Interred with Their Bones: A Novel

2007, 2009 Plume edition
Jennifer Lee Carrell
Interred with Their Bones: A Novel
Bought new for $15.00
Worn paperback
B

Although this book is often understandably compared to The Da Vinci Code (which I've read but don't own), it most reminded me of Byatt's Possession (1990).  There's a literary mystery, but this time it's about a real writer, or set of writers, Shakespeare and his peers.  We get some glimpses of the past, but it's mostly set in 2004, as Kate Stanley prepares to direct at the rebuilt Globe.  She gets swept up in a mystery that involves a lost play of Shakespeare's, based on a subplot from Don Quixote.  I found this an irresistible idea, so I didn't mind that there's a lot of implausibility to its working out.  I was disappointed in the sequel, Haunt Me Still, then "coming in 2009," so I just checked it out of the library and didn't want to buy it.  This one held up to the third reading, especially since I didn't remember all the plot twists, but I could see eventually viewing it as a B-.

Henry VIII

1613
William Shakespeare
Henry VIII
C-

As in Antony and Cleopatra, WS has a talent for making vibrant historical figures flat and uninteresting onstage.  Almost 80 years after her death, was there a reason to strip Anne Boleyn of her vivid personality?  Even Henry comes across more vividly in every book I've ever read him in than he does here.  Ironically, pious, demure Katherine of Aragon steals the scenes she's in.  Also LOL at the way the last scene works in praise not only for Elizabeth I but for her successor James I.  (You'd think Henry might be annoyed by a prediction that his daughter will not only be the ruler but die a virgin, considering all his succession issues.)

Overall, this collection of Shakespeare averages out to a C.  I'll hold on to it, but I'll probably continue to read it through only once every 20 years.

The Tempest

1610-1611
Shakespeare
The Tempest
B

The penultimate of WS's surviving plays (until Cardenio and The Two Noble Kinsmen turn up) is his first good play in about a decade (since Hamlet).  Interesting characters and setting, memorable quotes (including "brave new world"), and the themes of reconciliation, young love, and of course getting monsters drunk, all blend well.  Weaknesses:  perhaps too many subplots and more needless cameos by the gods.  (Ires, Ceres, and Juno here, while Cymbeline brought in Jupiter.  At least As You Like It gave Hymen some good lines.)

Cymbeline

1610-1611
Shakespeare
Cymbeline
D

The title character's daughter, Princess Imogen, goes through a series of unfortunate events, but with none of Lemony Snicket's wit.  The title is sort of fun to sing to the tune of Chuck Berry's "Maybellene."

The Winter's Tale

1594-1611
Shakespeare
The Winter's Tale
C-

While certainly a continuation of Shakespeare's midlife slump, this is a definite improvement over the somewhat similar Pericles (a king's wife and daughter disappear for about fifteen years, presumed dead), even if Leontes is a jealous idiot for half the play.  Credit goes to the comic relief:  Autolycus the pedlar, the Shepherd, and the latter's son the Clown.  Also, things aren't quite so far-fetched and there's a lot less distasteful material.  And, yes, this is the play that J. K. Rowling took Hermione Granger's first name from, as well as being the drama with the wonderful stage direction "Exit, pursued by a bear."  Plus, there's a certain d-word that will make you blink in surprise in Act IV, scene iv.

Sonnets

1609
Shakespeare
The Sonnets
C-

Mostly over-rated and over-quoted, although I'm sort of fond of cynical Sonnet 138 (the one with all the puns on "lie").

If I count these as a group, and weight the two longer poems (Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece) about equally, WS's poetry averages out to a low D, the three shorter poems (which average out to a C) pushing to a definite D.  But then I'm generally not a poetry fan, as my book collection reveals.

A Lover's Complaint

1609
Shakespeare
A Lover's Complaint
C


OK short poem on the usual topic of frustrated romance.

Coriolanus

1608
Shakespeare
Coriolanus
F+

Possibly WS's most boring play, in which an unappreciated Roman hero gets exiled as a traitor during a political campaign.

Pericles

1608-1609
Shakespeare
Pericles, Prince of Tyre
D-

Our title-character hero solves a riddle that reveals that a neighbour king is incestually involved with his daughter.  (The riddle is painfully obvious and it's unclear why this is used as a way to weed out suitors for the said daughter.)  So Pericles has to run for his life from the evil king, who later conveniently dies offstage.  Then Pericles marries a different king's daughter, who seems to also die offstage, giving birth to their daughter, Marina.  But it turns out that she's not really dead, so she's revived and becomes a priestess of Diana.  Meanwhile, Pericles has Marina raised by friends for the next fifteen years or so.  But the foster mother pays to have her killed off, except Marina is kidnapped by pirates, and then ends up in a brothel, where her purity makes the customers try to be more virtuous.  In the end, father and daughter, and then mother, are happily reunited.

