2007 by Atlas Books (HarperCollins imprint) as part of their "Eminent lives" series. ISBN: 978-0-06-074022-1

The post-American world

Halfway through this audio-book, I decided that I was going to want to listen to it a second time before it went back to the library. The post-American world is a look at major world powers in the past, present, and future. Author, Fareed Zakaria, examines history, culture, religion, language, commerce, politics, economics, warfare, technology, and government in an effort to understand the past and predict the future of our world.

Although the presentation is not academic in tone, there is so much information packed in here, that I know I didn't get it all the first time through. As editor of Newsweek International, best-selling author, and international affairs columnist, one expects Zakaria to communicate well and he does. He is thorough and methodical with a good measure of anecdotes to balance out the theory.

Zakaria is well-positioned to provide analysis of non-Western culture and history. Born and raised in India, he moved to the United States for post-secondary studies and stayed put. He has experienced two vastly different cultures from both inside and out. I think that goes a long way toward explaining his facility for explaining the basics of widely differing foreign mindsets. Instead of just reporting what China did or how India voted, he explains how those actions were logical outcomes of the Chinese or Indian (or some other country's) way of thinking. Those patterns are then projected into the future for a look at where things will be if change does not occur.

There is no crystal ball here. The post-American world was written before the U.S. mortgage crisis hit and that collapse was not expected by Zakaria. He wasn't the only one to miss it though, and I don't think the value of this work is negated by that omission. That's because the primary benefit I gained from "reading" this book was a vastly improved understanding of other cultures and their histories.

The post-American world by Fareed Zakaria. Published in 2008 by Simon and Schuster. Audiobook ISBN: 978-0-7435-7685-7.

The subversive stitch

This is definitely not a general interest book. One must be a follower of needlework and/or women in history to make it through an academic book like this but it is a fascinating chronicle.

Author Rozsika Parker has studied European art history with an interest in women's art and feminism. In The subversive stitch : embroidery and the making of the feminine, Parker brings her art history knowledge, and research skills into an examination of work that has for a long time been regarded as feminine. Centuries ago, men were very involved in embroidery but that changed. Parker asks why and how that happened. She studies how embroidery and the "essence of femininity" shaped each other. She looks at how young girls and women quietly rebelled against the strictures of that feminine ideal by their selection of images and texts for their embroideries and how those selections were influenced by their social culture. As women grew stronger, their rebellion became more blatant. Parker also examines assumptions made by early embroidery historians and, in several cases, tries to set the record straight.

The book is generously illustrated and the photo captions explain why each photo was included. I do wish, however, that the photos were in colour and that some of them were larger. Colour is such an integral part of needlework that it's a real shame to leave it out completely in a book like this. That was likely a budget decision but I would dearly love to see some of those illustrations in blazing full colour. This book has already been reprinted twice so maybe that will happen in a later edition.

The subversive stitch : embroidery and the making of the feminine by Rozsika Parker. Originally published in 1984 by Routledge. ISBN: 0-415-90206-1

The book of negroes

If you read or watched and enjoyed Alex Hailey's epic "Roots," you won't want to miss Lawrence Hill's equally ambitious book, The book of negroes. While "Roots" tracked an enslaved family through generations, The book of negroes is the story of just one woman, Aminata Diallo, from her earlier years in Africa, through her capture, enslavement, and the many journeys and experiences that follow from there.

Aminata is a very strong woman who refused to be cowed by slavery. Extreme losses put her in despair at times, but she always came back to fight against injustice, cruelty, and bondage. She fought for literacy and woman's rights, long before those were popular public discussions. Her fighting spirit made her a target, but she also earned the respect of many around her. It's too bad she's entirely fictional.

Author Lawrence Hill has poured huge amounts of research into this book. As well as reading and travelling widely to gain background information, Hill grew up with parents who helped pioneer Canada's human rights movement and who were themselves descended from Africans enslaved in the United States. I suspect Hill ate, breathed, and lived this story long before he even had ambitions to become a writer. The book certainly reads that way. It's over 400 pages long but still feels like it barely contains the story - it's bursting at the seams with more untold details - all those many events that you know make up a person's life but can't be told in a mere 400 pages. That's not to say this story is lacking. It's just that its main character is so real and interesting that you know there's got to be more to learn about her, if only you could sit down and talk to her.

The slave trade was (and in places still is) a harsh and cruel way of treating people and doing business. In looking back, we often focus on the horrible things that happened - the brutality, the deprivation, the family and community destruction - and temper that with reassurances that not everyone was that cruel to their "workers." We perpetuate the myth of "good" slave owners. One of the things that is made clear in this book is that there is no such thing. Literacy, education, health care, commerce, and travel were all touted as benefits to those who were forcibly removed from "the dark and savage continent," but none of them count for anything without freedom and the people you love. Just ask Aminata.

