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A Pocket Guide to Shakespeare's Plays
by Kenneth McLeish and Stephen Unwin
249 pages
Published by Faber and Faber at £ 7.99
Dateline: 1st August, 2004
The original intention had been to publish a double book review comparing
this Pocket Guide with Dorling Kindersley's Essential Shakespeare
Handbook. In fact, while there are obvious similarities between
the two books, it seems much fairer to publish separate reviews and
to recommend that readers look at both before making a purchase (or
two).
A Pocket Guide to Shakespeare's Plays was the first in what
is becoming a dynasty of small books from Faber and Faber analysing
playwrights or genres. We have already reviewed the Ayckbourn and Ibsen,
Chekhov and Strindberg will follow very soon.
The formula works on a number of levels and, in particular, students
may well find the expert analysis of each of Shakespeare's plays from
Kenneth McLeish and Stephen Unwin an excellent substitute for diligent
study.
Indeed, the canny Professor or teacher may well decide that a degree
or A-level should be awarded to these two writers rather than a number
of students who might be tempted to borrow their words surreptitiously!
In this book, Edward III is omitted, presumably on the basis
of uncertainty about attribution but the rest of the canon gets equal
coverage.
Each play is covered in seven pages. The source(s) are identified,
the story told and characters listed. A fair proportion of space is
given over to detailed "biographies" of significant characters
and these are probably the book's greatest strength. They obviously
includes the Hamlets and Henrys but more surprisingly extend to others
such as First Player or even Common People.
The plays are then set into social and political context and some of
the more important productions identified. The authors also prefer quotations
to white space where they haven't quite filled the seventh page.
The director and writer make a good combination and the analysis is
both intelligible and perceptive, although it can have a tendency to
sound overly-academic.
As a brief introduction before a trip to any Shakespeare play, this
genuinely pocket-sized book serves its purpose perfectly.
Philip Fisher
You
can buy A
Pocket Guide to Shakespeare's Plays from our Bookshop for £6.39
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