Henry VI: Part Two - William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare – Henry VI: Part Two (1591)
Play – read on the wonderful Shakespeare iPhone app during October 2011
- 4 nods out of 5 -

Everything comes in ‘a trilogy’ these days: Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, X-Men and even (sigh) Transformers. It seems that Hollywood isn’t content to bore us with just one instalment; the “fun” must be spread over a series of years to keep us entertained (and also keep toy manufacturers in business during the Christmas season).

But here is a trilogy before George Lucas, before Frodo set out on his journey across Middle Earth, before film was invented and before crappy merchandise was utilised to its awful full potential; a trilogy written by the man, the genius, the writer himself: William Shakespeare. Regular readers of the blog may have glanced an eye across the review of the first part of this series, on which Henry comes to the throne and squanders his father’s inheritance of the French lands. Tensions are bubbling beneath, between the rival houses of Lancaster and York. Part Two is where the shedding of blood begins.

The second part of a trilogy can sometimes bring greater rewards than the original (notably Godfather Part II), and Shakespeare himself pulls off a similar trick here. After laying the ground work of potential friction, he gets to town in this play in destroying and laying havoc to the hefty character list (the largest in any Shakespeare play). The house of York are on the rise, and intrigue against Henry’s closest advisors; the first to feel the force of York is Henry’s trusted uncle, Gloucester. Facing trumped up charges, the moral compass of Part One is isolated and victimised, before being murdered to remove him from the picture all completely.

‘Ah, thus King Henry throws away his crutch
Before his legs be firm to bear his body.
Thus the shepherd is beaten from thy side,
And wolves are gnarling who shall gnaw thee first.’

Rivalries continue from Part One – such as that between York and Somerset – before being settled in York’s favour; all while Shakespeare demonstrates the flair and ability that illuminates his later masterworks. In ridding the king of his companions, York goes further to stirring up rebellion in the person of Jack Cade, who he hopes will set the match alight to provide his triumph over Lancaster. The comedy element of the play comes in the form of the rise of the rebellion of Jack Cade, and in his stirring cries to his rabble:

CADE:
My father was a Mortimer –

DICK (aside):
He was an honest man, and a good bricklayer.

CADE:
My mother a Plantagenet –

DICK (aside):
I knew her well, she was a midwife.

CADE:
My wife descended of the Lacies –

DICK (aside):
She was indeed a pedlar’s daughter, and sold many laces.

CADE:
Therefore I am of an honourable house.

DICK (aside):
Ay, by my faith, the field is honourable, and there was he born, under a hedge; for his father had never a house but the cage.

CADE:
Valiant I am.

DICK (aside):
‘A must needs, for beggary is valiant.

Cade leads a bloody rampage in London, yelling out to his rebels: ‘Up Fish Street! Down Saint Magnus’ Corner! Kill and knock down! Throw them into the Thames!’ All before being put to flight and ignominious death after a rousing speech delivering by Henry’s confidant, Clifford; reminiscent of the fate suffered by Brutus after the murder of Julius Caesar.

All of the mayhem, the killings and murders finds it climax when the royal families take sides at the battle of St Albans. York returns from Ireland to claim what he believes his rightful inheritance, and all “kicks off” in true, bloody Shakespearian style.

York and Clifford - the saviour of the rebellion – come to fisticuffs in a fight. York tells him: ‘I am resolved for death or dignity.’ Clifford responds: ‘The first I warrant thee, if dreams prove true.’ But yet York retorts: ‘You were best to go to bed and dream again…’ The fight ends in Clifford’s death; whilst elsewhere on the field of battle York’s son – the future Richard III – kills York’s bête noir, the Duke of Somerset under the sign of the Castle Inn.

Fearing all is lost, Henry flees with his remaining troops back to London. The victorious York calls on his support and asks the Duke of Warwick: ‘What says Lord Warwick? Shall we after them?’ Warwick concludes on a cliff-hanger:

‘After them! Nay, before them, if we can.
Now, by my faith, lords ‘twas a glorious day.
Saint Albons battle won by famous York
Shall be eterniz’d in all age to come.
Sound drum and trumpets, and to London all,
And more such days as these to us befall!’

