New This Week
March 30, 2009
Column: At the Library
From: Cranbrook Public Library
By Mike Selby
In 2008, both Europe and the U.S. felt the best book out of Canada was BLACKSTRAP HAWCO, by Newfoundland writer Kenneth J. Harvey. Taking 15 years to write, Harvey explores the myth and mystery of his home, destroying the stereotypical view of a backward province populated by drunk and unemployed fisherman.
Younger readers will be pleased with Judy Blume’s SOUPY SATURDAYS WITH THE PAIN & THE GREAT ONE. Third-grader Abigail cannot stand her younger brother, yet she ends up helping him despite herself. A very funny and meaningful look at families.
So much is happening in April, it is hard to know where to start.
Preschool Story Time this Wednesday at 11:00 am, 1:15 pm, & 6:30 pm, and Toddler Story this Friday at 10:30 am will be all about Skunks!
Elmer Higgins will be displaying his amazing woodwork for the entire month.
The Friends of the Library continue their travelogue series with Gerry Warner presenting his trip to Cuba. This takes place on Tuesday, April 21st, 7pm, at the College of the Rockies.
Children’s author Richard Van Camp will be visiting the Library on Tuesday, April 28th, at 10 am. Please contact Deanne at 426-4063 for more information.
On Friday, April 24th, at 7 pm, the Library will be celebrating the works of Shakespeare. Everyone is invited to come and enjoy his works being read, discussed, and acted out. Please contact Mike at 426-4063 for more information.
ADULT NEWLY AQUIRED SHELF:
Bent, Bound 7 Stitched " Giuseppina Cirincione (745.5942)
The Woodworker’s Illustrated Encyclopedia "Graham McCulloch (684.0803)
10 Good Reasons to Invest In Canada " Michael B. Decter (332.60971)
Wood Turner’s Project Book " Ellis Hein (684.083)
From Belly Fat to Belly Flat " C.W. Randoph (613.25)
We Generation : Raising Socially Responsible Kids " Michael Ungar (649.7)
Date Night in a Minivan " Lorilee Craker (306.874)
The Spiritual Roots of Restorative Justice (205.622)
Better Single Than Sorry " Jen Shefft (306.8153)
Women’s Qigong for Health & Longevity " Deborah Davis (613.714)
Critical Mass "Whitley Strieber (fic)
Blackstrap Hawco " Kenneth J. Harvey (fic)
Luke’s Story " Tim Lahaye & Jerry B. Jenkins (fic)
Whisper to the Blood " Dana Stabenow (mys)
Irish Tweed "Andrew M. Greeley (mys)
Don’t Look Twice " Andrew Gross (mys)
The Second Opinion " Michael Palmer (mys)
Hammer of God "Karen Miller (pb)
Exodus Quest " Will Adams (pb)
Love With the Perfect Scoundrel " Sophia Nash (pb)
Anna Getty’s Pre & Post Natal Yoga Workout (DVD)
Passchendaele (DVD)
Bollywood Hollywood (DVD)
Elizabeth Rex (DVD)
Eragon (DVD)
YOUNG ADULT & CHILDREN’S NEWLY AQUIRED SHELF:
Chenxi and the Foreigner " Sally Rippin (ya fic)
Safe as Houses " Eric Walters (ya fic)
Warriors : Books 1 to 6 " Erin Hunter (ya fic)
Still Just Grace " Charise Mericle Harper (j fic)
Surprise According to Humphrey " Betty G. Birney (j fic)
Soupy Saturdays with the Pain & the Great One " Judy Blume (j fic)
Yikes, it’s a Yeti! " Karen Wallace (j fic)
Just Five More Minutes : We Both Read Level 1 " Marcy Brown (j easy)
Barbie Thumbelina : Step Into Reading Level 2 (j easy)
A Game of Hide & Seek : Step Into Reading Level 2 (j easy)
Full Color " Etienne Delessert (j pic)
Bear Dance " Jan Wahal & Monique Felix (j pic)
MIKE’S BOOKNOTES:
In the late 1580s, a young man leaves the small provincial town of his birth; he is without wealth, without powerful family connections, and without a university education. He arrives in London and"in an extremely short time"becomes the greatest playwright ever known. Not just of his age either, but of all time. This is of course William Shakespeare, one of the most unlikely and remarkable success stories of all time. Shakespeare’s story is so extraordinary, that many people are hard-pressed to believe it all.
This has become what is known as “the authorship question”, a belief that someone other than Shakespeare wrote the 38 plays and poems attributed to him. Candidates for the ‘real’ author have been Francis Bacon, Christopher Marlowe, Edward deVere (the 6th Earl of Oxford), and even Queen Elizabeth herself. Doubters of Shakespeare’s authorship include Mark Twain, Orson Welles, Charlie Chaplin, and even Shakespearian actor John Gielgud.
It is a belief based upon Shakespeare not having “the right goods.” He does not have the right education, the right patronage, the right social equipment, or eve the right friendships to create the central body of imaginative literature in the English language. Only a genius (Bacon), or a scholar (Marlowe), or an aristocrat (deVere), or a Queen could have written such works such as Hamlet or King Lear.
While an entire industry thrives around various conspiracy theories and secret proofs, all those who deny Shakespeare as author fail to consider one crucial point: the young man mentioned above.
For Shakespeare was famous in his own time. He was halfway through his career when works began to appear with his name on it. He is referred to by his contemporaries, including Christopher Marlowe and Queen Elizabeth. Shortly after he died, his friends bring out huge collections of his work with his picture on it. He owned land. He left his estate to his daughter and grandchildren. Nobody questions his authorship until 300 years after his death.
William Shakespeare was poor and uneducated and unconnected; but he found a way to express this remarkable thing he found inside himself. Denying him this is simple bigotry.
