Battle Cry of Freedom: Attempting to Understand America's Civil War

Here we are, at book three of the summer reading challenge!

Battle Cry of Freedom is part of the Oxford History of the United States series. The book was originally published in 1988, and earned McPherson a Pulitzer Prize. The New York Times reviewer called it "...the best one-volume treatment of its subject I have ever come across." It continues to be used in classrooms today to teach the history of the Civil War across high school and college curriculums.

The book covers the background and history of the American Civil War, starting in the 1830s and tracing the evolution of the slavery issue and ending in the aftermath of the Lincoln assassination and disarray before the Reconstruction era began. McPherson does an excellent job of portraying both sides equally, without any particular bias - a difficult feat, especially in one of the most divisive subjects in American history. Much of his efforts go towards understanding what each side was fighting for. Both sides fought for freedom - but McPherson explains that they understood the idea of freedom very differently. This differentiation of each side, while showing their similarities, is what makes McPherson's book so succinct and understandable. He helps to make the war more understandable to the modern reader, separated as we are by a little over 150 years from the actual events.

I've been wanting to read this book since I finished my Civil War class in undergrad. Somehow, I've become even more interested in the war, especially in light of current events. I started this year out reading Confederates in the Attic, Tony Horowitz's study of Southern memory and the Civil War and the books I've chosen to read this summer include three more on the subject (Battle Cry included). Something about this war continues to draw me in and pique my curiosity. What I most enjoyed about McPherson's book was his readability. I've read other pieces of his writing before (his essay collection This Mighty Scourge; For Cause and Comrades, a book on the soldiers fighting in the war; and Tried by War, his biography of Abraham Lincoln as commander-in-chief) and greatly enjoyed their flow. What I appreciated most from this particular work was the snarky sense of humor that popped in occasionally. Peppered throughout the text, it made reading the book even more enjoyable. My only disappointment was that McPherson completely skipped Lincoln's assassination, instead mentioning Booth's comment about killing the President and then jumping directly into the aftermath.

I really enjoyed reading this. I think it's definitely the best summary of the war I've read - but it is rather long, and if I ever wind up using it as a reading for students, I might assign specific portions of the book rather than the entire thing. I do think it's an important piece of Civil War historiography, and I'm glad I took the time to pick it up and read it.

Overall rating: 9.5/10 stars

Discovering Something New: Re-reading Donna Tartt's The Secret History

Second book of the summer reading challenge has been completed! To kick off my reread selections, we're starting with The Secret History.

The Secret History is Donna Tartt's first novel - you may recognize her from her most recent work, The Goldfinch, which won the Pulitzer Prize. Published in 1992, the novel is unique for its why-dun-it set up - a reversal of the mystery tradition.

The Secret History tells the story of a group of Classics students at a remote Vermont college: Henry Winter, the dark brooding intellectual, completely immersed in studying Greek; Bunny Corcoran, the all-American student, former football captain turned Classics student; Francis Abernathy, the delicate aesthete, a severe hypochondriac with a fondness for nice clothes and cigarettes; and Charles and Camilla Macaulay, identical twins whose personalities are anything but identical. Narrated by Richard Papen, a Californian attempting to reinvent himself, the novel is divided into two parts: before the murder, and after the murder. Along the way, the group is heavily influenced by their professor, Julian, who encourages them to engage completely with the ancient lifestyle.

The first time I read this book, I was a rising junior in undergrad. A friend of mine (who is a Classics major herself) recommended it to me, and told me that I absolutely had to read it. I couldn't put it down. I vaguely recall reading it at night, staying up to incredibly odd hours because the chapter hadn't ended, and not wanting to end my lunch breaks at work because I had just gotten to a good part. I think I read it in a day and a half, and didn't ever actually put it down (except for when I had to). There's something about this book that draws me in every time - the concept of beauty as terror, the lyrical form of the prose, the lives of the students... This time, I was drawn to Richard's descriptions of people and places, especially when talking about himself. Somehow, Richard manages to make himself an accessory, but never completely complicit in anything. He's so uncomfortable with himself and his situation that he would rather lie about his life than face the truth.

I also notice, every time I read this, that there are a ton of parallels to Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. Whether these were intentional or are just me reading way too much into this, I don't know.

I love this book, and I recommend it to basically anyone who asks for a book rec. It's on my list of favorite books of all time, and re-reading it has only cemented its place. And if you like this one, you should check out M.L. Rio's novel If We Were Villains; it's a similar premise, but with Shakespearean actors instead of classicists (and I also love it to death).

Overall rating: 11/10 stars

Summer Reading Challenge 2018

I realize I've basically not posted anything since December two years ago.

Oops.

But as I roll around towards my MA thesis, I realize that I need a place to record some of the reading that I do outside of the required stuff. The stuff I read (or reread) for fun. The random books in my book haul when I go out to local bookstores. Books that I recommend, books that I don't, and books that have been recommended to me.

So my goal this summer is to keep track of what I'm reading, both here and on Goodreads. I'm also creating a small tracker in my bullet journal to make sure I follow my reading goals.

I'm going to plan out 20 books that I know I want to read this summer: five fiction, five non-fiction, five plays/poems, five rereads. I'm also going to list (separately) books that I want to reread in order to teach them in the spring.

With each book, I will post a blog review when I finish it. The rating system will be 1-10 (and some books can go to 11). I'll include a brief blurb about the book, what made me want to read it, and what my thoughts are. And then on to the next book.

So here's my 20 Summer Reads for 2018:

1. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoevsky
2. A Farewell to Arms - Ernest Hemingway
3. We, the Drowned - Carston Jensen
4. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay - Michael Chabon
5. Infinite Jest - David Foster Wallace
6. Battle Cry of Freedom - James McPherson
7. American Brutus - Michael W. Kauffman
8. The Romanovs - Simon Sebag Montefiore
9. Grant - Ron Chernow
10. The Invention of Murder - Judith Flanders
11. The Winter's Tale - William Shakespeare
12. Five Revenge Tragedies: Kyd, Shakespeare, Marston, Chettle, Middleton
13. The Duchess of Malfi - John Webster
14. Pericles - William Shakespeare
15. Five Plays - Christopher Marlowe
16. The Secret History - Donna Tartt
17. Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel
18. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
19. Master and Margarita - Mikhail Bulgakov
20. The Beautiful and Damned - F. Scott Fitzgerald

And other assorted books that I'll be rereading this summer may include:

• Henry V - William Shakespeare
• Confederates in the Attic - Tony Horowitz
• The Killer Angels - Michael Shaara
• The Things They Carried - Tim O'Brien
• Code Name Verity - Elizabeth Wein
• The Scarlet Pimpernel - Baroness Orczy

Feel free to join along! There's not any set timetable for this, other than to be done by the end of the summer. Fingers crossed that I make it there!