"The book of negroes" by Lawrence Hill. Published in 2007 by HarperCollins. ISBN: 978-0-00-22507-3.

No time to wave goodbye

Ben Wicks, beloved cartoonist and journalist, grew up in England. He was from one of the poorer districts of London but did much of his growing up in rural England. Wick and thousands of children like him were evacuated from the city just before England formally entered World War II.

No time to wave goodbye is an assemblage of commentary and letters from former evacuees, collected by Wicks from Britain, New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, and Canada. Some of the correspondents had never told their stories before - not to parents, spouses, descendants, or counsellors. Some were grateful for the evacuation and the way it shaped them as people. Others think it should never have happened. All agreed they would never send their children away.

This was a very difficult time for children, parents, and foster parents and, as a result, the book could have been an emotionally harrowing one to read. Wicks manages to avoid that by filling the text with brief excerpts from many letters. The stories and still poignant and the struggles clear but it's not nearly as overwhelming as an uninterrupted narrative would be. For that I am thankful.

I wanted to know more about the evacuations. I knew there would be both good and bad experiences, but I didn't want to carry the weight of a 70-year-old trauma with me for days afterwards. After all, there was nothing I could do to change it now. This book was exactly the format I was looking for - personal and direct but limited to brief glimpses of the long ordeal.

I'm glad these stories haven't been lost. They don't all have happy endings but some of them do and that's encouraging. It's hard to believe some of what passed as "normal" behaviour then. Unfortunately, I know people haven't changed much since then. That makes me wonder how I would behave under similar pressures. I'm not sure I want to know just yet.

I would recommend this to history buffs, social students, and brave child welfare advocates.

No time to wave goodbye by Ben Wicks. Published in 1988 by Stoddart. ISBN: 0-7737-2215.

Elijah of Buxton

Buxton, Ontario was founded by Rev. William King who bought land to provide homes for escaped and newly freed slaves. Elijah of Buxton is a fictionalized account of the first child born free in Buxton. Elijah himself is a kindred spirit to Tom Sawyer. He gets involved in all sorts of escapades involving family, friends, and community members - practical jokes, fishing, money-making schemes, even kidnapping and daring rescues.

Author Christopher Paul Curtis, has received multiple awards through his writing career including Newbery Honor and Medal, Coretta Scott King Honor and Medal, the Golden Kite award, and, most recently, the TD Canadian Children's Literature Award for Elijah of Buxton. It was the TD announcement that prompted me to read this book and I'm very glad I did.

Eleven-year-old Elijah does a fair bit of growing and learning through the course of this story but this is not a heavy coming-of-age story. There are a lot of laughs but it isn't just a comedy either. Neither is is a history book although I learned some history by reading it. Elijah of Buxton is a brilliantly-told view of the world through the eyes of a boy - sometimes brave, sometimes "fra-gile," sometimes wise, sometimes dangerously naive, but always interesting. It's written and published for children but I would recommend it to any adult as well.

Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis. Published in 2007 by Scholastic. ISBN: 987-0-439-93647-7.

Some lighter reading

I like stories that feature real people in true to life situations. The people can be fictional as long as they come across as real. Cookie cutter characters with interchangeable names frustrate and confuse me. (How do you tell them apart from one book to the next?)

Sometimes, though, I look for something much lighter. I don't want cardboard but I don't want the weight of someone else's struggles on my shoulders either. That's when I go looking for diversionary reading and one of the top series on my diversionary list is Elizabeth Peters' series about Amelia Peabody, Victorian feminist, Egyptologist, and amateur detective rolled into one.

Amelia was first introduced in 1975 in Crocodile on the sandbank. Set in 1884, Amelia decides to spend her recent inheritance on travel and ends up rescuing a young woman from kidnapping. The women also participate in some excavating much to the frustration of men who are working in the same area. Amelia is as opinionated and bull-headed as her friend, Evelyn, is gentle so the two work well together while infuriating the men.

18 books later, Amelia is still going strong. The cast of regular characters has grown and the characters themselves have grown and matured over time. While each story stands on its own as a mystery, the stories combined provide a wonderful (though somewhat unbelievable) family narrative. (How many dead bodies can one family deal with before the local authorities start asking new questions?)

Most, if not all, of the series is available on audiobook. Barbara Rosenblatt is narrator par excellence. Her voices are wonderfully done and they don't get in the way of the story. Some of the audiobooks have conversations with the narrator at the end. Those are well worth listening to.

Elizabeth Peters herself has a PhD in Egyptology and has received awards for her mystery writing so you know the background information is solid and the writing is well done. Peters' other mystery series stars modern day art gallery curator, Vicky Bliss.

For a full listing of the Amelia Peabody series, check out http://www.ameliapeabody.com/bookshelf.htm