Probably the most ludicrous plot in all of WS, but much less bloody and racist than Titus Andronicus.

All's Well That Ends Well

1606-1607
Shakespeare
All's Well That Ends Well
D-

As with Measure for Measure, a "light" title hides a darker play that involves bed-partner substitution, along with other questionable material.  AWTEW is worse because we're actually supposed to be rooting for not very sympathetic Helena and totally unsympathetic Bertram to get together.  Helena is sort of a female doctor but lacks the cleverness of Merchant of Venice's "lawyer" Portia.

Antony and Cleopatra

1606
Shakespeare
Antony and Cleopatra
D+

Not very interesting version of Cleopatra.  Rather than being a clever, complicated woman, she's basically a jealous nag, but a sexy jealous nag.  Antony's just there to Othellically think the worst of the woman he supposedly adores.  Octavian comes off as more interesting than either.

Macbeth

1603-1606
Shakespeare
Macbeth
C+

Another brief halt in WS's decline, Macbeth is a bloody political drama with some pretty good speeches.  The "ironic" predictions could've been fulfilled a bit less eh.  "Look out, here comes an army with branches!  Look out, here comes a man delivered by cesarean!"

Timon of Athens

1605-1606
Shakespeare
Timon of Athens
D

For some reason reading this, I kept thinking of the folktale The Little Red Hen.  I guess it was the whole "I've spoiled you ungrateful bastards and now you won't help me in my hour of need" thing, although Timon serves the gang water and stones rather than refuses to share the bread.  But it's hard to care about Timon or his "friends," and there are no memorable lines.

King Lear

1603-1606
Shakespeare
King Lear
C-

Speaking of over-rated, it's hard for me to get into a play where most of the characters are unsympathetic, except for Cordelia of course.  This soap opera is mildly interesting, but I'd rather read Jane Smiley's A Thousand Acres, or listen to "I Am the Walrus" for that matter.

Othello

1602-1603
Shakespeare
Othello
C+

Shakespeare's streak of bad 17th-century plays is temporarily interrupted by this decent if over-rated drama.  Iago isn't in Richard III's league as a charming villain, and the Othello & Desdemona marriage must have some of the worst communication issues ever, but there are some nice turns of phrase here.  Plus, it's hard to dislike a play that inspired a boardgame title.  (Hungry, Hungry Hippos is of course a classic comedy.)

Measure for Measure

1600-1603
Shakespeare
Measure for Measure
D+

The title suggests a comedy like As You Like It, but instead it's the story of a hypocritical politician who gets tricked into sleeping with his wife while thinking he's successfully blackmailing a virgin into bargaining for her fornicating brother's life.  Oh, and there's the Duke sneaking around disguised as a friar in order to spot the corruption of the politician he's appointed, and not speaking up till the end.

Troilus and Cressida

1601
Shakespeare
Troilus and Cressida
D+


Both tasteless and forgettable, but nice to see where the word "pandar" comes from.

Hamlet

1599-1601
Shakespeare
Hamlet
B

Like Romeo and Juliet, this is perhaps overquoted but still remains entertaining.   The bloodbath ending is a bit over the top, though nowhere in the neighbourhood of Titus Andronicus.  Also, Ophelia's fate is probably the most tragic and/or unnecessary, because she's the most innocent of the characters.  And the side-trip to England, which seems only there so WS can make affectionate fun of his countrymen, is a bit odd.  On the plus side, the dialogue, Hamlet's especially, is clever and multi-layered.  Plus, Polonius is a delight in all his hypocrisy and thick-headedness.

Twelfth Night

1601
Shakespeare
Twelfth Night, or What You Will
B+

Probably my favorite of all Shakespeare.  Very witty and playful, but not without its darker side (Malvolio's subplot).  This became the very silly movie She's the Man (2006), which is nowhere on the level of 10 Things I Hate About You.  The 1996 version, with lovely Helena Bonham-Carter as Olivia, comes closer to capturing the magic of the play.  If the play has weaknesses, they are that the joke on Malvolio goes a little too far, and Duke Orsino is sort of a jerk.

The Phoenix and the Turtle

1601
Shakespeare
The Phoenix and the Turtle
D+

Short but forgettable poem on the romance between two birds.  (Turtle as in turtledove.)