Reflecting

As you may have noticed, I kind of disappeared from this blog for the past four months (give or take a few months).

Please don't think that I was just abandoning you, dear reader.

I became enveloped in probably one of the most important research projects I'll be doing in my life. My senior seminar.

And this is only the first one.

I started with my English seminar, and, after approval from the English department, chose to look at Shakespeare's Richard II. I wanted to see why performances had a) increased (there have been at least three big shows in the past five years) and b) why, of the ones that I have seen, the characterization of Richard seemed to be so similar.

I started by asking myself whether Richard was being portrayed as gay (a form I termed gay!Richard in my shorthand notes); after some research, I began to wonder if he was actually being portrayed as gay, or if I was just reading a whole lot into it (which I termed gay?Richard); and finally, after some serious discussion with my mentor, decided that he was being portrayed as androgynous (and, you guessed it, this was shorthanded androgynous!Richard).

My interest in the play came from seeing The Hollow Crown when it first came on in 2013. I was a small, overeager freshman, and Shakespeare seemed like the most exciting thing to me since sliced bread. I had read Hamlet as a senior in high school, and was in the midst of a plan to read the Complete Works before I turned 18 (shockingly, that didn't happen). But Hollow Crown helped the history plays come alive for me in a way that I never thought they could - especially because they were so incredibly well cast. When I wouldn't shut up about Ben Whishaw and Tom Hiddleston, my parents bought the DVDs for me as a birthday gift.

Fast forward to last year, when I went to Stratford-upon-Avon for Thanksgiving. I knew that David Tennant was also doing a production of the play, but I had missed it - it was at the Barbican, at the time, and I was not setting foot anywhere near a major metropolitan area after the Paris attacks. But the RSC happened to sell a copy of it - and the employees, when I mentioned that I really enjoyed reading the play, raved about the performance. I was told I had to watch it, and that it was fantastic.

When I got home to the States in the spring, I was mulling ideas over in my head. Since my freshman year, I had always thought I'd write about Gatsby - it is still, to this day, my favorite book, and up until that point, I was pretty certain I would be looking at it in comparison to Donna Tartt's The Secret History. But, one afternoon, when talking to a professor about a number of topics (including my desire to take a Russian lit class before I graduated, which he then offered me the chance to do), the topic of my seminar came up. And, when I mentioned that I had one that I was mulling around but hadn't really considered yet, he perked up. He was even more excited by the idea of working with Richard II than I was, and his response - that our prof who specializes in Shakespeare would be super excited about it - made me think twice about what I was doing. I set up a meeting with our Shakespearean and didn't look back (except to read Gatsby again. Because that's a great novel and everyone should read it sometime).

I don't think I realized just how correct that assessment was. I've never seen a professor so excited about a topic before. And I mean, I was excited (and I'm way more excited now, at the end, about my topic than I ever was at the beginning when I had zero idea about what I was talking about), but not that excited. Over the rest of the spring semester, I was sent essays, suggested reading, and so much more. I spent my summer writing up notes on the basics of homosexuality in early modern England, history plays, and Richard studies in general, as well as performance theory - a relatively new thing in Shakespeare studies.

I did a lot of reading.

And then seminar kicked in.

I learned that, as a double major, my default mode is not English major, but history. And so I worked on cutting down the issues I had with pointing to facts and saying, "so there."

I learned that, while things might be clear to me (and to my mentor, God bless him), the argument chain has to be completely written out for everyone else. So I can't just say, "LOOK AT THIS. THIS IS BAD." I actually have to explain it.

I learned that, just because I thought I wasn't far enough along on my project, that I wasn't actually behind. I watched classmates struggle to meet deadlines because we were all on different timelines and schedules.

I learned that, despite what I think (and I think it often), I am a good writer. I can pull together papers that flow well, that argue cohesive thoughts, and make a point about the text.

I also learned that I can present my ideas well. And sound professional while I do it. Despite what I think.

I also learned that, if you stick two Shakespeare nerds in a room with a project that needs to be worked on, they won't be able to focus for longer than 30 minutes at a time (and by the end of it, baboons on the early modern stage will have come up).

I learned that both of my departments have my back. I have never felt so loved or appreciated as I have this semester, when I would just walk into someone's office and either almost cry from stress or just start talking about a problem I was having (I owe all of you cookies before I graduate).

I learned that I should not be afraid of saying what I'm thinking, or being honest with my mentor. Because let's be honest, if I'm having this question, he's probably been waiting for me to ask it.

I learned that my seminar topic follows me everywhere. No matter how hard I tried, it would pop up in literally every class I took this semester (even in World Wars I and II. Which was impressive.).

I learned that Foucault is hard to read, but if you talk it out enough times, it makes sense (to an extent).

I learned that trying to be in a Shakespeare play and also write about a Shakespeare play at the same time is not the best thing to do. Especially for the sanity of your cast mates, who don't want to hear about traditional staging or costuming techniques for the 500th time (I love all of you - thanks for putting up with me).

I learned that my small group members are invaluable in encouraging me to keep going when times are tough. Thanks, you guys.

Most importantly, though, I realized that I'm definitely on the right track. I'm applying to grad schools right now, and the English programs I've chosen are all early modern, with a focus on Shakespeare. I want to keep doing research like this - looking closely at a text that I love and finding out more about it - for as long as I can. If anything, I've fallen more in love with Shakespeare and Richard II than I was when I started this project. My friends may groan when I mention something that starts with "fun fact" and ends with "Shakespeare" now, but I know that this project has only cemented my love for the Bard.

I'm very glad I've found where I belong.

It's also given me a chance to closely work with the English department. And - let me tell you - this department is fantastic. They don't get nearly enough credit for the work that they do.

I could go on and on with the stories I have about these intrepid men and women, but I'll try and focus.

Working with these people has made me realize just how little I really know about books and literature. But it's also made me realize how great they are. I can walk into someone's office (literally anyone's, their doors are always open) with a question about theory or books or Star Wars or cats and it can lead to an amazing conversation. These people have seen me at my best and my worst, and aren't afraid to tell it to me like it is when it needs to be said. I've had profs come and support me in my extracurricular endeavors, but also remind me when it was time to step back and take a break from life.

