35 likes2 comments
pickauthor is a high school teacher of English-the bio endearingly records that he coaches soccer too-which means he's able to pitch this complex novel to the general reader. More guides to difficult novels should be written by high school teachers! Thoroughly useful and a welcome addition to the Joyce bookshelf for those of us who have struggled with Joyce's dense prose
The great thing about the book sale , lovely old Iris Murdoch was priced $3 , I got it on half price day for $1.50!
pickFantastic stories that meditate on death and loss without being morbid. One with a car accident survivor really resonated with me (unsurprisingly). Each word, each scene was careful and deliberate, which I appreciate in a tightly written story, and they clearly served the characters and world she created in just a few pages.
Forgot to take a picture before I returned it to the library. Ran it down to the last day! 😳
pickI‘m a real sucker for a family saga type book, so this just hit right. It follows the life of Mary and her children and grandchildren through a number of key events and issues starting with VE Day, various royal events, touching on Brexit before ending with the beginnings of the COVID-19 pandemic. An interesting take on what Britain is, and its entrenched challenges.
pickAs a life long Anglophile, this book is gold. A story of a British family from m 1945 through the pandemic. The ups and downs of 🏴 England. I loved every page.
pickLots of fascinating detail about how the First Folio made it into print. But also lots that isn't (can't?) be known.
I'll be first into the time travelling machine to check out the bookstalls in St Paul's courtyard c.1623 please...
The author describes this copy of the folio (held by Glasgow University) where a reader has annotated the actors that they "know".
Image from Glasgow University website
https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/library/files/special/exhibns/month/july2001.htm...
Even if John Heminges and Henry Condell had consciously worked towards providing posterity with plays which, in their estimation, reflected Shakespeare's 'original' - a word used more than once in the First Folio's pitching - intentions, the process of deciding between existing copies of some of the plays would have meant making tough decisions. Do they stick with Shakespeare's authorial papers for a given play...?
Image from BBC news, 2020.
