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3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
A feminist retelling of the Arthurian tale that remains one of my all-time favorites. I hesitate to read it again because I don't want to break the spell that it created at a very particular time in my young life.
Boy, have I never been as glad to not especially like a book.
At first this book seemed like a trashy fantasy full of sex, magic and plots. I was okay with that but wasn't sure it would hold my attention for 800+ pages. But then something happened--and while the story didn't lose any of its sex, magic and plots, these took a backseat to a beautifully rendered and imaginative Arthurian setting where no one is all good or all bad and the idealized Arthurian court is revealed to be a much more human gathering of men. Bradley creates women who are strong and weak at the same time, who you hate and love at the same time and who battle fate with ferocity. This ferocity leads to twists, deaths and tragedy, but it also leads to character growth, development and evolution. Bradley manages to encompass a broad picture of women, their lives and their struggles, and to do so in an epic fantasy that still entertains.
When I was reading the Da Vinci Code, I commented to somebody that the most interesting thing was the idea that religion had gone through a transition from matriarchal to patriarchal, and the person I was talking to specifically mentioned this book. I've wanted to read it ever since. Finally, now I have.
The book is from the point of view of several woman, ostensibly powerful, queens and goddesses and magical beings, yet ironically rendered essentially powerless and subjugated to the will of men. A lot of the story is told through distaff settings, and sometimes this bogs it down. After all, when you think of the women of Camelot, Morgaine, Igraine, and Gwynefar, you don't think of spinning wheels and childcare. But that was the lot of women.
On the subject of women, there is invariably the question of physical beauty, and Bradley addresses this often in the Mists of Avalon. While Gwynefar is described universally as beautiful, her appearance is ultimately a detriment to her. To be fair, one could argue that Lancelet's beauty served him poorly, too, but this is a book about women. Morgaine, on the other hand, small and dark, is often treated with suspicion for her appearance.
Bradley did a really good job of showing the dangerous power of being able to rationalize your actions and desires through your religion. She also gave a credible voice to the myths that changed and became swallowed up by religous dogma during that time.
I also liked the way Bradley interspersed other myths within the main structure, like St Patrick and the snakes, Joseph of Arimathea, which gave a sort of myth within myth architecture, that sort of said, even a mythical person requires myths to explain the world around them.
The book is from the point of view of several woman, ostensibly powerful, queens and goddesses and magical beings, yet ironically rendered essentially powerless and subjugated to the will of men. A lot of the story is told through distaff settings, and sometimes this bogs it down. After all, when you think of the women of Camelot, Morgaine, Igraine, and Gwynefar, you don't think of spinning wheels and childcare. But that was the lot of women.
On the subject of women, there is invariably the question of physical beauty, and Bradley addresses this often in the Mists of Avalon. While Gwynefar is described universally as beautiful, her appearance is ultimately a detriment to her. To be fair, one could argue that Lancelet's beauty served him poorly, too, but this is a book about women. Morgaine, on the other hand, small and dark, is often treated with suspicion for her appearance.
Bradley did a really good job of showing the dangerous power of being able to rationalize your actions and desires through your religion. She also gave a credible voice to the myths that changed and became swallowed up by religous dogma during that time.
I also liked the way Bradley interspersed other myths within the main structure, like St Patrick and the snakes, Joseph of Arimathea, which gave a sort of myth within myth architecture, that sort of said, even a mythical person requires myths to explain the world around them.
This book is perhaps Bradley’s most famous. In so ways, it is also problematic. There has been a tradition of disregarding women’s voices in stories, in particular in legends, and Bradley’s saga gave voice to the women of the Arthurian cycle in a way that was more than a cheap romance novel. For that, if for nothing else the work would be remembered.
Seen as a woman’s religion or world versus a male dominated one, Avalon presents neither extreme as something that the reader might want to live in. It’s true in Avalon the women have power, but the measures that they take to keep it, the lack of choice that they give the men is just as horrifying and insulting as the lack of control that the world of Christianity in the book gives women.
Is it Arthur’s religion that Avalon cannot stand or his refusal to be controlled?
And thinking about this look of power, perhaps that is the point of this novel, perhaps that is the reason the novel stands the test. It is a feminist work, but it question and probes and that is wonderful.
This book was a portal into a whole new dimension of women's wisdom for me.
I loved it but it was maddening. Having lately also read The Once and Future King, I knew it was going to be a tragedy, but somehow I kept forgetting. Each time tragedy befell one of the characters, I'd have to remind myself, oh yeah, nothing good is ever going to happen.
One thing I loved about the book was how well Gwenhwyfar was written. The authors captured the confusing illogic of the religious so well in her internal dialogue. One one time she would think her actions wicked and against the will of God, and on another occasion, convince herself that the same action was justified. Her love for Lancelot is sin, and then it's God's will.
One thing I loved about the book was how well Gwenhwyfar was written. The authors captured the confusing illogic of the religious so well in her internal dialogue. One one time she would think her actions wicked and against the will of God, and on another occasion, convince herself that the same action was justified. Her love for Lancelot is sin, and then it's God's will.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes