Reviews for George Eliot

The average rating for George Eliot based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2014-01-12 00:00:00 Evan Oller "Shakespeare is the only biographer of Shakespeare. So far from Shakespeare's being the least known, he is the one person in all modern history fully known to us." ~ Emerson The Obscure & The Elusive This 'biography' that Ackroyd strings together is mostly tedious, though it has a few really good moments and it has to be admitted that it presents most of the facts that is known of the great Bard. In spite of this, I think it is a mistake to pick up this bio unless one is familiar with ALL the plays of Shakespeare, including the controversially attributed ones - since Ackroyd constructs the bio mostly through the plays and the lines and extrapolating form them, tying together with some skill the fragmentary traces Shakespeare left in the world outside the stage. The fact that whatever is pieced together from outside plays is from the patchy legal records of Shakespeare's land dealings, taxes paid, borrowings/lendings, cases filed, and so on, should give an idea of the tedium involved. The saving grace is when Shakespeare's contemporary critics step in to spice it up by naive statements that posterity was destined to have hearty laughs at. Also, Ackroyd tries to do it both ways - understand the life through the plays and then understand the plays through the life. Which makes a bit of a mess in figuring out where the circle closes. Also, Ackroyd seems to lean towards reading the life into the work when the life can be read out of the work. Maybe, much of Shakespeare's existence was the very construction of his plays, and these in turn might tell us more about him than can the set of random anecdotes that have escaped the distortions of history and Shakespeare's own efforts to maintain a private life, that Ackroyd tires so hard to dig out. If Ackroyd had stuck to a consistent plan either way, we might have had a much more coherent work. In the end, the 'bio' is definitely useful in understanding Shakespeare's London (which included the audiences, stage, limitations of the stage, audience expectations), what is known of his life (with shadings of childhood influences, dramatic/poetic progress, worldly progress, family troubles/tragedies/ambitions), and the London Stage itself (including economic conditions and preoccupations, major rivals, the dramatic scene of the time, the actors, the interaction b/w actors and characters). This is all very admirable, but the question is how much of all this information is needed for understanding his plays - especially when his greatest genius was apparently in being conspicuous by his absence in his works! Ackroyd asserts this himself and thus nullifies his entire effort, in one fell swoop. (if you detect a contradiction in the review here, it is intended to show the same contradiction apparent in the book) In addition Ackroyd is known to present speculation as concluded fact and reader has to keep his guard up throughout the book, which is very tiring to be honest, and not quite worth the effort.

Review # 2 was written on 2017-08-18 00:00:00 Ashu Reddy Very worthwhile book on Shakespeare! Although he is still 'the mystery man', the author has researched the era, his family, theatre life, religious differences and the locales of London and Stratford and presents the known facts'as well as the gaping holes'as Shakespeare's life unfolds. It is not difficult to see, thanks to Ackroyd's explanations, why Shakespeare remains such an elusive figure. There are reasons. It was a dangerous time for one, especially with respect to which side of the religious street you happened to be standing on when. England went back and forth between Catholic, Protestant, back to Catholic and then finally to remain Protestant all in less than 50 years'the span of one man's lifetime. Who knew if that might change again? Shakespeare's own father suffered most of his life for his determination to hang on to the 'Old Faith''something which could have made his son more cautious in allowing himself private beliefs and thoughts much less being forthright about them. Ackroyd also gave the ins and outs of the dangers inherent in theatre life, something still novel in late 16th, early 17th Century Britain. The risks were greatest for playwrights, who might write something heretical or treasonous, intentionally or no. Shakespeare's contemporary and competitor, Christopher Marlowe, died at 29 (stabbed to death) under mysterious circumstances, something which no doubt would have affected WS. Shakespeare's own death at 53 in Stratford-on-Avon was unremarkable and unattended except for family and some friends. Even his cause of death remains a mystery. For such a great man, so much remains conjecture. And yet, we love his words and it is those we know so well! Ackroyd focuses on the plays, characters, and memorable dialogue throughout, something akin to a tour through a bakery. Let me out of here or let me eat one of everything! At least…! Most enjoyable and most frustrating! Bring on those plays…! ============================================== October 1, 2017: We are almost finished! One CD (out of 16) left. Normally audiobooks don't take us so long. This one has taken longer, no doubt because of our frequent breaks for discussion. Dear husband has no familiarity with Shakespeare which has led to many interesting conversations. Also, the CDs are very long so we are reluctant to start another unless early in evening. August 18, 2017: I am a fan of Ackroyd bios... Have been wanting to read this one on the Bard for a long time.