Such an ending beautifully sets up the scene for the third and final part of Shakespeare’s Henry VI. The sides have formed, the Wars of the Roses has begun. And what is to become of King Henry and the Duke of York? Stay tuned to future editions of the Four Eyed Book Worm to find out.

Killer Contract: Blood Bowl - Matt Forbeck & Lads Helloven

Matt Forbeck & Lads Helloven - Killer Contract: Blood Bowl (2009)
Comic Book – 130 pages – my copy read whilst staying at the Channon residence, October 2011
- 2 nods out of 5 -



For those readers who have been with the Worm since Day One (now, now; don’t be shy – raise a glass to many a pompous book review over the past two years), then you may have read the review on the novel based on Blood Bowl in 2009. And just what is Blood Bowl? A quick recap for other readers of this blog in recent months: Blood Bowl is a dice-game produced by the Games Workshop, in which the player is a coach of a football team with the aim of scoring touch-downs, and perhaps more importantly: killing the entire opposition. Sound like your cup of tea? Well, read on…

Matt Forbeck was hounded in the previous review of his debut novel (simply titled Blood Bowl). The Worm gave the book a meagre 1 nod out of 5, thus entering the sin-bin of reading and winning that book-reading season’s Shredder Award for Crime’s Against Literature. Poor Mr Forbeck, the Worm hears you muttering. But his latest dabbling in a graphical representation of the unique fictional universe strikes an immediate nod with the reader. Blood, guts, grass and grime: all of these things are brought to life on the page by the efforts of the artist, the wonderfully named: Lads Helloven. The reader is able to feel involved in the progress of the Bad Bay Hackers team as they set off to win the Blood Bowl Championship.

But the spanner in the works? (For there is always a spanner in the works, dear reader): Matt Forbeck himself. The plot is tired and predictable, the dialogue is terrible and clichéd. This is the fifth or sixth story containing the Hackers, and this team always seems to win, becoming the James Bond of fantasy football teams. Each turn of the page brings the inevitable result; with the reader turning ever closer to a sadist in wishing the demise of the book’s “hero”, Dunk Hoffnung.

The formula has gone wrong somewhere. Here we have an interesting idea about psychotic sporting players who chainsaw one another to death, and yet the writer appears settled to make the reader pay for this interest in terms of a stale plot and pointless padding. What if we were to see a different team, away from Mr Hoffnung and the fortunate Bad Bay Hackers: of the Orcs, of the Dwarves, of Elves, of Vampires, and, well, the reader gets the point. A different side to shake up the action.

As the Worm expressed in the earlier review on Forbeck’s novel, he will return for more. A glutton for punishment: oh no! But rather a dedicated fan of the game of Blood Bowl. Yes, he will be back – hoping Mr Forbeck has got his act together in order to produce a real work of interest.


Read my review of Matt Forbeck’s initial novel right here:
http://4eyedbookworm.blogspot.com/2009/07/blood-guts-blood-bowl-by-matt-forbeck.html

Buy Killer Contract here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Killer-Contract-Blood-Matt-Forbeck/dp/1934506346

British History to the Protectorate - New Joy of Knowledge Encyclopaedia

New Joy of Knowledge Encyclopaedia – British History to the Protectorate (1990)
History – 70 pages – my copy (hardback; 1990) read during September 2011
- 2 nods out of 5 -

Many years ago, gentle folk would seek out on their pursuit of knowledge by ordering large volumes of books – let us call them encyclopaedias – which in many cases were delivered direct to the front door. They promised new windows into the worlds of art, of history, of science, of geography, of all that humankind had to offer. One encyclopaedia a month, at ten pounds a turn, for fifty to one hundred months; bit by bit the collection and, not forgetting, the knowledge of the owner would grow…until one day (normally when the cash balance was significantly lowered) the owner would compete with Einstein-like intelligence.