In my desire to become a professor myself, I could not have asked for better examples. I have been blest to learn from the very best.

So, as I wrap up the final edits on my seminar paper, I am able to look back on the experiences of this past semester (and all four years of English literature classes) and turn toward the future with a straight back and a confident smile.

Onward to history seminar.

Expecting Too Much: Or, Why I Have an Issue with College Board's 101 Books to Read Before College

Earlier this morning, I discovered a list made by the College Board of 101 books that college-bound freshmen should have read before attending their first day of school. I went through the list, thinking that it wouldn't be too bad - especially since, as an English major, I would most likely have read a majority, if not all of, the list.

I was wrong.

Of the 101 books, I have only read 52. And of those 52, 11 were books that I did not read until college - and I attended an incredibly progressive high school and read outside of class. So that was an issue for me. 

Other issues were their selections. No high school student is going to willingly pick up War and Peace or Moby-Dick, even for class. I read both of them - the former in high school and the latter over the summer between my freshman and sophomore year of college - because I enjoy pushing myself. Even then, War and Peace still took me a year and a half to complete with my other reading, because I read it outside of class. And I only finished Moby-Dick because I was halfway through and didn't want to give up on it.

I also have yet to see a high school student who has picked up Faulkner for fun, much less two of his novels (and there are very few English student who would do so, as well).

Many of the books on this list are supposed to promote diversity and open up readers' eyes to the world around them. I don't have an issue with that - I think that's a wonderful idea. What I do take issue with is that not a single book on this list has been published recently. There are certain books that have been published in the last 15-20 years that are considered modern classics - and yet the most recent work on the list is probably from the 1970s or 1980s. It would be amazing to see the addition of a novel such as The Secret History or American Gods to this list. It certainly isn't one that shies from difficult topics - it includes books on slavery, femininity, and war, among other topics. These books all raise questions that make readers think - so why not include thinking questions from modern authors, too?

I have no issue with the concept of recommended reading lists for incoming college students - in fact,there is one on this blog that I have composed. But I think, for the sake of those students, they should be composed with the student in mind - with keeping them engaged in their reading and focusing on the world around the student, and making the pedigree of the reading list to a minimum. 

You can find the College Board's list here: http://www.uhlibrary.net/pdf/college_board_recommended_books.pdf

You can find my post about recommended summer reading here: http://wateryink.blogspot.com/2015/07/a-summer-reading-list-for-rising.html

The Great Russian Readthrough

Hello, readers!

I realize it has been a few months since I have posted here, so I wanted to give you an update on what I've been reading.

For the next semester, I am doing an independent study of Russian Literature, which I have designed to cover everything from the 19th century Golden Age (think Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and the other greats) to the 21st. The purpose of this span is not only to give me the chance to read more Russian lit (which, I confess, while incredibly strange, is something that I've wanted to do for ages), but to see how Russian history has affected what Russian authors write about. Specifically, I'm interested to see whether Soviet control of propaganda and other information which was released to the public caused authors to cloak their critiques of the government in historical events.

In order to get through everything that I will be reading this semester in a timely manner, I've set up a reading schedule over the summer so that I can read each book and take notes before the school year starts.

Here's a taste of what I'm going to be reading:

1. Eugene Onegin - Alexander Pushkin
2. Notes from Underground - Fydor Dostoevsky
3. Demons: A Novel in Three Parts - Fydor Dostoevsky
4. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
5. The Cherry Orchard - Anton Chekov
6. And Quiet Flows the Don - Mikhail Sholokhov
7. Life and Fate - Vassily Grossman
8. Siberia - Nikolai Maslov
9. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich - Alexander Solzhenitsyn
10. The Master and Margarita - Mikhail Bulgakov
11. The Funeral Party - Lyudmila Ulitskaya
12. Selected Poems - Marina Tsvetayeva
13. The Day of the Oprichnik - Vladimir Sorokin

I've already finished the first three, and I'm almost done with Anna Karenina, so I feel like I'm doing well. The only one that I'm worried about getting stuck in is Life and Fate, because it's almost as long as War and Peace (you can see that it is noticeably absent from this list - there's a reason for that). I'm really excited for discussion with these works, though.

Of the three that I've finished, I surprisingly most enjoyed Eugene Onegin. I don't usually like poetry, especially extended poems, but I couldn't put the work down. I understood the characters so well, and felt like they were human and fleshed out. By comparison, I felt like Dostoevsky's characters were too bogged down in philosophizing and passing on religion to be fully formed. And at least one of the characters in each novel has to be insane, apparently (this is a running theme I'm noticing, having found it in The Brothers Karamazov and in Crime and Punishment as well). 

Anna Karenina is interesting, in that so far (at least) it does not have nearly the level of political commentary that its companions have had. It is solely a social commentary. If anything, what it does the most is reveal the position of women in Russian society in the 19th century, through four different female characters. As I finish reading, I might keep pondering this viewpoint (maybe it could be a good paper topic!).

That's it for now - I look forward to updating you all with more about the Great Russian Readthrough! 

Happy summer reading, everyone!

So Many Books, So Little Time

I realize that I haven't posted in a while (okay, almost forever), but with classes going on, it's hard to get time to write about what I'm reading!

I've been mostly reading books for classes, but many of them are new reads for me - and ones that I'm really enjoying.

To give you a brief rundown of what I've been reading, I will go class by class. Each book will receive a brief summary, or a note that it is a reread (which it is, in the case of some of them). With those that are rereads, I will not be reviewing them, as they do not apply towards this project - but feel free to ask my opinions in the comments!

Here we go...

Absolutism and Enlightenment

This is a class that I took my freshman year, and so I'm sitting in on it this year as a way to determine what I want to do in grad school, and also because I missed having a class with my advisor. Part of the deal was that I would do the out of class reading and participate in discussion - so here is what we have been reading:

The Devils of Loudun - Aldous Huxley

This history book, written in a novelistic style, tells the story of a Jesuit priest in the village of Loudun in France who was arrested on charges of witchcraft. His trial pulled in not only his small village and their issues with Huguenot and Catholic tension, but also Cardinal Richelieu, and the event was blown into one of mass hysteria. Eventually, the man was executed and one of the nuns who accused him became a wandering visionary. It's a fascinating look at the period - and a book that we had not used in the class before.

