Reviews

The Green Knight (Movie Tie-In) by Anonymous

cortega55's review

adventurous challenging dark inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

4.5 (but subject to move up honestly) Wow I did not expect to like this so much and I also did not expect the twist at the end! Having only watched the movie this was an absolute delight to read. While it’s a completely different story than the movie there was still so much that I got out of it. It seems kinda ridiculous praising some thing that is obviously a literary treasure but I did not expect to connect with it as much as I did. This might be the first time that I’m reading some thing that was the source material for an adaptation that I really liked and I enjoyed the source material as much as the adaptation.

Like this has me regressing to my college days and analyzing the parallels between the way that the Lord is hunting and the way that Gawain is resisting the ladies seductions and then also drawing comparisons in the way that the animals are dismembered that foreshadows for the blow that he is supposed to receive. I now fully understand why people can choose to study this as a graduate program. Wow.

ryter89's review

adventurous dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

kat_impossible's review

3.0

I'm not sure I've ever read a medieval poem before, definitely not one as long as this one. In the end, this was a lot more about kissing than the Green Knight, but that's okay?

sadleaf's review

adventurous reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

marisacarpico's review

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Compelling as a tale though more literal and Christian than I expected. Racier than I would have expected too. The stuff at the castle works well as a test of Gawain’s goodness and honor and really sets up the decisions he makes at the end convincingly. A little surprised how the author skips over the adventures Gawain has both from and back to Camelot, but certainly see where it gave Lowery more room to play with his metaphors. The forewords and notes on the text and the untranslated passage that precede the whole poem are very good, though I certainly suggest waiting to read them after reading the poem itself or seeing the movie first. Do kind of wish I’d read the more alliterative version O’Donoghue talks about by Borroff, as this did feel like it sacrificed some of the language’s beauty for the sake of narrative clarity.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

bloodredrache's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A great translation of an incredible poem--compulsively readable with a good sense of the poetics of the original. And David Lowrey's introduction is an insightful consideration of how to traverse the journey of the poem, especially for new questors picking up this poem for the first time.