Reviews for Dr. Johnson and Fanny Burney

The average rating for Dr. Johnson and Fanny Burney based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2018-01-17 00:00:00 Metral Suke "For reasons we do not know but which I will later guess at…" In 1612 Shakespeare gave testimony in a court case involving a dowry that had not been paid. From Shakespeare's deposition in the case, the only instance we have of the Bard speaking as himself, author Charles Nicholl creates for the reader a tantalizing (at times) intellectual exercise about what Shakespeare's life might have been like from 1604-1606 in his book "The Lodger Shakespeare". This text is only for those who are very interested in the life and times of Shakespeare. Having an interest in just one of these two items will leave the reader bored a lot of the time. A quibble with the book is the fact that (as the quote in my title alludes to) most of this text, at least the parts concerning William Shakespeare, is speculative. Mr. Nicholl gives us some interesting things to think about Shakespeare's day-to-day life based on close reading of some of the plays written in the time period covered. They are fun to imagine, but not remotely factual. Which to his credit, the author acknowledges often. Ironically, the parts of the text that were most interesting to me were the parts where Nicholl creates scenarios after close reading of the literary and nonfiction texts of the period. Part Four of this book might be more information about Elizabethan female headdresses and wigs then most people care to know. I count myself among that group. Special note was the superb chapter 28, where Nicholls details Jacobean marriage customs and connects it to two of Shakespeare's plays, "Measure for Measure" and "All's Well that Ends Well". "Part 5: Among Strangers" is another strong aspect of this text. The book also includes the entire original documents from the 1612 court case that inspired the text in an appendix. It is a rare and interesting option for the reader if you choose to read it. "The Lodger Shakespeare" is for a limited audience. If you fit the bill, you will enjoy it. If not, stay away.

Review # 2 was written on 2008-02-25 00:00:00 Charles Alexander This book reads well as a history of everyday life in Jacobean England. It does not read well as a biography of Shakespeare. As is the problem with all biographies of Shakespeare, there is simply not enough known to fill out a book-length biography and the author is forced to speculate. I did enjoy this book more than Greenblatt's "Will in the World." Bryson's "Shakespeare: The world as a stage" is an entertaining read that mocks the worst of the speculators.