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The Death Of King Arthur (2010)

by Peter Ackroyd(Favorite Author)

3.19 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

1846141931 (ISBN13: 9781846141935)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Penguin Books

review 1: I love Peter Ackroyd. Esp First Light, but also the opening to Hawksmoor was so scary I couldn't read it till I went on a flight and was surrounded by other people. It was too intense to read alone in the house I had in a long, dark canyon at the time.I wonder if this Malory project drove him a little nuts. The result is no compelling novel, but...garbage in, garbage out. I always thought Malory's was the least interesting of the Arthurian reconstructions. In Stonehenge, John Aubrey makes the point that those who built the monument we see today had no more understanding of the site's original uses than we have of the current relic. Of Celtic mythology, Tolkien said: "I do know Celtic things (many in their original languages Irish and Welsh), and feel for them a certain dis... moretaste: largely for their fundamental unreason. They have bright colour, but are like a broken stained glass window reassembled without design." To the extent that there is a strong Celtic underlay in the Arthurian corpus, we'll never be able to make sense of it, and probably the Normans and Saxons encountering the bardic tradition couldn't either. There may be a pre-Celtic underlay as well. Anyhow we're left with trying to make sense of the medievalists' attempts to make sense of... So, although the whole Malory contribution is not a very good story (it's more like a video game. Up pops this or that knight, better knock him off... No causality, no motivation other than revenge or lust and even that is inconsistently applied... Knights constantly failing to recognize each other, forbidden from fighting other members of the Round Table, but doing it anyway, always falling asleep under apple trees by springs, where they are bound to be attacked, etc.), Ackroyd's contribution is to strip it down to the EFFORT Malory was making. Yeah, the language was lost, but that's not the point. Conceptually, what kind of a story is it, what was Malory working with, and how did he arrange the elements in light of the values of his society? All of that is rendered very transparent in this version. The French writers were no better--it was all fondle this woman, kill that guy, fondle this other woman. So, if you're bound to work your way through the Arthurian corpus, this book is actually a pretty good guide.
review 2: Filled with beautiful classic tales, this book taught many lessons. Some lessons were to follow the actions of the chivalrous, and some were to do the opposite. I like how there were heroes among both women and men, and that no one was whittled into an image of perfection. Even Lancelot and Arthur are seen at their worst, illogical, lustful, and sinful. Their flaws are acknowledged but forgiven.Possibly the best part of the book is the strength of love among the men. Their bond truly is above and beyond any affection for a lady or a land. Their loyalties and the strength of word to their fellow man are what rule all of their truest choices.I fell in love with their strife for justice and dignity.I had forgotten how much of a religious emphasis the text has. The characters are all deeply pious people, and they have some very intense interaction with God and Jesus! It was especially fun to come across tales that I had already read in other formats, or seen in movies and/or an epically awesome television show. It was a right shame that Merlin had to be buried alive so early in the book. Poor dear was just in love; she didn’t have to trap him eternally for it! Damn you Nineve! less

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