Fast forward to the twenty-first century. Now all of this knowledge – art, history, science, geography – is condensed on one tiny website: Wikipedia. And what’s more, it is regularly updated. And what’s more and more: its articles range way beyond anything the previous encyclopaedias could ever dare dream about. And what’s more and more and more: this information is free. O, how strange the times are a-changing.

This book on British History to the Protectorate – from The New Joy of Knowledge Encyclopaedia – takes the reader on a journey from ‘Bronze and Iron Age Britain’ right through the chopping off of the head of Charles I in the 1600s. In-between are over twenty chapters on periods and events such as ‘Norman and Angevin England’, ‘The origins of Parliament’ and ‘Elizabeth and the Armada’. As expected with any history claiming to be “British”, the rest of the Isles are given scant coverage, with a couple of their own chapters thrown in for good measure (‘Wales to the Act of Union’, anyone?).

The text is succinct and to the point, covering the major topics and debate. The real surprising feature of this book is its great use of illustration: every chapter has portraits, diagrams, and maps set out in a wonderful and accessible style. Furthermore, the chapters are interspersed with ‘Panorama’ pages detailing the likes of the Bayeux tapestry and a painting on Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales; with the larger A3 paper adding to the allure and detail.

But let us not get too carried away, dear reader. Despite its advantages this book cannot escape what it intrinsically is: an encyclopaedia. As such, it remains stunted in its form and time period; its future looks grim, but when placed alongside its fellow encyclopaedia siblings, the overall picture can be impressive. Wikipedia has expansiveness and elasticity; but even in this digital age nothing beats a colourful and triumphant book shelf.

Richard III: King of England - James Gairdner

James Gairdner – Richard III: King of England
Biography – read on the Kindle for free during September 2011
- 1 nod out of 5 -

We all love a villain in history. Check out the shelves of a nearby bookshop and what we’ll find are books on the likes of Hitler and Stalin. Closer to home, in British history, we place a great emphasis on the failures of our own monarchy: of the losses of Bad King John, on the madness of King George III, and on the monstrous myth that is Richard III.

The worm uses the word ‘myth’, as much of what is commonly known about Richard was the invention of good old Bill Shakespeare. James Gairdner – one of the eminent voices on Tudor history in the Victorian age – conforms to this stereotype in this short biography of the hunchbacked villain who sought power at all costs. True to Shakespeare’s portrayal, Richard is seen butchering all who stand in his way, friend or foe.

Such is the venting of the spleen, Gairdner has been labelled “the Victorian Anti-Richard” for such severe views. Later revisionist works have rebuffed such ideas, with more expressive and expansive conclusions now being deduced about Richard’s reign. Was he the murderer of the princes in the tower, out to grab all the power he could muster; or was he trying to steer England away from ruin? Such questions have no home in Gairdner’s prose, and it is all the poorer without them.

Gairdner wrote a whole stack of biographies on some of the key figures of the Tudor age: Henry VIII, Edward IV, Anne Boleyn, Catherine of Aragon, Edward V, and more and more and more. Some of his works maintained a strong currency until the middle of the twentieth century; but his short biographies – of which this read is one – contain none of the debate and analysis that his longer books became known for.

Richard III will continue to attract critics and supporters; he is a monarch best viewed in a different format. Gairdner’s short rendition of his life is a blunt and tired one best reserved for Victorian historian enthusiasts (wherever they might live!). It might have sufficed in the Victorian age, but unfortunately for the author’s legacy, it simply doesn’t suffice today.

Interzone - William S Burroughs

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The Basement - Stephen Leather

Stephen Leather - The Basement (2010)
Novella – read on the Kindle during September 2011
- 2 nods out of 5 -

Stephen Leather is one smart cookie. That might not be the technical term, but that statement is a good assessment of his business know-how. His publishers refused to print a few shorter novels that didn’t fit in with his own back catalogue, so rather than hide the manuscripts away in a drawer to gather dust they found a home electronically. Released on the Kindle they sold like a hot cakes; and, it would seem, Mr Leather has been laughing himself silly ever since.

The Worm stumbled across Leather’s success story in a writing magazine feature, and feeling ready to purchase a few texts to christen a new Kindle, The Basement was bought for the small sum of less than one pound.

