Ivanhoe: (A Modern Library E-Book) (Waverley Novels)
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Review
Ivanhoe was the first of Scott's novels to be located wholly in England, and the first to take place in the middle ages. But it is far from being the fantastic, medievalist romance associated (in the critical imagination) with a visionary Britain that never was. This is a serious novel, the first in English to deal carefully with race. And at the same time, it is an incredibly exciting read for contemporary readers. Ivanhoe was the first of Scott's novels to be located wholly in England, and the first to take place in the middle ages. But it is far from being the fantastic, medievalist romance associated (in the critical imagination) with a visionary Britain that never was. This is a serious novel, the first in English to deal carefully with race. And at the same time, it is an incredibly exciting read for contemporary readers.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
Product Description
This Wordsworth Edition includes an exclusive Introduction and Notes by David Blair, University of Kent at Canterbury.
Set in the reign of Richard I, Coeur de Lion, Ivanhoe is packed with memorable incidents - sieges, ambushes and combats - and equally memorable characters: Cedric of Rotherwood, the die-hard Saxon; his ward Rowena; the fierce Templar knight, Sir Brian de Bois-Gilbert; the Jew, Isaac of York, and his beautiful, spirited daughter Rebecca; Wamba and Gurth, jester and swineherd respectively.
Scott explores the conflicts between the Crown and the powerful Barons, between the Norman overlords and the conquered Saxons, and between Richard and his scheming brother, Prince John. At the same time he brings into the novel the legendary Robin Hood and his band, and creates a brilliant, colourful account of the age of chivalry with all its elaborate rituals and costumes and its values of honour and personal glory.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Ivanhoe by Walter Scott, is set in England during the reign of King Richard , who is away on the Crusades to the Holy Land , leaving the administration of the country to his scheming brother , John , and his corrupt court cronies like Waldemar Fitzurse , Malvoisin and Front-de-Bouef.
Meanwhile a mysterious Disinherited Knight, aided by another anonymous Knight in black amour (Le Noir Fainéant) defeats all of King John's favorite knights at the jousting tournament at Ashby.
The challenger is revealed as Wilfred of Ivanhoe, the disinherited son of the Saxon nobleman, Cedric, who is the beloved of his father's charge, the comely Rowena.
The character who was for me, the most interesting, was the beautiful `black eyed' Jewish beauty, Rebecca, the daughter of the merchant Isaac of York. Compassionate and yet fiery, humble yet proud, sensual and yet modest, it is not hard to understand the passion for her felt by the Knight Templar, Brian De-Bois Gilbert. She and her father must try to survive in a violently anti-Semitic society, in which they are rendered defenseless, as members of a humbled nation. Rebecca, faced with a horrific fate, refuses to renounce her faith, right until the end. In a sense she represents the Jewish Nation, or the Nation of Israel, right through the exile (Galut), and also today as the international community unjustly pillories the Jewish State, and plots her destruction.
Rebecca thus says during her trial by the order of Knights Templars: " ` To invoke your pity' said the lovely Jewess, with a voice tremulous with emotion `would I am be aware, , be as useless as I should hold it mean...Nor will I even vindicate myself at the expense of the oppressor which seem to convert the tyrant into the victim."
So you see how timeless words of wisdom can be.
Also thrown into the book are Robin Hood and his Merry Men, and the witty Jester Wamba . A quotable quote from Wamba from Wamba is " To restrain them by their sense of humanity is the same as to stop a runaway horse with a bridle of silk thread.
The book is a pleasure to read. As Herbert Strang wrote in an early 20th century edition of Ivanhoe: "In introducing this great story to a new generation of boys and girls, I find myself wishing that I too, where about to read Ivanhoe for the first time"
After having read Ivanhoe , I can understand exactly why he wrote that.
Meanwhile a mysterious Disinherited Knight, aided by another anonymous Knight in black amour (Le Noir Fainéant) defeats all of King John's favorite knights at the jousting tournament at Ashby.
The challenger is revealed as Wilfred of Ivanhoe, the disinherited son of the Saxon nobleman, Cedric, who is the beloved of his father's charge, the comely Rowena.
The character who was for me, the most interesting, was the beautiful `black eyed' Jewish beauty, Rebecca, the daughter of the merchant Isaac of York. Compassionate and yet fiery, humble yet proud, sensual and yet modest, it is not hard to understand the passion for her felt by the Knight Templar, Brian De-Bois Gilbert. She and her father must try to survive in a violently anti-Semitic society, in which they are rendered defenseless, as members of a humbled nation. Rebecca, faced with a horrific fate, refuses to renounce her faith, right until the end. In a sense she represents the Jewish Nation, or the Nation of Israel, right through the exile (Galut), and also today as the international community unjustly pillories the Jewish State, and plots her destruction.
Rebecca thus says during her trial by the order of Knights Templars: " ` To invoke your pity' said the lovely Jewess, with a voice tremulous with emotion `would I am be aware, , be as useless as I should hold it mean...Nor will I even vindicate myself at the expense of the oppressor which seem to convert the tyrant into the victim."