The movie version, The Devils, is a pass - it does its best to make the story much more sensational than it even needs to be. It's already quite a sensational story as it is.

If you're interested in Church/state relationships, absolutist France, witchcraft, or mysticism, I highly recommend this.

The other books that we've been reading this semester are all rereads for me - Vermeer's Hat, The Affair of the Poisons, and Candide. I still love all of these, and loved having the chance to crack them open again.

Colonial Latin America

This class has focused on the history of Latin America - mainly modern-day Mexico, Peru, and Brazil - and the way in which life changed forever when the Spanish and Portuguese arrived. It traces interactions between native peoples and the Iberian invaders until the independence movement in Mexico. We have used three main books, but the only one which has been read in full is the following:

Victors and Vanquished: Spanish and Nahua Views of the Conquest of Mexico - Stuart B. Schwartz

As the title says, this book deals with the interactions between the native people of Mexico - called variously Mexica and Nahua by the text - and the Spanish. It is a compilation of primary source documents from both sides, with summaries of events at the beginning of each chapter.

Having never studied colonial Latin America in depth like this before, I found this book fascinating. The Mexica perspective was incredibly interesting to me, because it was occasionally filtered through the translation work of Franciscan friars - which makes me question how much of a spin the friars may have put on the documents. This book was incredibly enlightening for me, however, as it opened my eyes up to the other narrative that is so often overlooked in Euro-centric studies of the Age of Colonialism.

If you're interested in the Conquest of Mexico, the Spanish Empire, Aztec traditions, or the history of Latin America, I highly recommend.

British Literature from 1789 to the Present

The class is pretty much as the title says: we're doing a survey of British Lit from 1789 - the year of the French Revolution and the beginning of the modern period - to the current era. Much of the work we have read has been poetry or small essays by authors compiled within the Masters of British Literature collection. We have also read Persuasion and Jane Eyre, both rereads for me. However, our most modern novel is the following:

The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro

Ishiguro's Booker Prize winning novel deals with a butler in the 1950s as he drives to see a former co-worker and copes with his memories of his former master, a Nazi sympathizer whose home was the site of many important events during the Long Weekend between the World Wars. The novel is a reflection on memory, on duty and greatness, on what it means to be British, and on life.

And I could not love it.

I tried, I really did. But the narrator, Stevens, is so heartlessly tied to his job that he carelessly tosses out information as if it were a small matter. His inability to react at key moments made me hate him. I could not, for the life of me, find sympathy for him, in any way, shape, or form - and this made reading the novel an unbearable slog.

I really loved Never Let Me Go, and, while I had some reservations about it, I enjoyed The Buried Giant. But, even if you are a rabid Downton Abbey fan (and, for the most part, I am), I would not read this novel.

Fantasy Literature

Here is where most of my reading has been coming from this semester. Two of these are rereads - American Gods and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, both of which are tried and true favorites. Two volumes we read selections from - After the Quake and Dreams Underfoot. But three have been new for me.

Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights - Salman Rushdie

I must confess that I have never before read a Rushdie novel. I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I started reading. And I must say, a jinnia in love with a philosopher, a magical storm overtaking New York, a Candide-esque gardener and a Lady Philosopher were not what I was expecting.

The novel took a good while to pick up, but once it would start, it would cycle off-topic once again. If you are familiar with the 1000 and 1 Nights, which this novel is mirroring, then this should make sense - but if you are not, this is confusing and can make for a very difficult read.

I enjoyed sections of this novel, but I'm not sure I'd pick it back up just for fun. If you're a fan of Rushdie's writing, then I'd suggest it. Otherwise, I'd pass this one by.

A Game of Thrones - George R.R. Martin

I finally get all the hype.

If you aren't familiar with Game of Thrones by this point, I'm not sure how. It's been everywhere almost, since its arrival on HBO. The first novel pretty much covers the events of the first season - up to the death of Ned Stark and the birth of Khaleesi's dragons.

I think I fell in love mostly with Martin's writing style. He writes the best food scenes since Redwall - I think most of my notes were about how I would willingly move to Westeros just for the food alone! I was also looking for hints of the War of the Roses, which he has said on multiple occasions was the inspiration and basis for the series. While I have guesses, I don't want to reveal them too early...there is a decent chance that I'm wrong.

If you like high fantasy, read this one. Trust me.

And then read The Kingkiller Chronicles, because it doesn't get enough praise.

The Bone Clocks - David Mitchell

This. Book.

I loved Cloud Atlas, and so seeing a novel with a similar set-up was exciting. Six sections, all interconnected because of the presence of one woman: Holly Sykes. Holly opens the novel, introducing us to her life, with The Radio People, her strange younger brother, Jacko, and the actions that she took after one fight with her mother that change the lives of everyone in her family forever.

I was hooked - right up until the last section. Holly returned as narrator for the final section, in a post-apocalyptic wasteland of Ireland where she is a grandmother. It almost felt as if the author had lost Holly's voice in the midst of his writing about her from others' perspectives, and I didn't quite find the ending believable.

Despite the ending, I highly recommend this novel and Cloud Atlas. Both will have you on the edge of your seat.

Civil War and Reconstruction

Last but not least come the books I've been reading for Civil War and Reconstruction. We have been using selections from This Mighty Scourge, along with the following:

This Great Struggle: America's Civil War - Steven E. Woodworth

This is an easy-to-follow, step-by-step account of the Civil War, from before the war to after. For the most part, it is relatively easy to read. The only exceptions are during battles, at which point Woodworth becomes burdened with military lingo that may not be easily understood by the average reader.

I think this is a very succinct look at the war, and I have greatly enjoyed reading it. For those interested in an overview of the whole war, this is an excellent choice.

The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery - Eric Foner

I am not terribly fond of Eric Foner's academic writing, which I knew going into this book, and was hoping that a full-length book would be different. My other issue with this book is its focus: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery. There is only so much paper that can be devoted to the fact that Lincoln didn't have a defined plan until the end of the war, and then he was shot.

But Foner manages.

Sometimes, this book is interesting - such as Lincoln's obsession with the policies of Henry Clay (he called him the "beau ideal of a statesman") and the treatment of escaped slaves prior to the Emancipation Proclamation. But it is poorly divided, with chapters that never seem to end and a topic that, while important to study, could have been managed in a better way.

I understand that, for the purposes of this class, looking at the treatment of African-Americans was key. However, I would have liked to look at African-Americans in the war, rather than just slavery overall. Something focusing on the 54th Massachusetts, for instance, would have been interesting, or one of the contraband units formed throughout the South.