So, we know the price; we know the back story: but what about the book, the Worm hears you asking! The Basement is a short novel comprised of two concurrent running stories. The first follows a wannabe screenwriter who is targeted as a murder suspect by two police officers; while the second – and more sinister of the two – follows the perspective of an unnamed person who has a woman tied up in the titular basement, used as a sex slave during the novella.

Of course, the suspense – of which Leather excels – leads us, the reader, to believe the two story lines are entwined. And indeed, they are; but with the suspected storyline twist not failing to serve its purpose and stun. The central (first) narrator is genuinely interesting: never bothered by the police officers knocking at his door, his energy is spent on dreaming up new movie ideas, with each of them equally as uninspiring as the last. His life perspective is egotistically centred, as shown nowhere more clearly than in the ransacking of his opponent’s apartment:

‘...in big capital letters I write ‘HOW DO YOU LIKE IT, NIGGER?’ across the mirrored closet. It’s a nice touch, the Nigger bit. Just in case he thinks it might be a couple of homeboys out to feed their habit. That and the fact that nothing as been stolen should point in my direction. I mean, he is a detective and all. I actually feel guilty as I stand and look at the word nigger written in red. It’s not that I’m a racist, I pretty much treat everyone as inferior, but I’ll make Turner mad. Real mad, which is the way I want him.’

However, the limited space of this novella means the plot descends into a simple routine, switching from the action in the basement to that of the screenwriter, from screenwriter back to the basement, and well, you get the drift. A tad monotonous, to say the least. And while Leather may keep the kettle pot of suspense boiling to the brim (along with truly sinister descriptions from the basement), the dialogue is close to shambolic. With such things considered, The Basement never threatens to leave the realms of ‘Quick Read’ to become a ‘Recommend to a Friend’.


Read more about the author here:
http://stephenleather.blogspot.com/2010/10/basement-on-kindle.html

Notes From Underground - Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Fyodor Dostoyevsky – Notes From Underground (1864)
Novel – read on Kindle during August 2011, a free download
- 5 nods out of 5 -

‘Gentlemen, you must excuse me for being over-philosophical; it’s the result of forty years underground!’

Here are the words of the man from underground, the narrator in Dostoyevsky’s revered and renowned short novel from 1864. In the English language it is popularly referred to as Notes from THE Underground; but the Worm feels its more literal translation from Russian befits the writer and the mood much more. After all, just where is THE underground? A place, or perhaps better yet, a mood within us.

Existentialists in coffee shops have spilt much breath upon the merits of this novel. Narrated by an unnamed man, the first part of the story is a collection of rants and rambling observations. Topics are covered, ranging from suffering to theories of reason and logic. While the second part (Apropos of the Wet Snow) follows more of a traditional story pattern, as the narrator seeks off to prove a point to a circle of acquaintances, before making contact with a prostitute, who like himself, is in search of approval (and, perhaps, love). Much is attacked throughout the book: aspirations of love, western philosophy, the bureaucracy of work, manners, social norms, and on and on. Whilst riddles abound on every page.

The novel’s chief selling point is the unnamed narrator himself. Pathetic but scathing, pitiful yet insightful; he is not a man to be trusted. The use of the ‘unreliable narrator’ has come in and out of fashion with every generation, but very rarely is it accomplished to such an art. The reader must question at every turn just what is being said, the subtext, the hidden meaning. Dostoyevsky doesn’t make it easy for us:

‘I believe I made a mistake in beginning to write them, anyway I have felt ashamed all the time I’ve been writing this story; so it’s hardly literature so much as a corrective punishment.’

With the vast amount of thought within these pages, it is easy to assume a vision of Dostoyevsky smugly gazing down upon the reader. But despite the somewhat heavy discussion of free will and of the modern world, there is also a great deal of emotion to sway us. The narrator’s two scenes with the prostitute are intriguing and, aside from philosophical discussion, the strongest in the novel: here we get to see the chief character in action amongst others. After at first berating the prostitute, he tries making amends by giving his address; only to regret this when she threatens to call days later.

