Authoritative, delightful, gripping, 7 Feb 2004

By	MM Turner "Martin Turner" (Birmingham, England) - See all my reviews

This is not simply a translation, though. Unlike the Greek and Norse myths which were consciously reworked over many hundreds of years into a form of coherence, the Arthurian cycle is complex, diverse, and frequently self-contradictory. Many of the writers themselves misunderstood their source material.

In his introduction, Green explains why and how he wove this tangled thread of tales into a single epic. The result is a masterpiece of its kind. This is not a book of fine descriptions, insightful character development or lyrical speeches. It is written in the epic style with the epic voice, and, in so doing, tells a story whose power is chiefly in the episodes and the figures, rather than in the realisation and the characters.

Roger Lancelyn Green introduced me to the Greek, Egyptian and Norse myths, and I owe him a lot. They opened a door to the original texts, which later came to play an important part in my education. But as I grew up I discovered that the original texts were better than the Green retellings. This, of course, is to be expected.

With Arthur, though, I have to say that Green's book really does work for me better than Mallory or Chretien de Troyes. In rereading it recently I realised why so much of Arthurian lore seemed second nature to me while studying middle-english at university - I had read it all before in this book.

I would recommend it to any child with an enquiring mind - it opened the Matter of Britain to me, and it will do so for them.

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a brilliant book, 9 Feb 2004

if this book makes you want to go on to find out more about the historical king arthur, read "Legendary Warriors" and "The Discovery of King Arthur" when you've finished this.

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