Stratford Boys by Jan Mark reviewed by Noah Jackson age 11

Stratford Boys by Jan Mark is a pun on common life in Elizabethan England mixed with a fantasised vision of what a young William Shakespeare would have been like. It is the story of two boys whose mission is to put on a play and please the masses. To quote the blurb, it is a 'riotous romp through Elizabethan England'. If you wish to discover more about this 'romp', then read on.

The story is set in 1580, the year when the last Corpus Christi plays had come and gone. Corpus Christi was a Catholic festival, which was abolished when Henry VIII broke from Rome, which happened in early summer. Around this time, Biblical plays were held, much to the delight of the average commoner. When the book begins, the sixteen-year-old Will Shakespeare, an inexperienced glover's son, decides to provide entertainment for the bored village since the

Corpus Christi plays are gone. Along with his friend Adrian and Adrian's Puritan cousin Hugh, he writes an adaptation of an ancient play of the Cain and Abel story which all too soon morphs into something else. Soon it turns out that writing the tragedy finally set in Hungary was the least of their problems. With schoolboys combating workmen, a 'Muscovite' with a dying harpist who just happens to be his best friend and uptight amateur players refusing to play women, the director Adrian and Will soon discover that producing a play, even with a council grant, is a difficult thing to do.

  The plot is funny and amusing, which helps the story along, but parts, especially the death of David, the Welsh harpist, are dull and slightly pointless when compared to most of the book. There is a lot of direct speech but unlike in some books, the author manages to keep conversations going without one having to reread the last page or so to find out who exactly is talking. There is a lot of archaic speech also (thank goodness the story is not told in the first person) but one can mostly understand it. Some of the jokes that appear throughout the story are very crude but the book deals with common people, not the nobility.

  The characters that appear in the tale are, although funny, mostly written very similarly. Few people differ from each other, in fact I often lost track of scenes because all that differed between the people was their names. Few people are unique and they are not, on the whole, main characters. Will seems intelligent, of course, because he is the young Shakespeare but apart from that, the other characters are generally dumb.

  The story is quite historically accurate and the author's style does not interfere with this.  On the whole, the book is amusing but flawed, with quite bad characterisation but a good plot.

 

Other Books Enjoyed by Noah recently:

1. Blandings Castle by P.G. Wodehouse

2. Saiyuki by Kazuya Minekura

3. All-American Girl: Ready or Not by Meg Cabot
4. Staravaganza: City of Flowers by Mary Hoffman          
5. The Return of the Hundred-Mile-An-Hour Dog by Jeremy Strong

Comments

[Aineias]

That was really nice info.
http://rapidqueen.com

[poo]

hi noah, how farst do you reed???you must reed like fortee fousand books in wun yeer! bye the way, i am forteen an i dont evon reed that much! you are so sooper! x x x

[Genevieve Beauregard]

The review was really good. I was given this book for literature project. My project is almost due and I have not read the entire book.

[HYperrybret]

best web page just for you
I would like to arrange my personal life Adderall immediate release side effects I want to understand what features of my personality may offend others and lead to negative consequences Better euphoria phentermine or adderall xr I want to want to help her son Amantadine and adderall
Go to the guests

[writing jobs]

I love this book. I've finished this in one seating.