Monday, June 28, 2010

Tamburlaine must die - Louise Welsh

I am on a reading binge at the moment, wanting to read short and easy books. Tamburlaine must die, on face value meets one of these criteria. It is short at 140 pages of story and an extra six of historical background. While it is easy to read, it is not when you are distracted by the tv... note to self turn off tv when concentration is required.

Tamburlaine must die is the story of the last 3 days of Christopher Marlowe's life. He is out of London while it is threatened by plague, but is summons back to face the Privy council, having been betrayed by Thomas
Kyd. He is allowed to go free on what is essentially bail. Marlowe is presented as a bit of an unsavioury character involved with shady characters, drink and sexual exploits.

The writing is at times lyrical, I guess reflecting that it is supposed to be Marlowe's writing. I quite enjoyed the book, but it seemed a bit too short. I wanted to find out more about the world he inhabitited.

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