Product Description

For the first time in 400 years, an author has dared to take on the voice of the world's most famous playwright. William Shakespeare is on his deathbed, where he receives his lawyer to set out his final will and testament. As he answers his questions the Bard begins to recall his life, and over 448 pages of tumultuous, passionate and glorious writing the true life of an extraordinary man emerges. This is Shakespeare as we have never known him: angry, emotional, honest, reflective, joyous, despairing - the Bard will never be the same.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #122515 in Books
• Published on: 2008-10-09
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 480 pages

Review
"[t]his spectacular novel...evokes the Bard and his landscape with mystery and utter confidence"Sir Ben Kingsley (Scottish Daily Mail) "An author whose novel was rejected 17 times by publishers has finally hit the jackpot."Daily Express"An excellent addition to the canon of Shakespeare novels...Shakespeare's voice is excellent, being by turns vulgar, ailing and startlingly poetic." Spectator"This is a fleshy novel indeed, gorgeous, garrulous and gross...brilliant and evocative." Independent on Sunday "Shakespeare completely overlooks the inheritance tax implications...But the failings of Will's will are easily overlooked by the triumph of the story."Solicitors Journal'this fictional autobiography does more than elegize...it conveys period atmosphere with deftness...linguistically witting and imaginative...the narrative is uplifting'TLS 5th October 2007"A most remarkable work. He has made the Bard live!" John Bayley"[He has] done an impossible job surprisingly well."Alasdair Gray"One of the few masterpieces about Shakespeare the novel has produced."Owen Dudley Edwards"Infinitely fascinating...Rush's language conjoins the mundane and the miraculous...Shakespeare's words are always more than their literal meaning. Rush uses his alchemy to make them eminently accessible, adding energy with exclamations and innuendo...This is illuminating stuff."Glasgow Herald

About the Author
Christopher Rush is the author of twelve critically acclaimed works of fiction, poetry, screenplay and memoirs. From a seafaring family in Fife, Scotland, Rush moved away from a career in the Navy or as a fisherman to gain a first class degree from Aberdeen University. He was awarded a Research Fellowship to Cambridge but declined it to become a schoolmaster. He taught English in Scotland for 30 years and his first collection of short stories were published in 1983. His novel, Twelvemonth and a day, was short listed for Scottish Book of the Year Award and won the Scottish Arts Council award. His screenplay also gained him a shortlist nomination for McVitie Scottish Writer of the Year. However, Christopher suffered a decade-long writer's block after the sudden and tragic death of this first wife. Desperate to write again, he bought a donkey and followed Robert Louis Stevenson's journey around the Cevennes, about which he wrote his memoir, To Travel Hopefully (Profile books, 2005). With confidence once again to write, the author began, with the support of his second wife, to write what he calls now calls his 'lifetime achievement' - the 'autobiography' of William Shakespeare. Having dedicated nearly 50 years of his life to Shakespeare, Christopher wrote the novel Will in five weeks. Sir Ben Kingsley's production company, SBK Pictures, signed the world screen rights just days before publication of the novel. Production is set to begin in Spring 2008. The author lives in Crail, Fife with his wife and their daughter.

Customer Reviews

A rather magnificent failure
Goodness, this is a fascinating monster of a book. Which doesn't quite succeed, in my opinion. Still, it's a brave effort and Rush certainly needs points for courage. It's supposed to be about Shakespeare's retelling of his life story on his deathbed to his lawyer. A wonderful premise for sure, and the writing is very poetic on occasion. But maybe that premise is where the trouble starts. First off, there's no real plot, as such. It's simply one man telling another about his life, and you're never allowed to forget that fact. This means that the action and emotion is unfortunately very distanced from the reader and you're told everything rather than being directly shown it through the text. It would have been much better if you'd had a prologue setting up the scene and an epilogue drawing it back again, with the rest of the book being allowed to sing unaccompanied.

In a strange way also, it's slightly easier to read if you try to forget it's supposed to be a novel at all, and take it as a long - very long! - prose poem. Slightly easier anyway. It would definitely be interesting to see what Rush's poetry is like. I must also admit that the man Shakespeare as portrayed here rapidly became very wearisome and my sympathies were for those poor unfortunates he rubbed up against, such as Anne Hathaway and the long-suffering lawyer (just let the poor man eat his pie without carping on about it, for goodness sake!).

So, as I imagine the real Shakespeare must have been quite fascinating, I suppose in making me dislike him, Rush must at least be performing some kind of literary miracle. In a negative way. That said, the historical details are very vibrant and obviously well researched. Perhaps it would be better rewritten as a non-fiction study of the age? And it certainly needs an editor who's not afraid to cut - it outstays its welcome hugely in terms of length. So, a brave attempt at something different by an author who can obviously write (but needs much much tighter control), but in the end a magnificent failure, I fear.

A mental block
Try as I might I cannot get by head around this book. I have only read the first 50 pages and I am struggling. One minute the author is desperate to let us know that he knows Shakespeare's history, he shares the facts with us as Will, the bard's life-story in character. Conceivable? Maybe. However, it comes across as patronising and stilted, but then without warning Rush's vast creative skills and artistic license kick in, passed off as William's memories and ramblings. We are in the depths of the writer trying to show us the gamut of his talent. I feel as though I am reading about him and not Will. Sorry. I will (excuse the term) endeavour to see this through in the hope of enjoying the book for what it is. Sadly, I have read too many factual books that try to piece together Shakespeare's life and find this a little too presumptuous. The book is very well written and inevitably deserves it's accolades. Regretfully, I cannot afford it any.

An absolute must for any Shakespeare fan
An evocative novel bringing England of the 16th Century to life through Shakespeares own eyes as he lies on his death bed. Rush's tale is beleiveable, thought provoking and gritty. Although initially a little difficult to begin due to the language used (very Shakespearian prose and imagery) this book is impossible to put down and leaves the reader feeling that they too are stood in the filth of London in the 1500's witnessing Will's rise to fame.