So you see how timeless words of wisdom can be.
Also thrown into the book are Robin Hood and his Merry Men, and the witty Jester Wamba . A quotable quote from Wamba from Wamba is " To restrain them by their sense of humanity is the same as to stop a runaway horse with a bridle of silk thread.
The book is a pleasure to read. As Herbert Strang wrote in an early 20th century edition of Ivanhoe: "In introducing this great story to a new generation of boys and girls, I find myself wishing that I too, where about to read Ivanhoe for the first time"
After having read Ivanhoe , I can understand exactly why he wrote that.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I particularly like the detailed descriptions of the characters, the use of ancient language - e.g. "Thou shalt have" - and the humour the book is full of. Very funny is the dialogue between Wamba and Gurth, when they talk about the words "swine" and "pork." "Why, how call you the those grunting brutes running about on their four legs?" (Swine, in Saxon) "... but how call you the sow when she is flayed, and drawn, and quartered, and hung up by the heels, like a traitor?" (Pork, in Norman-French). "And so, when the brute lives, and is in the charge of a Saxon slave, she goes by her Saxon name; but becomes a Norman, and is called pork, when she is carried to the Castle-hall to feast among the nobles."
I recommend this book, together with Robin Hood, both edited by Wordsworth.
I recommend this book, together with Robin Hood, both edited by Wordsworth.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe opens in an idyllic England of old, when towns might still be called pleasant, forests were still extensive, and the land was peopled with dashing knights and amiable yeoman. King Richard (the Lionheart) is off fighting the crusades, and Prince John is taking advantage of his brother's absence to plot his own way to the throne.
An unknown palmer leads a band of Normans out of a stormy night and into the home of a Saxon nobleman, Cedric, and aids the early morning escape of unfortunate Jew, Isaac of York. Later a disinherited knight will prevail at a jousting tournament, and choose the beautiful Lady Rowena to be the tournament's Queen of Love and Beauty; his life will be saved during a melee by the mysterious knight clad in black: the Black Sluggard. The bewitching Jewess Rebecca, the archer Locksley, a fool, a swineherd, and a handful of proud Norman nobles make up a cast of memorable, and socially diverse characters that inhabit this romanticised land in the 12th Century.
A work of roughly "historical" fiction it may be, but Scott rarely lets a schoolmasterly lecture get in the way of a good story. Valour and chivalry are satiated as bouts of jousting, feasting, kidnap, rescue and sieges maintain pace and action, whilst elements of disguise and secrecy offer intrigue. Meanwhile, Rebecca champions female strength and dignity in her refusal of the advances of Brian de Bois-Gilbert, even as her fate hangs in the balance. Sure, there are places where the tale slows, and the characters are revealed more fully, usually in the course of grand conversations, but the reader will soon be rewarded for any patience these few chapters might humbly request.
I can't think of a single reason to deduct a star from Ivanhoe; it's a pre-cinematic action-adventure classic that moves swiftly from one tale of derring-do to the next; it's humorous, moving and exciting. It's a perfectly balanced tale, told by a master storyteller, in gently flowing prose. Scott is often credited with bringing about a revival of interest in the Middle Ages, and I challenge anyone to read* Ivanhoe and not be swept up in the drama, conflicts and heroism of a bygone world.
(*read means from beginning to end!)
An unknown palmer leads a band of Normans out of a stormy night and into the home of a Saxon nobleman, Cedric, and aids the early morning escape of unfortunate Jew, Isaac of York. Later a disinherited knight will prevail at a jousting tournament, and choose the beautiful Lady Rowena to be the tournament's Queen of Love and Beauty; his life will be saved during a melee by the mysterious knight clad in black: the Black Sluggard. The bewitching Jewess Rebecca, the archer Locksley, a fool, a swineherd, and a handful of proud Norman nobles make up a cast of memorable, and socially diverse characters that inhabit this romanticised land in the 12th Century.
A work of roughly "historical" fiction it may be, but Scott rarely lets a schoolmasterly lecture get in the way of a good story. Valour and chivalry are satiated as bouts of jousting, feasting, kidnap, rescue and sieges maintain pace and action, whilst elements of disguise and secrecy offer intrigue. Meanwhile, Rebecca champions female strength and dignity in her refusal of the advances of Brian de Bois-Gilbert, even as her fate hangs in the balance. Sure, there are places where the tale slows, and the characters are revealed more fully, usually in the course of grand conversations, but the reader will soon be rewarded for any patience these few chapters might humbly request.
I can't think of a single reason to deduct a star from Ivanhoe; it's a pre-cinematic action-adventure classic that moves swiftly from one tale of derring-do to the next; it's humorous, moving and exciting. It's a perfectly balanced tale, told by a master storyteller, in gently flowing prose. Scott is often credited with bringing about a revival of interest in the Middle Ages, and I challenge anyone to read* Ivanhoe and not be swept up in the drama, conflicts and heroism of a bygone world.
(*read means from beginning to end!)
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