Review (PDF) Chronicles Of King Arthur
An illustrated compendium of Arthurian legend draws on the romance masterpieces of Geoffrey of Monmouth, Chre+a7tien de Troyes, and Sir Thomas Malory to recount the myths of Arthur and his knights of the Round Table. 25,000 first printing. $25,000 ad/promo.
Hardcover: 192 pages
Publisher: Avery (January 5, 1994)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0670852325
ISBN-13: 978-0670852321
Product Dimensions: 0.8 x 7.8 x 10.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #1,394,686 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #248 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Poetry > Regional & Cultural > European > French #1269 in Books > Literature & Fiction > World Literature > European > French #3494 in Books > Reference > Words, Language & Grammar > Rhetoric
This book performs a service, much needed: it gives a coherent account of the "King Arthur" stories. The author goes through the massive relevant literature-romances and poems in middle and early modern English, and in various vintages of several other languages-to arrive at a reasonably balanced narrative that gathers all the main characters and the principal tales associated with them. Now, there are probably thousands of stories that impinge on this early constellation of narratives, and more that arise every year in tribute to the perennial fascination of those bright initial inventions. But it is these core stories that are the important ones, just as are the core stories of the Bible, and some few of the Greek myths, as basic cultural equipment.This is a pleasant book to read, by a scholar, but not "scholarly". It is a medium-format glossy with many paintings and drawings by pre-Raphaellites like Beardsley and Burne-Jones that enhance the romance and magic that is so much of the appeal of the stories. There are wide margins to hold the occasional explanatory sidebar, as well as boxes convenient to--but out of the way of--the narrative flow, that discuss the bigger topics . Each of the stories is smoothly presented, with a seamless (but indicated) transition from Andrea Hopkin's connecting narratives to passages using the actual words (rendered into modern English) of the principal teller of the tale at hand, be it Chrétien, or Geoffrey, or some anonymous medieval writer. More than one writer may contribute his bit to a particular story, but the connecting material keeps the telling coherent and compact.
Chronicles of King Arthur The King Arthur Trilogy (Warlord Chronicles) The Winter King: A Novel of Arthur (The Warlord Chronicles Book 1) Arthur Turns Green (Arthur Adventure Series) Arthur's Birthday (An Arthur Adventure) Arthur's Valentine (Arthur Adventure Series) The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion: The All-Purpose Baking Cookbook The Lost Tomb of King Arthur: The Search for Camelot and the Isle of Avalon Fairest Isle King Arthur Beginner Piano Sheet Music King Arthur: Tales of the Round Table (Illustrated Edition) A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (Dover Thrift Editions) The Infinite Character of King Arthur: His History and Legend, His Camelot and Avalon The Death of King Arthur A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (Norton Critical Editions) King Arthur's Death (Penguin Classics) A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (Mark Twain Library) The Winter King (The Arthur Books #1) The King Arthur Trilogy Book One: Dragon's Child Dragon's Child: The King Arthur Trilogy, Book 1 Enemy of God: A Novel of Arthur (The Warlord Chronicles Book 2)
