The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 18.0642 Thursday, 27 September 2007
From: Jennifer Lee Carrell <
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Date: Wednesday, 26 Sep 2007 10:10:52 -0700
Subject: INTERRED WITH THEIR BONES-Shakespearean Obsessions
INTERRED WITH THEIR BONES-Shakespearean Obsessions
I've just published a novel, INTERRED WITH THEIR BONES, that riffs on
some of the odder Shakespearean obsessions that have gripped people in
the last few centuries-along with other obsessions that remain central
to Shakespeare and literature. The novel is a fast-paced literary
thriller-being compared to "The Da Vinci Code," "The Name of the Rose,"
"Possession," and "The Thirteenth Tale."
First and foremost, I hope it's entertaining. Beyond that, I hope it's
provocative-that it reaches not only Shakespeare fans but people who
think they aren't Shakespeare fans.
It had its origins in my own discovery, in graduate school, that there
are lost plays by Shakespeare, a discovery that set me wondering: where
might they be found? And what would the ripple effects be?
The book winds up grappling with the granddaddy of all obsessions: who
(really) wrote the plays?
A question that I'm being asked in interviews is Why does it matter? Not
in the smarmy, sarcastic way, meaning "Who the hell cares?"-but in the
honest way: Why do we, collectively, still care so much about "who did
it"? Why does the authorship controversy, Hydra-like, keep sprouting new
heads?
(To me, this is a far more interesting question than the "who wrote the
plays?" query from which it springs.)
If anyone has answers-or even suggested directions of thought, I'd be
happy to hear them.
I've been loosely following the current authorial intention thread, and
I can't help thinking that this question is a related issue-concerning
the other side of the telescope, if you will. However much it may be
intellectually fashionable to regard original intention as a ghost, a
fantasy. If it is a fantasy, it's one that continually enthralls.
Meanwhile, you can find out more about the book at
<http://www.jenniferleecarrell.com/>
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