Make what you will of the narrator: to trust or not to trust. But the art of Dostoyevsky’s writing cannot be in doubt. Pick up a copy, grab a cup of coffee, fling on a beret, and let your heart sing about existentialist ideas! Notes from Underground is a classic to be enjoyed.

Elizabeth - David Starkey

David Starkey – Elizabeth (2000)
Biography – 340 pages – my copy (2001; paperback) bought for 1 penny from Amazon in August 2011
- 3 nods out of 5 -



Let’s get this straight: David Starkey is a pompous ass. For those who have watched his many upon many history documentaries, as well as his comments on the likes of Question Time (and more recently and controversially on Newsnight) you will agree with the Worm’s initial and cemented assessment of the man. That smugness, that air of haughty disdain for others, that general permeation of snobbery all confirms this. But we cannot take an enduring contribution of his: the great outpouring on Tudor history.

British television has few recognisable historians (Schama and Ferguson are a couple of others), and perhaps Starkey is the Big Cheese of them all. (Pomposity, it seems, has its advantages.) He has produced a long list of works on the hundred years of Tudor rule, and here, under the Worm’s spotlight, is Elizabeth: his treatment of the early years of Elizabeth The Very First in the mid sixteenth century, all before she became queen.

Like his documentaries, the book is divided in many small, bite-sized chapters, including Elizabeth’s childhood; the death of her father, Henry VIII; her reputed dalliances with her stepmother’s new husband; the death of her brother Edward VI; the possible plots against her sister, Mary; the battle between Protestantism and Catholicism; concluding on her settlement on coming to the throne in the late 1550s.

As to be expected with any biography, there is a fair amount of padding in Elizabeth’s earlier childhood years. Starkey is keen to place great emphasis on small events (including the detail and emotion of her handwriting, p.49); but more to the point of settling historiographical scores. The conjecture is great, but also great is the amount of detail.

The book gets into its stride with the death of Elizabeth’s brother, Edward the boy-king, and the resulting large shadow of doubt and deceit this caused. It seemed for a short while that both Elizabeth and bigger sister Mary were to be shunned from the crown in favour of the Protestant Lady Jane Grey, before Mary seized the throne and put to death all those who opposed her: and very nearly Elizabeth herself. It is one of British history’s greatest What Ifs on a possible heir of Mary and Philip, and what this would have meant from Catholicism on these isles.

All together, Starkey does an admirable job on Elizabeth’s formative years. For those who wish to gain a greater understanding of the queen, then they must search into the inner girl: of those insecurities and childhood struggles. However, it would be disingenuous to say Starkey provides the definitive biography on this period; that honour surely belongs to the efforts of a future historian. It seems being a pompous ass only gets someone so far. But, then again, he is our pompous ass. It takes one to know one, after all.

Buy it here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Elizabeth-Dr-David-Starkey/dp/0099286572/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1316858327&sr=1-1

Lord of the Flies - William Golding

William Golding – Lord of the Flies (1954)
Novel – 220 pages – my copy (paperback; 1979) bought for a few pennies in a charity shop a long time ago in a galaxy far away from here – read during August 2011
- 5 nods out of 5 -



The Worm was first introduced to Lord of the Flies in movie form many years ago. The enduring image continues to be that of a large rock falling upon Piggy’s head. In the process Piggy is killed, with the triumph of savagery over progress, of passion against reason, of the id over the ego.

Even those who have not read William Golding’s fantastic novel, many are aware of the story. A group of boys, ranging from six years to twelve years, are left stranded on a desert island. Left to their own devices, at first they continue with the symbols of their previous world – of authority figures (nominating a leader, Ralph; and in the rational mind of Piggy) – but eventually descend into mayhem and chaos. Ralph’s rival, Jack, creates a gang of hunters who consume the island in their philosophical mantra: ‘Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!’

The lack of external authority of a grown-up leads to a breakdown of education and social norms. This is shown nowhere more clearly than in the downfall of Roger – later master executioner for the hunters - as he throws rocks at one of the little ‘uns near the story's beginning:

‘Yet there was a space round Henry, perhaps six yards in diameter, into which he dare not throw. Here, invisible yet strong, was the taboo of the old life. Round the squatting child was the protection of parents and school and policeman and the law. Roger’s arm was conditioned by a civilization that knew nothing of him and was in ruins.’

