Bryson on top form in this brief "bio" of the Bard. The book illustrates for the uninitiated (like me) what a dearth of knowledge there actually IS about Shakespeare but still paints a vivid picture of the man and, especially, his times. Entertaining from the off and leaving one thirsting for more.
Following a battle for supremacy, Eteocles and Polyneices, the two sons of Oedipus, kill each other, leaving Creon, the brother-in-law to Oedipus, as ruler of Thebes. Since Polyneices lead the attacking force against Thebes, Creon labelled him a traitor and denied him any funeral rites. Anyone who countermanded this law would do so on pain of death.
For my English Lit A level I am currently studying this text. When reading this (if you decide to) the first thing to remember is that the poetic style were purely experimental and thus meant to be taken lightly. That is important to bare in mind because you might be reading it and thinking what is this.
The collection is written predominately by Wordsworth (only 4 Coleridge poems are...
The book is delightful and I enjoyed it immensely, the only downside of this paperback edition being that pages fall out as you turn them over and read them (only a problem if you drop them, which I did!). But what can you expect for £1.99?
It gives a very interesting insight into Victorian life of both poor and rich, and links what goes on in the outside world with the inner thoughts...
In my quest to read more work by Irish literary greats this year, I recently purchased a newly repackaged Penguin Popular Classic version of Oscar Wilde's 1895 play The Importance of Being Earnest. This edition, with its vibrant green cover and tracing-paper thin paper (all 100 per cent recycled), retails for a meagre £2 -- that's a very cheap price for a masterpiece, in my opinion.
Alan Fletcher's The Art of Looking Sideways is an absolutely extraordinary and inexhaustible "guide to visual awareness", a virtually indescribable concoction of anecdotes, quotes, images and bizarre facts that offers a wonderfully twisted vision of the chaos of modern life. Fletcher is a renowned designer and art director and the joy of The Art of Looking Sideways lies in its beautiful...
So, like most people, i used CGP notes while doing my GCSE's and found them mostly good (especially on the poem anthologies) - the humour though, while sometimes fun on many occasions got in the way of serious learning and the notes were brief when dealing with full length plays and novels.
Step in York Notes. For my A Level English i got one of these...
