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lukerik's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
3.0
If there’s anything you want to know about Chrétien that is not in this book then there is something seriously wrong with you. Personally, I could have done with a bigger bibliography. The target audience seems to be English speaking students studying Chrétien in Old French. That’s not me, but all French quotations are followed by English translations so it really is accessible to humans.
The opening section is background. Lots of interesting stuff. I could have done with reading this before the romances as I think it would have helped.
Then there are essays on each work. Each has a plot summary for those students who DIDN’T read the book. Some interesting analysis, and picking out those correspondences between episodes that you might miss on a first reading, or in translation. The essay of Perceval is particularly well done.
Finally a section on Chrétien’s influence. I think this’ll have to be my blueprint for my next couple of year’s reading.
Overall, a well done book and well worth looking into if you like this author.
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