Alright, this book is 600+ pages and took me around two weeks to read; I am the girl who read the 7th Harry Potter book twice in two days. What this means--to me at least-- is that this book is much heavier reading than the Harry Potter series. On the other hand, this is a good book and it made me laugh; I wasn't bored with the story of his style, either. End of comparison.
While White went on some tangents that I might not necessarily have always followed, this book was for the most part a straightforward story of Arthur from relative beginning to almost end. His tangents either went on about history, animals, about people and why they act how they do, or about how the current piece of the story relates to today. Half the reason this book is so long is all the information White gives you so that you can appreciate who Arthur is, and later on who Guenever, Lancelot, and the Orkney brothers are.
One thing I found interesting was comparing this book to the other similar books I've read. The story of Beaumains, for example, was basically opposite between this book and Morris' book. Morris liked Kai and thought Gareth was an idiot. White gave a much better reason for Gareth being where he was and portrayed Kay as a bit of a bully. I suppose some people might say this means I should pick one to like but I actually enjoyed seeing both views.
Another reason this book was long and heavier reading was that White seemed to really try to make the characters like real people instead of romanticized and two dimensional. This is not to say that anyone in this book acts like anyone I have ever met but I believe that White gave a lot more thought into the motivation of these characters then some other authors I have come across.
Criticisms: This is not a book you pick up in your free time and just start reading. Wait until you know you are going to have a lot of time. Also, I mentioned earlier that White goes on tangents, which aren't necessarily directly involved with the story. He went on a bit about architecture and all the different names of castles as well as some other things I don't currently remember and I'm pretty sure that non history people won't appreciate that. Lastly, it seemed to me that White assumes the reader has read Le Morte D'Arthur which I haven't. I don't even know if that book is available in English. I will find out. That's about it for now.
Rating: Great.
Read again? I would like to but I'm not sure.
You read? Yes.
Age level: I'm going to say young adult, just because it takes a bit of endurance.
Pages: 639 (New Section!!! What a surprise!!)
Note: I am going to try to keep up the Arthurian theme and find some other books on Round Table Knights and Quests, but there will be another book in between as it has been about 6 months since I borrowed it from JH. Also, I was going to make a big deal about my 25th book but I forgot. This is my 26th book reviewed, which is my favorite number but I doubt you care about that. I am off to Art Class.
No comments:
Post a Comment