If you are interested in Lincoln and his work with the anti-slavery movement (or, depending on the period, his lack of work), then this is the book for you. If you're looking for a biography of Lincoln, then look elsewhere - this is a very narrow lens on Lincoln's political life.

The Killer Angels - Michael Shaara

This novel tells the story of the Battle of Gettysburg from the viewpoints of the men who were there - Lee, Longstreet, Chamberlain, and others. It not only gives readers a first-hand account of the battle, but elicits sympathy for both sides and what occurred.

I loved this book. By the end, I just wanted to give Robert E. Lee a hug - he was so depressed and just wanted to go home and play with his grandchildren. I do think this novel takes advantage of its first person narrative to tug at the reader's heartstrings, however, and so is not as accurate as a history book could be.

That being said, if you like novels about military events or the Civil War, this is the great Civil War novel. Definitely pick this one up.

A Year in the South, 1865: The True Story of Four Ordinary People Who Lived Through the Most Tumultuous Twelve Months in American History - Stephen V. Ash

This book is a form of bottom-up history - looking at the lives of average people instead of the big names. And it is fascinating.

It follows four people - a slave, a Virginia war widow, a paroled Confederate soldier, and a preacher living on a  plantation - who lived across the Confederacy in 1865, tracking their lives and how they survived the end of the war and the beginning of Reconstruction. It does a good job of using primary sources and explaining exactly what situations in each area were at the period. The prose is engaging, and the stories are incredibly human.

This is a must-read to understand Southern life after the end of the Civil War if you are interested in the period.

Outside of Class

Of course I've been reading outside of class! I've read two novels in my free time, Carry On and Gray, both of which were excellent. I'm also still working my way through Alexander Hamilton, which is as fascinating as ever.

That's a lot of reviews, so I hope you enjoyed them! Let me know if you have any questions in the comments!

First Books of the Year

It's only been seven days of 2016, and I've already finished two books and am working on a third.

The book that I'm working on is Ron Chernow's Hamilton biography. After spending my whole semester with Hamilton: An American Musical on repeat, I felt it was only fitting to read the book it was based on (especially since it's been sitting on my bookshelf unread for years). And so far, it's been fascinating - although I have gotten bogged down in a lot of banking and economic terminology that isn't exactly the most exciting of reading.

The two books that I've finished are Shadow and Bone, by Leigh Bardugo, and Landline, by Rainbow Rowell. From this point on, please be warned: I will be discussing the whole novel, so spoilers are possible. 

READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Okay, now that that's out of the way...

Shadow and Bone

Leigh Bardugo

The premise of Shadow and Bone is one that has become incredibly familiar - a young girl must save her people from certain disaster, all while being torn between two attractive men. In this case, the girl is Alina Starkov - a mapmaker from the First Army of Ravka, a country literally torn in two by the Shadow Fold, an area of darkness so deep that those who wander in don't see the creatures who kill them until it's too late. After saving her regiment's skiff from destruction in the Shadow Fold, it is revealed that Alina is actually a Grisha, one of the upper echelon of society who have magical abilities. Not only is Alina a Grisha, but she is the long-awaited Sun Summoner - the one who can remove the Shadow Fold.

Reading the novel was, as I read it, fascinated by the story and the characters. Everything kept me pulled in and I could not put the book down.

Looking back on the novel, there were two major issues for me that would keep me from buying this or rereading it. The first was the unmasked use of Russian culture; the second, the lack of character development.

First, the novel is set in Ravka, which is practically a fictional version of Tsarist Russia. A building is described as having onion domes (a distinctly Eastern European and Asian trait often seen in Russian architecture); characters fear being sent off to a Siberia-esque area called Tsibeya, where people live in work and prison camps; and a shadowy priest hides beside the throne, echoing Rasputin, the monk who befriended Nicholas II and Alexandra. Not only this (and these are only the ones that come to mind), but the names of characters are all incredibly Russian. Take the main character, for instance. Alina Starkov is a Russian name - with the one exception that, if it were truly in Russian, her last name would be Starvoka or Starkovna. This use of Russian culture is so obvious that I can replace Ravka with Russia and the story still makes sense (although the story becomes a strange historical fiction/fantasy amalgam).

Second, the characters are not fully formed. All I really know about Alina is who she is in relation to other characters in the story. There is not a moment where I can fully define Alina as a solid person, her own woman. Instead, she spends the novel divided by her need to help her people and her love for two different men, who are just as caricatured as she is. Her childhood friend, Mal, is the "nice guy" - always there for her, lovable even though he sleeps around, and the best tracker in Ravka. The Darkling is the dark, mysterious "bad guy" - practically Kylo Ren with a little Mr. Rochester thrown in. Neither of their relationships with Alina is defined enough for me to either get to know them or to really care about them as people.

Overall, I would suggest this novel for people who want a quick, fun read, but aren't interested in a deep, thought-provoking read. Excellent beach reading.

Landline

Rainbow Rowell

Georgie and Neal's marriage is falling to pieces - and it couldn't happen at a worse time, since it's both Christmas and the chance for Georgie's tv show to be picked up by a network. As Neal and their two daughters head off to Nebraska for Christmas without her, Georgie discovers a link to Neal in the past - and her actions might affect what happens with their relationship in the present.

I really loved the use of time travel here - it wasn't actual time travel, but vocal time travel through a telephone. And Georgie was incredibly aware of the repercussions of time travel - there were plenty of sci-fi references to show that she was definitely a nerdy teen growing up. What I enjoyed the most here (and what I found sadly lacking from the first novel) was the character dynamics - between Georgie and Neal, and between Georgie and Seth, her best friend from college. I actually felt chemistry between these characters - they came off of the page and seemed like real, breathing people to me. And for fans of Rowell's novel Fangirl, there's an appearance by some of the novel's characters (I won't say where - I don't want to ruin the surprise!).

I really enjoyed reading Landline - I would recommend it, and any of Rowell's other works, to people looking for strong narrative style and intriguing plots.

Have any thoughts on these books? Ideas on how to improve my reviewing style? Leave me a comment below!

What's Next?

It's almost 2016 - this coming August, it will make two years of blogging here.

So my plan is to continue to blog.

For 2016, one of my resolutions is to complete a reading challenge - something that I attempted to do last year, but failed miserably at, because there were strict guidelines as to what I could and could not read.

