Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
226th out of 602 books
—
709 voters
The World Is Not Enough
With striking realism and powerful narrative, The World Is Not Enough brilliantly re-creates medieval life. This first of Oldenbourg's acclaimed historical novels chronicles the lives of nobles in twelfth century France and the catastrophic upheavals of the Second and Third Crusades.
Paperback, 512 pages
Published
January 29th 1998
by Carroll & Graf Publishers (NY)
(first published 1946)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
212)
Nov 08, 2011
Erik Graff
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
fans of well-written & researched fictional representations of the middle ages
Recommended to Erik by:
no one
Shelves:
literature
This is the first of Oldenbourg's medieval novels. It is not the best of them, perhaps reflecting her inexperience as a writer at the time. In any case I found parts of it tedious--though, to her credit, one must note that parts of it are intended to show the tedium of even upper-class provincial life, a tedium which partly accounts for why the lord runs off from his home and wife on two crusades.
Details the lives of one family and their interpersonal relationships in the time of the Middle Ages. However, being confined to the family members' castle you learn very little about the rest of the world around them. The exception is when the male members venture off to the Crusades and the reader has a taste of military camp conditions of the time, and yet when they return you are confined once again to who-did-what in the castle and how everyone feels about it. In my opinion, Kenneth Follett...more
If you're interested in the Crusades read everything Zoe Oldenbourg has ever writtten.
One of my all time favorites...every five years or so I read it again.
Jun 02, 2009
Pam
added it
More historical than novel.
This really put you into France during the crusades time period. The story was interesting and the environment painted very realistically.
I couldn't relate too much to the lovers, they were both rather shallow people at first. Their love was very strong because it was the only protection they had for the cruel and violent period in which they were living.
I couldn't relate too much to the lovers, they were both rather shallow people at first. Their love was very strong because it was the only protection they had for the cruel and violent period in which they were living.
The parts set in France fit somewhere between pop historical romance and In A Dark Wood Wandering.The treatment of the crusades was a little disappointing-- the writing style changed completely, and it became more of a non-fiction chronicle than historical fiction.
Nov 07, 2007
Kellie
marked it as to-read
The lady at Border's recommended this book when I was looking for The Pillars of the Earth today...it's worth a try!
May 14, 2013
Severmihail
marked it as to-read
May 13, 2013
Deena
marked it as to-read
Apr 30, 2013
Ciarán
marked it as to-read
Apr 27, 2013
b
marked it as to-read
Apr 12, 2013
Hannah
marked it as to-read
Mar 28, 2013
Ashley
marked it as to-read
Mar 19, 2013
Bosa Mora
marked it as to-read
Feb 25, 2013
Jennifer
marked it as to-read
Feb 24, 2013
Toni
marked it as to-read
Feb 17, 2013
Dave Vanderberg
marked it as to-read
Jan 17, 2013
Marci
marked it as to-read
Jan 17, 2013
Sarah
marked it as to-read
Jan 14, 2013
C W
marked it as to-read
Jan 09, 2013
Amy
marked it as to-read
Jan 04, 2013
Tema
marked it as to-read
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Zoé Oldenbourg (Russian: Зоя Сергеевна Ольденбург), Russian-born writer who emigrated to France in 1925. Wrote novels and history, had a particular interest in the Crusades and Cathars.
More about Zoé Oldenbourg...
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
Apr 12, 2010 01:27pm