Scan barcode
A review by kanissa
Guinevere by Sharan Newman
2.0
I own this because I had to read it for my freshman colloquium, all those years ago. I can't remember what I thought of it back then, although I'm sure I had to write a paper about it, which means I probably still have it....
Well, now... I can safely say I have no interest in reading the remainder of the series. There are so many superior retellings of Arthurian legend to give your time to.
Guinevere is supposed to be perfect, but it's certainly not my idea of the perfect woman, let alone the perfect female protagonist! She's naive, clueless, and often described as "unfeeling" - yet somehow these traits are all supposed to combine with her incredible beauty and make her seem "otherworldly." I'm not sure how people in the novel were so enamored of this version of Guinevere. To me she seemed whiny, spoiled, and so dense that it had to be intentional on her part. (Like those girls who say "Oh, boys don't like smart girls so I am intentionally going to fail my trigonometry class.")
As the title implies, the other major Arthurian characters have minor roles. Arthur, Merlin, Gawain, and even Morgan Le Fay all make appearances, but none is really all that present in the story. (Arthur gets talked about a lot but physically isn't present for much of it.) They were all much more interesting to me than Guinevere was, although they are also quite one-dimensional.
If you want to read something about Arthur or Camelot (or heaven forbid, Guinevere - yes, I never really cared much for her in any retellings of the story), you'd be better off with T.H. White, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Mary Stewart, Stephen R. Lawhead, Jack Whyte, Bulfinch.... really, anyone else.
Well, now... I can safely say I have no interest in reading the remainder of the series. There are so many superior retellings of Arthurian legend to give your time to.
Guinevere is supposed to be perfect, but it's certainly not my idea of the perfect woman, let alone the perfect female protagonist! She's naive, clueless, and often described as "unfeeling" - yet somehow these traits are all supposed to combine with her incredible beauty and make her seem "otherworldly." I'm not sure how people in the novel were so enamored of this version of Guinevere. To me she seemed whiny, spoiled, and so dense that it had to be intentional on her part. (Like those girls who say "Oh, boys don't like smart girls so I am intentionally going to fail my trigonometry class.")
As the title implies, the other major Arthurian characters have minor roles. Arthur, Merlin, Gawain, and even Morgan Le Fay all make appearances, but none is really all that present in the story. (Arthur gets talked about a lot but physically isn't present for much of it.) They were all much more interesting to me than Guinevere was, although they are also quite one-dimensional.
If you want to read something about Arthur or Camelot (or heaven forbid, Guinevere - yes, I never really cared much for her in any retellings of the story), you'd be better off with T.H. White, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Mary Stewart, Stephen R. Lawhead, Jack Whyte, Bulfinch.... really, anyone else.