- Hardcover: 240 pages
- Publisher: Thorsons; American ed edition (19 Nov 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0007134495
- ISBN-13: 978-0007134496
- Product Dimensions: 21.8 x 14.2 x 2.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 520,560 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Lindsay Clarke's Parzival and the Stone from Heaven is a hypnotic retelling of the medieval romance of the quest for the Holy Grail. However, Clarke's book is not a novel in the conventional sense, but a free adaptation of Wolfram von Eschenbach's 13th-century story Parzival.
Drawing on Eschenbach, Clarke recounts the adventures of the royal-born Parzival, whose name means, "to pierce through the middle". Brought up by a mother crazed with grief at the death of her chivalrous husband on the battlefield, Parzival is initially ignorant of his destiny as a knight who must search for the Holy Grail and unite it with the earth. As Parzival's swashbuckling adventures lead him from ignorance and wounding to insight and healing, he meets King Arthur, the Gawain Knight and the mysterious Fisherman, the failed guardian of the Grail.
Clarke takes many liberties with Eschenbach's original, but tells a well-paced story, one whose characters are more archetype than individual. This is why, for Clarke, the story is universal and remains "a contemporary story and a salutary myth for our own troubled and exhilarating times". --Jerry Brotton --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
Praise for Lindsay Clarke's Chymical Wedding:
‘I'm awed by the web you've spun. Not only the beautiful complexities of it but the fine texture of the threads … Full of wise things’
Ted Hughes
‘This dazzling novel left me stunned … a modern masterpiece’
Val Hennessy, Daily Mail
‘A splendid writer – a stylish, gripping story of alchemy across the ages’
Sunday Express
Praise for `Parzival’:
`With his luminous retelling of the story of Parzival and his healing of the Fisher King, Lindsay Clarke has reanimated the great theme of the Grail Quest … a magical poem of a book’ Anne Baring, author of The Myth of the Goddess
‘Compelling and poetic … you can’t put it down’
Jay Ramsay, author, poet and therapist
‘Lindsay Clarke is surely right in seeing Parzival as having urgent relevance for our time … exceptional’ John Moat, poet
‘absolutely brilliant – a very inspirational read’ Suzi Harvey, author of Sun Signs, Moon Signs
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This brilliant, moving and fresh retelling of the great medieval German poet Wolfram von Eschenbach's version of the story of Parzival and his Quest for the Grail is indeed a Grail Romance for our times. Whilst keeping the fresh, shining spirit of the original, Lindsay Clarke has cut through Wolfram's somewhat wearisome arcana and convolutions to reveal an essentially human, mysterious, humorous and touching story which will never cease having relevance. His prose is crystal clear, yet filled with that sprightliness that is the hallmark of medieval literature; the characters are both very individual and very archetypal, and the story just sweeps you along. Clarke has also written a very good preface and afterword, the first of which gives some of the background to Wolfram and his story; the latter of which explains his own deep identification with Parzival's story, and its relevance to our times. It is very, very highly recommended and should do much to bring Wolfram's masterpiece to a big audience.
Format:Paperback
Having read my review - I was contacted by the seller. The after sale service was a real surprise and as I direct result I will buy from them again. 10 out of 10.
Format:Paperback
I can't recommend this book highly enough, the most profound reweaving of the story of the Grail, staying true to the original story from the 11th century but written for readers in the present. This reclaims the Grail myth for the Germanic peoples and is not just British.
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