As Ralph is questioned ‘Who cares?’ about breaking the rules, he replies: ‘Because the rules are the only thing we’ve got!’ And even this slips away from the group’s grasp, as common sense and order give way to a feral temptation, as shown in the breaking of the conch – the only symbol of authority left remaining.

And just who is the Lord of the Flies? This is the sow’s head, detached from body and placed upon a stick, who tells Simon: ‘There isn’t anyone to help you. Only me. And I’m the Beast.’ But this is the lord in Simon’s deluded mind. Perhaps the beast has a larger, implicit location – in the unconscious feelings let loose from the children on the island. Like Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, it leaves an unsettling and frightening thought in the mind of the adult reader.

The officer at the book’s end is Ralph’s - and the collective boys – saviour, of all body, mind and soul. As the officer comments upon seeing them: ‘I should have thought that a pack of British boys – you’re all British aren’t you? – would have been able to put up a better show than that.’ Unfortunately for us, the reader, Golding proceeds to over-egg the pudding of the drama with the penultimate paragraph, as Ralph weeps for:

‘The end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy’.

But after such a story we can forgive him this melodrama. Lord of the Flies is a short book, but one filled with emotion, theory and never-ending reflection. A bona-fide 5 nodder, if the Worm ever did see one.


Buy it here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lord-Flies-William-Golding/dp/0571191479

England Under The Tudors - G.R. Elton

G.R. Elton – England Under The Tudors (1955)
History – 490 pages – my copy (paperback; 1991) on loan from University of Plymouth library, during August 2011
- 3 nods out of 5 -



Name England’s most illustrious monarchs of the past. No doubt two of the first on your lips are Henry VIII and Elizabeth, a king and queen of Tudor stock. Henry slept with, divorced and beheaded wives as if they were going out of style, all whilst picking a fight with the pope and spearheading a religious revolution. Elizabeth, his daughter, became the first successful female monarch of this isle, keeping her subjects in check with her tongue, whilst overseeing the defeat of the invading Spanish Armada (a feat continually celebrated over four hundred years today). With two such heavyweights, it is clear to see the Tudor age is not one to be sniffed or trifled with.

In recent decades the Tudors have been in print, on the television and up on the big screen, in various incarnations. The author of this book – England Under The Tudors – researched and wrote in a different time, away from the glamour, sex and violence; to bring this period to the masses of the immediate post-war period.

Elton takes us from the birth of the Tudor dynasty, from the Battle of Bosworth field in 1485 when Henry Tudor became king, to the end when his grand-daughter – Elizabeth – died in 1603. In-between the reader is treated to insight after insight to this period, including the break with Rome, the conflict of religion during ‘the mid-Tudor crisis’, as well as the Armada invasion of 1588. Great characters are placed under the microscope, such as Thomas Wolsey (‘the Great Cardinal’); the philosopher Thomas More; Thomas Cromwell - Henry’s instrument in doing away with Catholicism; as well as all those colourful names during the reign of Elizabeth: Dudley, Cecil, Essex and Raleigh.

But more than the popular history, Elton takes us through much historical debate, as well as concentrating on the ‘price revolution’ (when inflation soared) and the raging religious arguments. The typical truth-searching historian, Elton revises his arguments in later editions, in the 1970s and 1990s. In recent decades this period has gained even greater popularity and historical concentration: as seen in the narrative highlights from Weir and Starkey, as well as the dubious incarnations on the screen (The Tudors, anyone? Thought not!).

Despite an influx of new books and authors, Elton’s history remains readable and enjoyable. Although time will see such views superseded, the future decades will not detract from Elton’s writing style, his cutting comments and will to speak out on the major issues. Such a historian is needed for such an interesting age, to bring the Tudors to life for the modern generations; in this, Mr Elton has surely succeeded.

Buy it here on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/England-Under-Tudors-G-R-Elton/dp/041506533X