Tuesday, July 10, 2001
The Story of King Arthur and His Knights
by Howard Pyle
If you've read a lot of my ramblings here, it probably won't surprise you to hear that I like heroic fiction. (It also marks you as one with way too much free time, but that's another topic.) And as one raised in an culture descended from England, King Arthur is one of my favorite mythical heroes. I've picked up a variety of retellings of the legends of Camelot and this is my latest acquisition. Written for children, it was originally published in 1903 and, according to the scholarly afterward, is a rather American flavored retelling of the legend. I can see that, as the knights are all very individualistic and self sufficient. The book focuses on Arthur: how he became king, how he gained Excalibur and won the hand of Guinevere, among other tales. The stories are rather simplistic and the characters are all stereotypes, but for some reason it's fun and I had quite a good time reading it. (Though I have to admit, towards the end, as yet another joust was being proposed, I was hoping that some lowly squire would break character and say, "you know, there are less painful ways to settle differences.") If you like Arthur at all (the king, not D.W.'s brother), I would suggest you check it out.
LibraryThing link
If you've read a lot of my ramblings here, it probably won't surprise you to hear that I like heroic fiction. (It also marks you as one with way too much free time, but that's another topic.) And as one raised in an culture descended from England, King Arthur is one of my favorite mythical heroes. I've picked up a variety of retellings of the legends of Camelot and this is my latest acquisition. Written for children, it was originally published in 1903 and, according to the scholarly afterward, is a rather American flavored retelling of the legend. I can see that, as the knights are all very individualistic and self sufficient. The book focuses on Arthur: how he became king, how he gained Excalibur and won the hand of Guinevere, among other tales. The stories are rather simplistic and the characters are all stereotypes, but for some reason it's fun and I had quite a good time reading it. (Though I have to admit, towards the end, as yet another joust was being proposed, I was hoping that some lowly squire would break character and say, "you know, there are less painful ways to settle differences.") If you like Arthur at all (the king, not D.W.'s brother), I would suggest you check it out.
LibraryThing link
Labels: ArthurianTales, CheckItOut
// posted by John @ 5:43 PM 
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