Wednesday, March 30, 2016

 

Shakespeare in the Globe with cristall diamonds

JANE SUTCLIFFE – JOHN SHELLEY – WILL’S WORDS, HOW WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE CHANGED THE WAY YOU TALK – 2016

A very fascinating book. Light and beautiful with its full page illustrations. The whole story seems to be a touristic presentation of London in Shakespeare’s days and the attempt of drawing twenty-nine words from everyday street or theater life and look for them in Shakespeare’s plays, find them, explain them and indicate where they come from, which play they have been extracted from.

Some of these phrases are still commonly used, others have become obsolete. The author tries to remain as politically correct as possible and does not mention that you can easily hear “For Goodness sake” in the place of “For God’s sake” among people who still abide by the commandment that says “Thou shalt not use the name of the Lord in vain.”



The funnier element is that every phrase is “illustrated” with a short summary of the situation in which it was used in the precise play it is coming from. But the author does not give the quotation and that is a shame. We have the Canada Dry of the advertisement but it is no Scotch. Too bad because it is always better to speak to the Lord rather than to his angels.

A book that can be a nice present to someone who likes pictures and slightly exotic pieces of knowledge. You can also visit the reconstructed Globe and imagine what it was in the old days.


Dr Jacques COULARDEAU



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