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logicsmessystudy's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
4.0
lillanaa's review against another edition
3.0
The only thing I feel now is "huh." Because this is the biggest slog I've ever read, and even being interested and invested in the mythos wasn't enough to keep me from picking up and putting it down constantly. This took me a solid two months, and it wasn't even the language that was the problem. There's... Not a lot that actually happens here, other than fight scenes and people roaming around on horses, which I guess is fine? I've read other books about Arthurian mythos before, Gawain and the Green Knight is by far one of my favourite things on the planet, but this? This is impossible to get through and almost every book boils down to "x person went to x place and did some Knightly Things and then went home either fine or stabbed". I understand the historical and mythological importance here, but I would recommend reading something more abridged or watching videos over picking this up.
stephilica's review against another edition
This was a lovely experience. The antiquated language and formatting, especially conventions for paragraphs and dialogue, required some adjustment, but once that was out of the way, the book was a romp. There's so much (petty) humor interspersed with frequent battles and speechifying. The thematic thread holding it all together is a great summary of the views of the time towards Courtly Love and "paramour-ism." In a subversive approach, Mallory sets up a world of knights operating on a rather selfish and lustful interpretation of chivalry, winning worldly acclaim, only to have the same be Camelot's Achilles' heel. This is best exemplified by Lancelot,
While some choices of focus felt a bit odd (tournaments lasted forever, and Tristan and Isold had quite a bit of page time for characters who), I really enjoyed this. The characters were different but nostalgic, and there are a few chillingly beautiful passages to be found.
A note on editions: I alternated between the Leatherbound Classics edition, which has lovely woodprint art, and the public domain Kindle edition. While the leatherbound is superior in reading experience and presentation, the Kindle edition has a neat glossary of older terms and their modern counterparts, which is sometimes useful for the odd word that was used way back when but meant something rather different than it does now.
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both in his failure to obtain the Grail and his (in?)direct role in Arthur's fall.While some choices of focus felt a bit odd (tournaments lasted forever, and Tristan and Isold had quite a bit of page time for characters who
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died off screenA note on editions: I alternated between the Leatherbound Classics edition, which has lovely woodprint art, and the public domain Kindle edition. While the leatherbound is superior in reading experience and presentation, the Kindle edition has a neat glossary of older terms and their modern counterparts, which is sometimes useful for the odd word that was used way back when but meant something rather different than it does now.
bryonyindecisivereader's review against another edition
Despite being 38 hours long, it felt like nothing happened. Each chapter was about 6 minutes long and followed so many small characters that I just lost track of who everyone was. It was like background noise, I didn’t pay attention to the story.
And Arthur pulled the sword out of the stone before the 2 hour mark - I thought that was the story!
And Arthur pulled the sword out of the stone before the 2 hour mark - I thought that was the story!
anthonysimon99's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
diesmali's review against another edition
This reads more like a complete, and completely dry, history of King Arthur and the knights of the round table. Thankfully it is without dates and years.
Read the book if you want the complete history, but don't expect a story... it's more like an endless string of episodic events. They do belong on a string, at least.
The language is not for the novice of the English language as it is dated in the 15th century.
Read the book if you want the complete history, but don't expect a story... it's more like an endless string of episodic events. They do belong on a string, at least.
The language is not for the novice of the English language as it is dated in the 15th century.
tamarabrouwer's review against another edition
I'm not rating this book, because I wouldn't know how to. If it would've been a novel it would receive 1-2 stars. If only for the horrible amount of enumerations. What a drag that was. The light of most of this book was Morgan Le Fey. She makes things interesting. As were the last 4 chapters.
If it would've been a non fiction, I would've rated it higher.
But it isn't that easily categorised, and so I'll say this about my reading experience:
I'm glad I've read this source material. I think it will be very useful while reading other Arthurian tales/novels.
I also enjoyed recognising many things from fairy tales growing up. And it doesn't surprise me that this work ended up being the inspiration for so many wonderful stories. Because although the writing style is extremely tedious and sleep inducing, it's content certainly isn't.
If it would've been a non fiction, I would've rated it higher.
But it isn't that easily categorised, and so I'll say this about my reading experience:
I'm glad I've read this source material. I think it will be very useful while reading other Arthurian tales/novels.
I also enjoyed recognising many things from fairy tales growing up. And it doesn't surprise me that this work ended up being the inspiration for so many wonderful stories. Because although the writing style is extremely tedious and sleep inducing, it's content certainly isn't.
lingthebells's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
maxandrambo's review against another edition
3.0
Sweet Jesu, I finished! There is no way I could've slogged my way through an unabridged print version of this. It's mostly joust after ridiculous joust that hardly differ one from the other. Arthur barely figures into the narrative. So why in the name of Jesu did I give it 3 stars? I am generous. Also, this being the audiobook, Derek Jacobi's performance rendered it quite entertaining at times. I did want to mention that I was very pleased to find that with all the swooning going on, it was often the knights, rather than just the ladies and gentlewomen fainting all over the place. Seriously. The brave knights would cry together and then pass out in their grief only to revive and faint again. It pleased me much that this silliness wasn't solely relegated to the "fairer sex".
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