This year, my reading challenge is to finish the books that I've already bought. And, for the most part, those are books that are sitting firmly in the nonfiction portion of my bookshelves.

So, in the next few months, expect a resurgence of my Van Gogh biography read through (which I had to put aside while I was in Europe because the book was too large to carry with me); a look at the biography that inspired the hit musical Hamilton; books on the French Revolution and the Glorious Revolution, on witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts and in France, on poets and authors. And also keep an eye out for stories of me reading classic novels, fantasy fiction (this will finally be the year I tackle Game of Thrones), and even some YA classics.

And all of it will be tied up with what I'm doing on campus and what I'm studying in classes.

Fingers crossed that I can keep this up.

Wish me luck!

Happy New Year, readers.

"Sweet Swan of Avon:" Rediscovering Stratford-upon-Avon

After our class trip to Paris was cancelled, I wasn't quite sure what to do with my Thanksgiving break. At first, I toyed with simply staying in Bologna for the weekend, hanging out with my classmates and spending my weekend traveling on day trips to cities in Italy - maybe even making it to Castel del Monte, my great-great-great grandfather's home town. But I realized that I probably wouldn't actually do any of those trips, and I would most likely just stay in my dorm for the entirety of the break - sometimes, I'm just too lazy to actually do anything.

My fears of another attack like the one in Paris also crippled my planning - the US State Department published warnings about Milan and Rome, telling Americans not to go to major sites in either city. And I was talking with my dad while trying to plan what I would do, and mentioned that I was afraid that I would wake up one day and be posting a comment that said, "I can't believe that saw the Duomo in Milan/St. Peter's Basilica/the Colosseum and now it's gone. So heartbreaking." to my Instagram, Facebook, tumblr, and even to this blog. My fears of each trip being my last started to get to me.

Finally, my mom called me and told me that she didn't really care where I went, as long as I went somewhere that wasn't Bologna. And she suggested Dublin. So that started my planning.

Dublin wasn't on my list of places to go, but the UK was - I've been to London before, but I went four years ago, as part of a school trip the summer before my senior year of high school. I've wanted to go back to that part of the world ever since I left.

My plans for Dublin were smashed as soon as I saw just how expensive the hotels were - and that didn't even start on the museums, meals, and flight costs.

So I thought I'd just give up.

And then I remembered my favorite part of my trip to England.

On my previous visit, we had spent a day in Stratford-upon-Avon, the home of William Shakespeare, touring his birthplace and visiting the home of his wife, Anne Hathaway. It was probably my favorite part of our trip - I think that moment, and our tour of the Globe Theatre, cemented my obsession with Shakespeare and his works.

After looking up how to get to Stratford - it's small enough that I couldn't fly directly there, but needed to take a plane to Birmingham and two trains to the center of town - I booked a bed and breakfast, and then began planning the dream trip of a lifetime.

And I was planning to do it alone.

On Thanksgiving, while the rest of my classmates were planning an epic Friendsgiving feast and playing football in the quad at Camplus, I was waiting at the airport in Bologna to print off my boarding passes and board my flight to Munich. Once in Munich, I had to pass through German customs (which earned me my first real stamp on my passport since I went through customs in Amsterdam on arriving in Europe in September), and then passed four and a half hours wandering the gates, eating lunch, and charging my phone. I then flew from Munich to Birmingham, England. When I landed in Birmingham, it was only 4:45 local time, but it was already completely black outside - something that I hadn't been prepared for.

After pulling some pounds from a machine (gotta love different monetary systems), I went to the train station via a quick inter station train between the airport and the train station. After talking to the gentleman at the counter, I bought tickets for my journey to and from Stratford, and then caught my first train, which took me to Leamington Spa. There, I bought a sandwich and some tea, and waited for my second train to come into the station.

Leamington Spa Station

Once I arrived in Stratford, I realized that the way that I had planned on walking to the station was blocked off by construction, so I looked for a taxi stand in order to get to my B&B. However, I saw no posted signs for a taxi stand, and so I had to look for a local to ask for directions. I stopped a woman who was walking up to catch a train, and asked if she knew of a taxi stand nearby. She stopped, thought about it, and handed me a card with a taxi company's phone number on it, and told me that she was going to go buy her ticket, but she would wait for me to get a cab before she left. It took calling four taxi companies, but I finally wound up with a cab, and only a 10-15 minute wait. The woman - whose name I never caught, but to whom I am eternally grateful - had to catch her train, but left me the card for future emergencies.

After my cab picked me up from the train station, I walked into the B&B and was taken up to my room. I had booked a single with private bath, and so was expecting a twin bed and a tiny little bathroom. What I got was a large, double bed, with a small but clean bathroom, and a beautiful view of Stratford. After a quick chat with my family to wish them a happy Thanksgiving and tell them that I had made it safe, I curled up in bed and went to sleep.

My first day in Stratford I spent visiting properties owned by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. My day started at 8 AM with an English breakfast at my B&B, and I left at 9:15 to walk from the B&B to the town center. The walk was much shorter than I had expected - and my first visit, to the Shakespeare Birthplace, wasn't until 10 - so I wandered down one of the streets. As I walked, I found a bookstore, Waterstones, and popped in for a bit, to warm up and kill some time.

Waterstones is basically the British version of Barnes and Noble. However, they carry literally every special edition of every classic novel ever written - and in Stratford, they have an entire shelving unit devoted to William Shakespeare. As soon as I walked in, I spotted a pile of beautifully bound classics - one of which was Pride and Prejudice. The sign on the table said that the books were limited edition releases by Penguin for this Christmas, and only available at Waterstones.

Needless to say, I picked up a copy. What better way to memorialize a trip to the UK than Jane Austen?

I wandered upstairs and looked through the history and biography sections (sadly lacking in American history - and it was quite strange to see British history merely labeled "history"), and spent some time looking at different editions of the Complete Works of William Shakespeare and individual plays. On my way back down, I spotted a tote bag that said "I Love Darcy" and snagged it - if I was going to buy something Austen, I might as well go all the way.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that an Austenite in search of Pride and Prejudice will always find more Pride and Prejudice things.

As I was checking out, my cashier remarked that she didn't even know that they carried that tote bag, and seeing it made her really want one. She also said that the Penguin editions were just absolutely gorgeous, and she had one also. She then pointed out the correct direction to the Birthplace, and I headed towards my first Shakespeare stop for the day.

