King Lear
Shakespeare's Dark Consolations
Will be published approx. on 6. August 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
176 pages
978-0-19-899532-6 (ISBN)
Description
A book on the experience of reading Shakespeare's 'dark plays'.
As part of the My Reading series, King Lear is a personal meditation on a great literary work. Arthur W. Frank brings a career of studying illness and suffering to consider how King Lear can aid people whose lives need help. Reading King Lear leads Frank to an encounter with his own old age and provides a source of consolation and companionship. This book does not try to minimize vulnerabilities, but it shows what is fully human, and thus shared, in suffering. The book introduces readers to King Lear and it invites those who know the play to a new consideration for its ability to affect people's lives.
As part of the My Reading series, King Lear is a personal meditation on a great literary work. Arthur W. Frank brings a career of studying illness and suffering to consider how King Lear can aid people whose lives need help. Reading King Lear leads Frank to an encounter with his own old age and provides a source of consolation and companionship. This book does not try to minimize vulnerabilities, but it shows what is fully human, and thus shared, in suffering. The book introduces readers to King Lear and it invites those who know the play to a new consideration for its ability to affect people's lives.
Reviews / Votes
In the capable hands of Arthur Frank, to read Shakespeare's King Lear turns out to be a matter of care. This is careful reading at its best: attentive, patient and generous. No grand conclusions, but insights that touch the heart and mind. The Shakespearean consolation that the book brings, rings true: not the sugary com fort of false hope, but deep truths of what it means to be human. * Juergen Pieters, Author of Literature and Consolation * Combines perceptive psychological insights with their application to the experience of serious illness ... It is difficult for me to encapsulate the wisdom shared in this thoughtful book in a short review. Read it and enrich your practice. * British Journal of General Practice * Frank takes us slowly and thoughtfully through the whole play, from its calamitous first scenes to its corpse-strewn end-a magical journey that faces horrors but is not cancelled by them. An amazing book. * Michael Wood, Author of Marcel Proust, On Empson, and more *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 138 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-19-899532-6 (9780198995326)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Arthur W. Frank received his doctorate in sociology from Yale in 1975 and spent his career teaching at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. After his retirement in 2013, he taught in Norway; throughout his career he has lectured internationally and held visiting professorships in Australia, England, and Japan. His work has focused on the experience of serious illness, beginning with his memoir, At the Will of the Body, and his most cited work, The Wounded Storyteller. His most recent book was Letting Stories Breathe (2010). He is an elected member of the Royal Society of Canada and recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Canadian Bioethics Society.
Content
Prologue: A Tale of Two Families 1: Vulnerable Reading 2: The Unravelling 3: The Refuge of Second Selves 4: The Lost, the Mad, and the Image of Horror 5: Reconciliations 6: Living With an Unpromised End 7: How King Lear Helps 8: Tragic Sharing Coda: In Place of the Jig Notes Selected Additional Reading Acknowledgements Index