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 Not Quite What It Sets Out To Be September 13, 2008
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
Well, I suppose the big beardy Anglophile yank had to do it sooner or later.
As Bryson himself says in his introduction, the world doesn't really need another book on Shakespeare. From the incredibly specific and obscure to the uselessly vague and general, from the trivially lightweight to the inaccessibly somber, the Bard of Stratford is the subject of literally dozens of new books of facts, biography, analysis, opinion, theory and conjecture, every damn year.
For all that, this was a worthwhile book to have written, which is more or less all we'd expect of Bryson, who is a clear, clever and witty writer who rarely fails to please.
Bryson has chosen biography as his goal. The book is written in more or less chronological order, with chapters covering distinct periods in Will's life. Bryson starts by characterising the period, analysing the (usually scant) evidence available, then raising and scrutinising the various popular interpretations about what is known. He detours occasionally into anecdotal discussion about his researches or funny or impressive stories about other people's attempts at research, which all over helps it from getting too dry and to remain a very Bryson book.
Throughout he's diligent about the distinction between evidence and interpretation. The problem is, we actually have pretty slender information about Shakespeare's life: a veritable wealth of data by the standards of Elizabethans in general, but still very little from which to derive any reliable idea of the facts of his life. Inevitably, this means foraying into conjecture from time to time; a practice at which Shakespearean academe excels, but a dangerous one. Bryson gives an example of the famous deer-poaching incident, a romantic guess made in the eighteenth century that was repeated as solid fact in Shakespeare scholarship for more than a hundred years after. Bryson, by contrast, while happy to include reasonable and useful guesses as to how to interpret what is known, is very careful to let you know what's fact - and where it's from - and what's conjecture and how it was arrived at.
If you're seriously into your Shakespeare scholarship, this book probably doesn't have anything new to tell you (although Bryson's research is up to date, and he has access to facts I didn't have at Uni), but if you're only likely to buy one Shakespeare biography in your life, this isn't a bad one to choose.
 Rivetting and educational August 3, 2008
Ross Kemp has written a very absorbing study of gangs around the word. So he goes to places like Jamaica, Cape Town, New Zealand, Russia and meets members of these gangs. These gangs have few, if any, redeeming features. You won't feel uplifted by these characters at all. The author's participation in this study is why it is so immediate and interesting. He does so at quite great risk to his own person: wisely he concentrates on the gangsters rather than himself, but throughout the book, he does add the odd telling comment. Ross Kemp has done the public a great service by writing this book. Its not pleasant reading, but it is certainly educational.
The chapters on each gang are the right length: Ross Kemp's style of writing is easy to read: the conversations with gangsters are well edited.
Awesome January 20, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I don't typically write reviews, but this book deserved praise. This book is awesome. I bought it on a friday afternoon and as good as finished it by monday; with every spare moment I had (even in the bath...!) I consumed it's inticing pages.
I saw the TV series and worried there wouldn't be anything new in the book, but the change of medium is nothing but a compliment. As a Criminology student I can see myself dipping into it time after time in the future.
One of the delights is the simplicity of the book; a biographical account of some of the most dangerous people on earth written in an interesting format by someone who genuinely feels (but does not, in must be emphasised, condone) the plight of the people. Ross doesn't litter his writing with theories by acemdemics and reference after reference to other books, but he does include the quotes and thoughts of the victims, perpetrators and those who try and prevent the gangs awful actions.
If you have any interest in crime, culture or even travel, buy this book. You will not be disappointed.
BUY IT NOW January 6, 2008
I was not that taken by the tv show, but my son got me the book for christmas so I did what I had to do.................. I could not put it down. Brilliant, Brilliant, Brilliant.
Must buy. October 26, 2007
14 out of 14 found this review helpful
If you love the series you will love this book truely amazing. Just recieved it today and can't put it down.Many things in it that you did not see on the tv program.
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