The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust runs seven buildings in Stratford-upon-Avon. Five are within the town itself - the Birthplace, Harvard House, Hall's Croft,  and New Place and Nash's House. The others are outside of town - Anne Hathaway's Cottage, a 30 minute walk outside of town, and Mary Arden's Farm, two train stops away. New Place and Nash's House are being restored currently, and will reopen in the spring, and so Harvard House, which is not normally open, was open during my visit.

The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust

"And there is pansies, that's for thoughts." - Hamlet IV.v

The Shakespeare Birthplace

After purchasing my entrance ticket, I wandered through the brief Shakespeare exhibit the Birthplace Trust had out, and then entered the Birthplace - one of the first people to do so for the day. The rooms were exactly how I had remembered them from my visit four years before - but this time, I was able to spend as much time as I wanted to wandering and listening to the speakers. I learned about the obsession with long fingers on gloves in Tudor England, and the reason why boys were dressed in dresses until they turned 8. I also was told that new scholarship is suggesting that Shakespeare visited London on business for his father's glove making shop during his lost years, and wound up as a patron of a group of players before he joined the Lord Chamberlain's men. Finally, I walked into the last room of the house, and learned what happened after John Shakespeare, William's father, died.

Constantly leaving their mark on history - visitors used to carve their names into the windows (Henry Irving is the signature on the top left of the center pane)

Once his father died, Shakespeare no longer needed his childhood home - he had already purchased New Place, the nicest house in the town, for his own family. Instead, Shakespeare expanded the house, and turned most of it into a tavern. The tavern remained open until the 1700s, when its last owner died, and no one purchased the tavern. The building was closed, and lay in disarray until rumors came about that P.T. Barnum wanted to buy the house, ship it to the States, and make it part of his circus. Charles Dickens was having none of that, and so he put on productions of Shakespeare's plays in London, with the money going to the purchase of the Birthplace and the foundation of the organization today known as the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.

Inside the room were the in-house players, who offered to perform bits of Shakespeare's plays by request. One woman requested Antony and Cleopatra, and so I was privy to a performance of part of Cleopatra's death soliloquy:

"Give me my robe, put on my crown; I have

Immortal longings in me: now no more

The juice of Egypt's grape shall moist this lip:

Yare, yare, good Iras; quick. Methinks I hear

Antony call; I see him rouse himself

To praise my noble act; I hear him mock

The luck of Caesar, which the gods give men

To excuse after their wrath: husband, I come:

Now to that name my courage prove my title!

I am fire and air; my other elements 

I give to baser life. So; have you done?

Come then, and take the last warmth of my lips.

Farewell, kind Charmian; Iras, long farewell."

 - Antony and Cleopatra, V.ii

After which point, Iras suddenly drops dead (as our actress noted), and the scene gets much harder to perform. I then requested Richard II, and got to see and hear part of my favorite Shakespeare soliloquy (which she admitted that she had only just started learning, but she would try, since I asked):

"No matter where; of comfort no man speak:

Let's talk of graves, of worms, and epitaphs;

Make dust our paper and with rainy eyes

Write sorrow on the bosom of the earth.

Let's choose executors and talk of wills:
And yet not so, for what can we bequeath
Save our deposed bodies to the ground?

Our lands, our lives and all are Bolingbroke's,
And nothing can we call our own but death
And that small model of the barren earth
Which serves as paste and cover to our bones.

For God's sake, let us sit upon the ground
And tell sad stories of the death of kings;
How some have been deposed; some slain in war,
Some haunted by the ghosts they have deposed;

Some poison'd by their wives: some sleeping kill'd;
All murder'd: for within the hollow crown

That rounds the mortal temples of a king
Keeps Death his court and there the antic sits,
Scoffing his state and grinning at his pomp,
Allowing him a breath, a little scene,
To monarchize, be fear'd and kill with looks,
Infusing him with self and vain conceit,

As if this flesh which walls about our life,
Were brass impregnable, and humor'd thus
Comes at the last and with a little pin
Bores through his castle wall, and farewell king!"
 - Richard II III.ii

At which point she said that she couldn't remember any more (it is rather a long soliloquy, and not an easy one) - but for a moment, I got to hear a speech that most people don't perform in the States, and done well.

It was a highlight of my day.

From the Birthplace (and its gift shop - the most wonderful shop in the world), I went into Starbucks and then to Harvard House. The house belonged to Thomas Rogers, a successful member of Stratford society. His daughter Katherine married Robert Harvard; their son John moved to Massachusetts with his wife and became the namesake and founder of Harvard University. The house belongs to Harvard University, and is cared for by the Birthplace Trust. 

Harvard House

So many tiny stairs, so little time for me to trip and bump my head

It is a small house, and not designed for tall people to walk through - I managed to bump my head twice on the way down and trip over my feet on the stairs. But the family was definitely wealthy - they had painted their walls and had stained glass in one of their windows. There were also Lancaster roses around the house, which I found particularly interesting, given the location of the town near Warwick - a stronghold of Yorkist support during the Wars of the Roses. 

Original painted walls in Harvard House

Stained glass windows

Harvard House's staff were especially excited to see an American tourist, and so we talked about Thanksgiving (which they had hosted the day before) and where I was from. I then walked on to Hall's Croft.

Hall's Croft was the home of Shakespeare's eldest daughter, Susannah, and her husband, Dr. John Hall. Susannah was the only one of Shakespeare's children to have a child who married - her first son-in-law, Thomas Nash, is buried in the family crypt in Trinity Church. The house is incredibly spacious, with high ceilings and large fireplaces. The Halls also had a large garden behind their house. Dr. Hall practiced medicine from their home, and earned enough money to purchase several paintings - both portraits and still lifes (although whether these images are from the Halls' time in the house or the time of those after, I'm not quite sure). Also on display was an exhibit on Shakespeare, Stratford, and the First World War - this is the second year of the 100th anniversary of World War I, and so the exhibit was appropriate.

Dining room in Hall's Croft

Dr. Hall's medical practice 

A view to the garden outside

After a full morning, I stopped for cream tea at the cafe downstairs, and had a pot of English Breakfast and a scone with clotted cream and strawberry preserves. It was absolutely delicious, and just what I needed to pick me up before I stopped for my last planned visit of the day - Trinity Church, the site of Shakespeare's grave.

Lesson learned: I'm not allowed near clotted cream...

