The book teems with the erudition and wonder that permeates Greenblatt’s Will in the World and The Swerve ... Less a straightforward biography, more an evocation of Marlowe’s milieu, swimming in lush detail, immersing us in England’s social ferment at a hinge moment ... [Greenblatt's] analysis is Shakespearean in spirit, crisp and conversational, tipped with puns and wordplay ... Some of the book’s most vivid chapters chart the artistic collaboration and rivalry between Shakespeare and Marlowe ... A genial tutorial on the vitality of a humanities education ... His generous insights on Marlowe and Shakespeare and their peers are antidotes to our festering obsessions with luxury, technology, and status.
Stephen Greenblatt’s superb skills as a literary historian and critic are thrillingly on display ... Greenblatt does yeoman’s work untangling the backstabbing, dog-eat-dog network of government spies in which it was all too easy to become ensnared ... Oh, to be a student in one of Greenblatt’s Harvard classes! As a scholar, he earns our trust by backing up his bold accolades with the careful research and astute textual analyses for which he is justly celebrated. But then he goes a step further, and admits when he is unable to nail down details with certainty ... With its mix of fastidious scholarship, storytelling chops, and educated guesswork, Dark Renaissance illuminates a cause for celebration in an age of darkness: the daring life and work of Christopher Marlowe. It also brings home the importance of studying history and the humanities, and serves as a potent reminder of the damage wrought by unchecked power and a society in which 'new frontiers of inquiry were kept shut.'
Stephen Greenblatt has the rare ability to write vivid narratives for the general public that rest on firm scholarly foundations ... Greenblatt crafts a brilliant re-creation of the world Marlowe inhabited ... Greenblatt excels at delineating Marlowe’s intellectual and artistic growth ... Greenblatt speculates intriguingly about Marlowe and Shakespeare’s interactions ... Gives a vibrant sense of the very different personalities of two artists ... [A] masterful portrait of a man and an age.
A terrific read. It evokes the fear and danger of late Elizabethan England ... The denouement is as propulsive as that of any spy novel ... A thrilling, twisty tale that brilliantly captures the horror and the possibilities of that lost, crepuscular world.
Mr. Greenblatt tells this murky but exhilarating tale with pace and gusto ... Mr. Greenblatt surveys theories of the slaying but none entirely convince ... Brisk and gripping.
[A] narrative flair is beautifully showcased in Dark Renaissance. Modern parallels and critical insights are carefully and accessibly deployed ... Greenblatt ably synthesizes work on the Elizabethan schoolroom and reimagines Marlowe’s time at the King’s School Canterbury with a striking observation ... [An] interpretation of Gresshop’s library reveals Greenblatt’s distinctive imaginative engagement with known details underplayed by previous biographers ... Detailed, evocative.
Masterfully details who might have had motivation to kill Marlowe ... Greenblatt excels at immersing the reader in that time and place and has an ear for the delectable turn of phrase. The rich historical detail, thriller-like pacing, and an abundance of intrigue keep the pages turning.
Brilliant vignettes of the times in which Marlowe lived ... Greenblatt gives us a vivid capsule account of university life in the 1580s ... Greenblatt is attentive to the literary qualities [of Tamburlaine] that make them still absorbing.
...an expert exploration of the tumultuous world of Elizabethan England, rendered with his signature literary elegance and scholarly depth. The prose is vivid, precise, and immersive, bringing to life both the grandeur and brutality of the era.
