Kit Marlowe
I’ve just finished reading a book I picked up in Cambridge called The Reckoning: The Murder of Christopher Marlowe. I’ve always loved Kit Marlowe and the stories and conspiracies around him; one of the best college plays I ever saw was a take on his Faust, done with 1930s clothes and a very dark theme song (the Garbage song from Romeo and Juliet done only with sax and bass).
Anyway, this is Charles Nicholl’s attempt to find as much as information as he can about the people who were actually present at Marlowe’s death (Frizer, Skeres and Poley), their various connections and dealings iin life, and make some sense of them. He’s also found as much information as he can about Marlowe and his possible/probable spying efforts.
There is a lot of information gathered here. Some of it at least may have been more suited to a book on spies in Elizabethan times, which I still would have read anyway, although I can see the point of including most of it here – good background, shows just what sort of people were involved, and lends weight to Nicholl’s idea that it wasnt just a drunken brawl over the bill that left Marlowe with a dagger in his eye.
I’m not entirely convinced by Nicholl’s final ideas, which is that Marlowe was being set up in order to discredit Walter Raleigh (who was indeed jailed for treason about a decade later – Marlowe was killed in 1593). Marlowe’s connections to Raleigh seemed a bit tenuous, and even more so did the reasons for wanting to bring Raleigh down. Maybe I am too straight-forward a thinker that I can’t get my head around the convolutions that seemed to be involved in Elizabethan politics (and probably are today, in the murkier side of things).
I enjoyed it as a book. It’s easy to read, although I got lost a few times trying to keep up with who was who and how they were connected, although Nicholls does a fair job of keeping the reader up to speed with little reminders about info that has come before, which was most welcome. As I said, not entirely convinced that Raleigh was ultimately the reason for his death, but I am definitely willing to believe that there was some dastardly conspiracy behind it all.
On a related note, the last board you read as go out of the Globe in London is about the whole Shakespeare and authorship issue. Marlowe is, of course, mentioned… and there are leaflets for the Marlowe Society next to the board. I love that.
We are home
So we are home; actually have been for a few days. We were in the UK, for those who don’t know. Most of it was England, a bit in southern Scotland, and a bit in Wales. It was totally overwhelming. I will eventually get around to writing a bit more here, and put up a few (out of the 400 or so) photos here and on Flickr. But I just can’t, yet. It was too much. But I had a huge amount of fun, and saw pretty much everything I wanted to. And it wasn’t nearly as cold as I was expecting either, except for the last week when we were in London and it snowed. The snow lasted until past midday, so it was pretty cold.
The pants may not fit, and the hat will
It is official, people! Official! There is going to be a fourth Indiana! Lucas, Spielberg, and Ford have all confirmed it – it’s being filmed this year. Wahoo! Not entirely convinced by a 60+ year old Indiana, althouh Connery was pretty old when he last played Bond.
But who cares? Wahoo! Indiana Jones IV!
Holidays
Due to having holidays – hurrah! – there has been and will continue to be something of a lack in posts. Like a complete dearth of them. But then, I don’t imagine this will stress anybody out.
Serendipity
I love serendipity.
I was just thinking about teaching Anglo-Saxons and Vikings next year, and “Immigrant Song” by Led Zeppelin came through iTunes.
Magnificent.
Bond. James Bond
I liked this movie.
I liked that this line only occurs once, and only as the last line of the movie (hmm. Spoiler?)
I really liked that this was designed as the first Bond but was still made as an ultra modern movie – the development of Bond as a man and as a spy is something that fascinates me and has never really been explored in any other movies.
I liked that there were no gadgets, not even any Q (hmm. Another spoiler). And that the only SFX were explosions, which to my mind aren’t real FX.
I liked the chase-scene that was on foot – oh my! – because it was very clever, and it had me cringing a number of times.
I liked Daniel Craig. Heck, he’s played an archaeologist before, so he must be good (Alex West in Tomb Raider).
I liked Vesper. She was the best Bond girl of the recent Bonds – I think she’s better than all of the Pierce Brosnan Bond girls. And her character was actually quite interesting and complex.
I liked this movie.
Numb3rs
I generally really enjoy this show, but I am getting a little bit fed up with it at the moment. The dude who plays the maths genius (I just thnk of him Mr Universe from Serenity) just gives too much expostion – every episode insists on explaining some esoteric maths idea: it seems like a not-very-subtle way of making maths look sexy. Maybe that’s the point, but… a bit more subtlety would be appreciated over here.
Update: other songs that make me cry
And further more…
I was only 19, by Redgum – how could I forget that one?? I showed a clip of them in concert once, to a class, and had to leave the class because I was getting teary. I also went to hear John Schumann and Frank talk about it, at a conference, once – and got teary there, too, because they played it.
Mr Bojangles – most recently, that I heard, by Robbie Williams. What a heartbreaking story. Can’t stand it.
Activist Me
Yep, I’m putting my money – and self – where my mouth has always been.
1. I started a school Amnesty group. It’s got maybe 10 very passionate kids coming along already (“can we go on a rally, miss?”). Today we held a lunchtime stall to raise awareness of violence against women, as part of AI’s 16 Days of Activism. We had badges, and they went very quickly. Got lots of kids to sign the petition… perhaps because we bribed them with badges, but I think saturation advertising has to have some good things going for it.
2. I went on strike, and went to the rally at the MCG last week, to protest against the new IR laws. It was a pretty cool atmosphere, and I really hope it makes a difference. It certainly felt amazing to be part of tens of thousands of people walking into the city together. Seriously people can make a difference. I hope.
Songs that make me cry
1. Brighteyes, by Simon and Garfunckle, from the movie Watership Down, which I saw as a kid and refuse to see again.
2. To her door, by Paul Kelly; it’s just so heart-breaking, and so real.
3. Forever Autumn, by Justin Hayward (singer for the Moody Blues), from Jeff Wayne’s musical version of War of the Worlds, which was one of the first CDs I ever bought. Again, this is a heartbreaking song… and just beautiful.
Randomly Yours, Alex 