I had seen the gravesite before, of course - but I had been sped past it last time, in order to get back on the bus. This time, I walked in, taking copious pictures of everything. Even after two minutes of pictures, I still managed to have enough time to stand alone in front of Shakespeare's tomb and talk to it.

Trinity Church 

The entrance to Shakespeare's grave 

"Good friend for Jesus' sake forbear
To dig the dust enclosed here.
Blest be he that spares these stones,
And curst be he that moves my bones." 

A memorial to Shakespeare designed by his friends and family in 1623

The Shakespeare family graves

It might seem a little weird, talking to the grave of a long-dead poet. But without this poet, I've realized, a lot of what I love - the words that I enjoy working with so much, the books I love to read - they wouldn't be here. And so I stood there quoting from Shakespeare's plays to him for five minutes, and almost started on Ben Jonson's poem, before realizing that bidding a 400 year old corpse to rise was probably a bad idea. Instead, standing there, I began to tear up, and, softly, I murmured, "Thank you. For everything."

As I was walking out (and trying not to cry - it was kind of a big deal), I asked the woman at the ticket desk about the history of the church. We wound up having a chat for 10 minutes about the church's history, the formation of Anglicanism and Cromwell's effect on churches in England, and another church in Stratford that she suggested I visit (since I'm studying history and English). I really enjoyed her chat - and I'm also grateful that she didn't judge me in the least for asking questions about her history, her church, or area. Thank you.

"For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
 When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
 Must give us pause." - Hamlet III.i

I wound up walking back towards that second church, the Guild Chapel, but it was locked - it contains partial frescoes preserved from Cromwell's attacks on churches. Trying to kill some more time - I was getting tired, but it was only 3:15, and I had at least another 45 minutes before the sun went down - I walked into a local bookstore called the Chaucer's Head. There, of all places, I found a book on Robespierre and the French Revolution (which I believe is out of print in the States). After purchasing the book, I walked to a Costa Coffee, bought a sandwich and a tea, and walked to my B&B for the evening.

The next day (after another English breakfast), I walked to the Royal Shakespeare Company, on the banks of the River Avon. I've been dreaming about seeing a show at the RSC since I was in high school - and this trip, I booked a ticket to their matinee performance of Wendy and Peter Pan. I also had booked a backstage tour of the theatre (since I've seen the backstage areas of the National Theatre in London, I felt it was only right that I should do a similar tour here, as well). 

The River Avon

I got to the theatre early (surprise surprise), and so I walked along the banks of the Avon, taking pictures of the swans and the RSC. Once I picked up my tickets, I waited for my tour inside the area just outside of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre - and was greeted by a large production photo of David Tennant (my favorite Doctor from Doctor Who) in his production of Richard II. 

Immediately, I felt at home.

They wouldn't let me take pictures inside for copyright reasons, so I took a photo of my ticket instead

My tour group was very small - just myself, the tour guide, and a married couple who had come because they had seen lots of shows from the RSC but never been on a tour before. I got to see the quick change areas (apparently, to keep the audience from hearing them, all quick change costumes are done with magnets - something I'd never considered before) and the back of the stage, where they were keeping the Jolly Roger for the matinee production. The original stage of the RSC Theatre was built in 1932 to house 1,000 people - but in the 1950s, it was expanded to hold 1,500. The stage was a traditional proscenium arch, behind which all the action took place. The new stage, built in 2007 and opened in 2010, is a thrust stage, maintaining the proscenium arch, but putting the action before it. Each production has a different stage, to accommodate the sets and entrances from underneath. It can now seat 1,045 people. 

From the RSC Theatre, we walked upstairs to the dressing rooms and the laundry, where costumes are kept. Every piece of fabric that touches the skin must be washed after each show - that means after the matinee and before the evening show, each actor's costume is cleaned. 

From there, we entered the Swan Theatre. The Swan is on the site of the original theatre built by Charles Flower, a brewer in Stratford who was determined to give Shakespeare a memorial in his hometown. The original building burned down to the ground in the 1920s in a mysterious fire that was spotted by locals at the Black Swan/Dirty Duck Pub down the road (which has delicious food - it's the place I ate at when I was in town four years before). The site was refurbished as a practice space, but eventually the company needed a second stage. The money for the project came from a Kansas billionaire, and the theatre opened in the 1980s. The exterior of the stage is currently undergoing restoration.

From the Swan, we walked into the light and sound booth, and then to the Rooftop restaurant, where we saw just how far back the furthest row of seats were from the stage in the original RSC Theatre - 25 meters from center stage to the back row.

"...can this cockpit hold
The vasty fields of France? or may we cram
Within this wooden O the very casques
That did affright the air at Agincourt?" - Henry V I.i

After the end of my tour, I walked into the gift shop to pick up gifts and souvenirs, and then to the cafe to grab a quick bite before my show began. 

Wendy and Peter Pan was amazing - the acting was spectacular, the sets were gorgeous, and I desperately want to wear the costumes. If anything, I wish that the show had been done with actual child actors, instead of actors my age playing Wendy and Peter and the Darling children. But the best part of the show was by far the Crocodile. He came out in a long, green leather trench coat, a Doctor Who scarf, and a top hat, and then slid into a split and crawled across the stage, moving his hips completely around and pulling himself forward. The terrifying cat's eye contact lenses and the bone-cracking noises playing as he moved didn't help to make him less scary. Although he had no lines, he perfectly embodied his character, and I was enthralled whenever he was on stage.

From the show, I left to stop by Starbucks for a hot chocolate and a sandwich, and picked up a last minute book on Shakespeare from Waterstones, before heading back to my B&B in the rain. Once I dried off, I packed up for the next morning, checked into my flights, and looked at the train schedule.

After catching my trains and my flight, I landed in Frankfurt and had another four and a half hour layover, spent much the same way. Once I got back to Bologna and my dorm, I was incredibly grateful to be back - and also sad that I couldn't stay longer.

I've never been somewhere where everyone was so friendly and ready to help me. All of the people that I stopped and talked to were incredibly cheerful and nice, and were willing to give me advice (and I was even mistaken for Canadian, which was a welcome surprise). I could definitely see myself living in a place like Stratford - maybe even in Stratford, if I had the chance.

Most importantly, I had the chance to relax before exams and get away from daily life. 

So thank you, Stratford, for one of the best experiences of my life. I can't wait to come back.

"Soul of the age!
The applause, delight, the wonder of our stage!
My Shakespeare, rise!"
 - Ben Jonson, "To the Memory of My Beloved the Author, Mr. William Shakespeare"