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A review by barryhaworth
Le Morte D'Arthur, Volume II by Thomas Malory
4.0
Having read the first part of Malory's Morte D'Arthur earlier this year I had, of course, to finish the story. This second part of Malory's account of the life and death of King Arthur contains the story of Sir Tristram (continued from the first volume), the story of the Sangreal (AKA the quest of the Holy Grail), the story of the love affair of Launcelot and Guinevere, which leads into the break up of the Round Table and the death of Arthur in the final battle with his son, Mordred.
As with the first volume I found myself with mixed feelings about what I was reading. The story is written in wonderful fifteenth century English which feels like it would read aloud well and the events are highly colourful. There are scenes of humour, such as when Launcelot, sleeping beside a pool of water, gets shot in the backside with an arrow by a passing deer hunt (book 18 chapter 21). On the other hand there is a deal of repetition, especially if a tournament happens. Malory just loves his tournaments and describes them at great length. I found myself skipping over some of those, as well as some of the stories, like the conclusion of the Tristram story. Others got me wondering exactly what was going on. The quest for the Sangreal (AKA the Holy Grail) is somewhat surreal and really quite destructive - the quest disrupts the kingdom for a full year and results in the death of many knights, including two of the three who achieve the quest. Somehow I don't think that a truly holy object like the Grail is meant to be would do that.
Of course, this is all fiction and is meant to entertain and not to be true to life. Entertaining it certainly is, but I did find reading to be something of an effort. The language is part of that. Though enjoyable in small does it was sometimes an effort to read a lot in one go. Also contributing to the "putdownable" nature of the book was the way it was divided into a large number of short chapters so if ever I tired of reading I would quickly come to a convenient place to stop.
Still, the book is and remains a classic.
As with the first volume I found myself with mixed feelings about what I was reading. The story is written in wonderful fifteenth century English which feels like it would read aloud well and the events are highly colourful. There are scenes of humour, such as when Launcelot, sleeping beside a pool of water, gets shot in the backside with an arrow by a passing deer hunt (book 18 chapter 21). On the other hand there is a deal of repetition, especially if a tournament happens. Malory just loves his tournaments and describes them at great length. I found myself skipping over some of those, as well as some of the stories, like the conclusion of the Tristram story. Others got me wondering exactly what was going on. The quest for the Sangreal (AKA the Holy Grail) is somewhat surreal and really quite destructive - the quest disrupts the kingdom for a full year and results in the death of many knights, including two of the three who achieve the quest. Somehow I don't think that a truly holy object like the Grail is meant to be would do that.
Of course, this is all fiction and is meant to entertain and not to be true to life. Entertaining it certainly is, but I did find reading to be something of an effort. The language is part of that. Though enjoyable in small does it was sometimes an effort to read a lot in one go. Also contributing to the "putdownable" nature of the book was the way it was divided into a large number of short chapters so if ever I tired of reading I would quickly come to a convenient place to stop.
Still, the book is and remains a classic.