Shakespearean: On Life & Language in Times of Disruption by Robert McCrum is part history, part memoir and a chronicle of Shakespeare's life and work.

Shakespearean is Robert McCrum's attempt to explain what it means to be Shakespearean, what it means for Shakespeare himself and what it means now in the modern day, why we refer to things as "Shakespearean" and how Shakespeare went from the writer he was to the writer he began.

I enjoyed this book, there is plenty about it that is written very well, and McCrum's authorial voice is warm and friendly, but at the same time knowledgeable. The book isn't patronising in this knowledge (as some such books can be), you get the sense of the love the author has for Shakespeare and that they just want you to love it too.

That said, I had problems with the book, mainly because I feel it doesn't really know what it wants to be. It's part biography of Shakespeare , and those are the bits I enjoyed the most. Little vignettes about how Shakespeare might have interacted with Marlowe, how the Globe came to be, and how Shakespeare began to rise in society. Then there are parts about the plays themselves, short precis about some of the plays, quotes from the plays and in some cases, some background of the period and how that informed the play. Finally interleaved between these elements is biography of McCrum himself, and his interactions with the plays.

These 3 disparate elements are all good in their own right but they just don't gel. The background on Shakespeare and his life is probably the most relevant to this book. The parts on the plays are interesting, but for the most part, I don't see the role they, ahem, play. Quotes from the plays are used but seemingly not to illuminate the discussion further but purely just to give a flavour of the play, which is fine as it goes, but most reading this book will be familiar with the Bard's works, and won't need the plays plot explained. Those who are new to Shakespeare and are looking for literary criticism won't find that here. The bits about Robert's own life which would be a good read on their own, here just detract from the whole.

That I think is my problem overall with this book - it wants to be lots of different things at once, each one good in it;s own right, but they don't gel as I wish they would.

I'm an English teacher and Shakespeare obsessive so I was very pleased to receive a free copy of this book pre-publication from NetGalley in return for an honest review. I was particularly intrigued about this book as I had read about Robert McCrum's stroke and the part that he had credited Shakespeare with in his recovery (being the fragments of language that made sense to him in the aftermath of his medical crisis).

McCrum is a very knowledgeable and interesting guide to Shakespeare and - possibly more engagingly - what 'Shakespearean' has come to mean in the centuries following the death of the bard. This book is part memoir of McCrum's own experiences with Shakespeare as part of his own Shakespeare Club who attend various performances. However, it also contains so much more than this - snippets of Shakespeare's biography, historical context, information about the reception of the plays in different places and times, bits of critical analysis and commentary - the book is packed with information and supported with extensive endnotes and a bibliography.

Personally, I particularly enjoyed the bits about the plays I know best - which tended to be the tragedies and comedies. I appreciated the fact that the book was comprehensive, but found the history play sections a bit more of a challenge. I also found the structure of the book a little difficult in places - when it worked, it was like a fascinating chat with someone really interesting as it went off on interesting tangents and picked up related thoughts well. However, when it was less successful it came across as a little unstructured and random.

Having just read Emma Smith's excellent 'This is Shakespeare', I found it really thought-provoking to compare and contrast the different takes on the same material. In particular, the ideas around the end of Shakespeare's career were striking and the extent to which he reflected this in Prospero in 'The Tempest'. I also really enjoyed the way that McCrum wrote about the way that Shakespeare's plays transferred to - and became highly significant in - America, mainly because this was an area I hadn't really read about before.

Despite the little niggles, I did enjoy this and did learn some interesting new things. I would recommend this to people who are already fairly familiar with Shakespeare's plays as McCrum does anticipate that you share his passion and have a working knowledge of the texts. This is an engaging stroll through Shakespeare's works with an entertaining and lively guide.

You can tell Robert McCrum is an expert in his field, but his expertise comes across in such a lovely way - reading this is like having a conversation with a friend rather than a professor. It's such a unique take on Shakespeare too - part memoir, part study. I enjoyed this book immensely and feel richer for having read it.

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley who provided me with a free advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

McCrum is clearly a master of his craft. Even as someone who is not, by any means, an expert on Shakespeare, the text of this book itself seems to echo the vibrance and poetry that characterizes Shakespeare’s work. There are lines in this book that infuriated me with the beautify and poignance in the sentiment behind them.

The beginning was very slow to start, specifically the first two chapters. The structure was confusing and, although separated, the two chapters seemed to be talking more or less about the same thing. I realized by the end of chapter two that this was all introduction. So while this may seem nit-picky, and while the author may have had stylistic reasons for the structure chosen, I felt that the two first chapters should have been joined into one under the heading “Introduction.”

'Shakespearean' is not academic; the tone is far more conversational, and the book isn’t structured chronologically, which would have been a more predictable choice for a book that is, on the surface, about one man. The book’s thematic approach reminds us that this is actually about Shakespeare’s works, their reception, and their place within the English canon of literature. This is made clear, as the chapter following the introduction begins by describing the posthumous publication of the first folio.

Throughout the book, McCrum provides plenty of context - some historical, some personal - for the many ways that Shakespeare’s works have been read, appreciated, and even appropriated. The book’s structure can make this a tiring read, as the reader is frequently and quickly shifting between early modern dates and recent years – but the effort is well worth it. As someone who approached this book not expecting much – because my love for Shakespeare is really limited to when I can see it performed live – I was fascinated by this book, which is surely a direct result of McCrum’s all-consuming adoration for the famed playwright.

No one ever doubted Shakespeare’s importance in English-language literature, but McCrum convincingly demonstrates Shakespeare’s continuing relevance, across the globe and for speakers of all languages.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A very knowledgeable and well written look into what transformed Shakespeare and his works into the phenomenon of Shakespearean.

This isn’t an academic text or for beginners but sits somewhere in the middle as a gentle stroll through the subject for those who already have an interest in it.

The book takes us through the key aspects of Shakespeare’s life and his inspiration at the time while also reflecting on what has made his influence so long-standing and relevant to today. McCrum takes a conversational approach rather than sticking to a rigid structure, diverting and covering points of interest to him as they arose. Once you settle into this approach this personal style makes it very readable and adds another layer of interest.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This author is a prolific writer who posses a vast knowledge of his subjects. Thae book provides exceptional detail about Shakespeare, his contemporaries and the social mores of his time. McCrum knows his stuff and his writing style is easy going and friendly while at the same time, highly intelligent. For anyone interested in the Bard I recommend this book and thank Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.

I wanted to like this book but sadly found it lacking. It feels like it's the ramblings of a former newspaper columnist who's lost his job and is now taking to filling his time supposedly talking on one subject (Shakespeare in this case) whilst mainly rambling on about life in general over the past 20 or so years and then occasionally throwing a Shakespeare reference in there to try to justify why the book has the title it does. As someone who's devoured all of Shakespeare's plays and seen them on the stage also, I felt this book a poor tribute to the genius he was. I feel as though there may be a market for this book from people going to the beach who want to appear slightly highbrow with their reading material, whilst also not actually being mentally stimulated, but for anyone actually interested in Shakespeare, this is not the book for you

An enjoyable and relatively comprehensive history of Shakespeare, his time and his work. Enjoyable and easy reading.