macbeth;

finished reading macbeth the other day! really liked it. takes a while to get into shakespeare, but now that im into him, im into him. just finished reading 'shakespeare' by bill bryson. a biography ofcourse. but it was a great read. a great insight not just into the life of shakespeare, but also the times in which he lived in. the conflict between protestantism and Catholicism. the executioning of mary queen of scots. and the fact that before king james I became so, he had been king james 6 up in scotland. all interesting stuff. and as you'd expect, a book written by bill bryson is both enjoyable and never tiring. one interesting thing to take from the book is the fact that shakespeare not once spelt his name how we spell it today. all we have are six signatures, and these are the only pieces of shakespeares handwriting that we actually have. instead, shakespeare spelt his name: William Shackper, William Shakspear, Wm Shakspea, William Shackspere, Willm. Shakspere, William Shakspeare.

the other important subject came at the end of the book. doubters. since shakespeares death it seems people have found it hard to believe that this one man could create such a level of genius like work. i dont. some people are born with amazing talents. in fact i believe we all house something that we are excellent at, its just that some people have that extra drive, that extra help, that extra wanting and the knowing that you are good at something and can do something. this was shakespeare. its to be a well known fact that he collaborated with other writers and poets along the way. i think i remember reading that there is a guess at 9 hands being involved in shakespears first folio. nobody is denying that. i just dont see how people spend their lives trying to find a more creditable human being that shakespeare. if it wasn't him then what makes you think a different man is capable of such literacy?

anyways, its a great read. ive got a few more to read now, hamlet, much ado about nothing, the tempest. ill get through them all eventually. im taking time out to read lord of the flies at the moment though, will let you know how it goes!

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