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3.47 AVERAGE
3.47 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I wanted to like this a lot more than I did. The poem was good on a technical level, but the characters were annoying. The best part is when Achilles finally puts Troilus out of his misery.
I not only love this book, but I also love the fact that I've retained the ability to read Middle English (it's been...a few years). Middle English is beautiful in a polysemic way that modern English often isn't (due to nailing down words with standardized spellings and dictionary definitions rather than opening them up to more significations, perhaps through the etymological flexibility of Medieval writing).
Interesting, although reading the Middle English version was a bitch.
This was just...painful to get through. A lot of the stuff I've read the last few months is for my honors seminars but this was by far the worst. I was just annoyed, literally the whole time. I guess it was just one of those books that didn't click with me.
I know it is not fair to judge a story from times past by today's standard, nonetheless I had a place in my heart to be understanding towards medieval literature, after enjoying Marie de France's Lays, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and, especially, some of the Canterbury Tales. Because of this, and after thoroughly enjoying what I knew from Chaucer, I had higher expectations for this poem, with the introduction even claiming it to be his best work, after all it was finished!
But I was thoroughly disappointed. I might have lost some of the beauty of the original by reading it in a modern English translation, yet it was not the rhythm and texture of the text that was lacking; that part was rather enjoyable. It was the story and its characters that were hard to swallow.
First of all, Troilus is an insufferable whiny little shrimp, and Pandarus is a disgusting manipulative bastard. I'd be ok with the plot being a little thin and the focus on the characters if it weren't for the fact that most of this character exploration is Troilus sobbing like a little baby and Pandarus devising nastly plans to make Criseyde feel guilty if Troilus dies out of love.
Criseyde is by far the best character, and the only one who is close to having any depth as a real human, with understandable worries and pragmatic behavior in the face of her dire situations. Obviously, she is maligned as the worst woman of the world. I was glad that she left this Troilus, that wimp. Diomede is not a great character, but at least he had way more initiative with Criseyde, and I felt he was more deserving of her love.
Maybe the whole point is that this is a subtle criticism on the obnoxious behavior of this whole courtly love deal, with the senseless secrecy and putting the beloved on a pedestal. Perhaps there's a lot of interesting critiques to be made. Nevertheless, reading the book itself was far from pleasurable.
But I was thoroughly disappointed. I might have lost some of the beauty of the original by reading it in a modern English translation, yet it was not the rhythm and texture of the text that was lacking; that part was rather enjoyable. It was the story and its characters that were hard to swallow.
First of all, Troilus is an insufferable whiny little shrimp, and Pandarus is a disgusting manipulative bastard. I'd be ok with the plot being a little thin and the focus on the characters if it weren't for the fact that most of this character exploration is Troilus sobbing like a little baby and Pandarus devising nastly plans to make Criseyde feel guilty if Troilus dies out of love.
Criseyde is by far the best character, and the only one who is close to having any depth as a real human, with understandable worries and pragmatic behavior in the face of her dire situations. Obviously, she is maligned as the worst woman of the world. I was glad that she left this Troilus, that wimp. Diomede is not a great character, but at least he had way more initiative with Criseyde, and I felt he was more deserving of her love.
Maybe the whole point is that this is a subtle criticism on the obnoxious behavior of this whole courtly love deal, with the senseless secrecy and putting the beloved on a pedestal. Perhaps there's a lot of interesting critiques to be made. Nevertheless, reading the book itself was far from pleasurable.
funny
slow-paced
This Broadview Press edition is fantastic. Original language with notes.
Everything I read about this led to me expect some deep Christian-era-friendly thoughts. This is supposed to be Chaucer's one serious effort at artistry. But this is funny, elegant and funny. The tone is just always playful, as playful as the language. The best character, Pandarus, is a gamer through and through. The game is how to get his niece linked to the number 1 bachelor is Troy. Troilus is ridiculous, spineless and roiling in bed in lovesickness. Criseyde ultimately practical. She's a convincing lover, and this reader was left thinking I never got her right, that it was never clear where her true feelings lay.
Anyway, a book that I paced at 5 or more minutes a page, with pages and pages for a single dialogue from on character. Plot and character are really not the point. Language is. And it's linguistically something to relish and enjoy.
Everything I read about this led to me expect some deep Christian-era-friendly thoughts. This is supposed to be Chaucer's one serious effort at artistry. But this is funny, elegant and funny. The tone is just always playful, as playful as the language. The best character, Pandarus, is a gamer through and through. The game is how to get his niece linked to the number 1 bachelor is Troy. Troilus is ridiculous, spineless and roiling in bed in lovesickness. Criseyde ultimately practical. She's a convincing lover, and this reader was left thinking I never got her right, that it was never clear where her true feelings lay.
Anyway, a book that I paced at 5 or more minutes a page, with pages and pages for a single dialogue from on character. Plot and character are really not the point. Language is. And it's linguistically something to relish and enjoy.
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Read for school. The writing was good, but the characters and their actions were pretty questionable. Criseyde was fine, trying to survive in a time when women didn't have any say in their lives. But her uncle was really creepy and Troilus was a useless man who didn't stop crying and couldn't do anything by himself.
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes