Parzival, an Arthurian romance completed by Wolfram von Eschenbach in the first years of the thirteenth century, is one of the foremost works of Ge...
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Apr 10, 2009
Adrian
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Aug 11, 2011
Elizabeth
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This book is so beautiful. Don't bother if you don't want to wade through a bunch of medieval weirdness (what do they have against the Welsh? And is everybody that's ugly REALLY going to be evil, all the time?). But then again that's part of the fun. It's hard to tell how much of this is crazy worldbuilding by the author, and how much he's actually representative of the values of this time--either way, it makes a cultural thing that's pretty familiar (King Arthur! Britain!) and makes it seem inc
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Mar 25, 2011
Nikki
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Parzival took me far too long to read for me to really declare that I "liked it". Still, once I resolved to finish it already I got through it quite quickly, and it helps that, as with Chrétien's version of the story of the grail, Gawain has a large part to play.
Hatto's translation is quite readable, though I believe he tried to capture a lot of the original nature of Wolfram's writing, so it's not always straightforward and to the point. The footnotes are very helpful, esp More...
Hatto's translation is quite readable, though I believe he tried to capture a lot of the original nature of Wolfram's writing, so it's not always straightforward and to the point. The footnotes are very helpful, esp More...
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Apr 26, 2011
Cassandra
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I like Medieval legends. I think this time period is fascinating. I think the writing was perhaps not my favorite though. The story was good but I think that the translation (while trying to convey some of the poetry of the verse) loses something natural about it. It feels a bit stiff and lilts in some places. I was very very interested in what it had to say about Gawan, this is a character that seems to reoccur in legend in much a different light. I wondered if the son of King lot was indeed fa
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Feb 01, 2008
Matthew
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Because of the era in which this book was written I can forgive a lot of its conspicous flaws like Wolfram's pervasive and alarming misogyny, the abundance of irrelevant details he is constantly tossing in that regularly derail the story, and the perplexing attitudes and ideas of every single character. In some ways, each of those issues is exactly what makes the book worth reading, because it puts the reader a little in tune with a fairly unfamiliar epoch in human history. However, the fact t
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May 01, 2009
Murray
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An extraordinary book: it is not an easy read as it was composed in Medieval times and was really meant for an oral tradition. Yet this book, I believe, was designed by its author, to embody certain spiritual truths that perhaps were not easy to express in the Catholic hegemony of the time. It is, in its own way, the tale of the spiritual journey of the Soul, from foolish innocence to true (therefore spiritual) knowledge, as symbolised by the Grail.
Dec 27, 2008
Michaela
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It's been a while since I've read this one, but I had a lot of fun with it when I did. The opening chapter is just a delightful introduction that sets up the tone of the whole story in a bizarre way. The "motley" characters are all intriguing, and I just really enjoyed the story. Color imagery was particularly striking.
Dec 18, 2007
Beth
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I had the opportunity to read this in a 10 week storytelling class in the mid-'80s. I have re-read it since then and am thinking of picking it up again. It is the epitome of the Parzival legend. I absolutely LOVE this book. It is from the oral tradition and begins:
"If inconstancy is the heart's neighbor, the soul will not fail to find it bitter. Blame and praise alike befall when a dauntless man's spirit is black and white mixed like the magpie's plumage. Yet he may see blessedne More...
"If inconstancy is the heart's neighbor, the soul will not fail to find it bitter. Blame and praise alike befall when a dauntless man's spirit is black and white mixed like the magpie's plumage. Yet he may see blessedne More...
Apr 14, 2008
Robin
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This was a refreshing change from the French Arthurian/Grail stories. Parzival was a very human character who struggled with bitterness toward God and this ongoing quest that took him away from his wife. Arthur was also a more rounded character than in Chretien de Troyes where he is more or less wallpaper for the deeds of his knights. Eshenbach makes some pretty funny asides, too. The German names and characters get a little bewildering, but there is a helpful index of names and a great introduc
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Jul 05, 2009
Janice
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I read this for an History of Civilization Comparative Lit class at BYU. It was one of my favorite reads of the class.
Jun 06, 2011
Janosch
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Wunderbares Werk! Nicht nur ein fantastisches historisches Stück unserer Kultur, auch eine Leseerfahrung die man von einem solch alten Buch nicht erwartet hätte! Für mich eine fesselnde und spannende Geschichte. Ohne viel zu verraten, lässt es sich am besten als Abenteuer beschreiben. Es ist erstaunlich einfach zu lesen und für mich gehört es in jedes Bücherregal! Ich habe mich so gefühlt als ob ich selbst der Protagonist war.
Dec 14, 2009
Dying to read this book after and incredible class realating it to Steiner, Anthroposophy and Astrology.
Mar 23, 2008
Erik
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Most persons know the literary sources of the grail legends from Malory's Death of Arthur, a very late, derivative source and, unless edited for modern readers, not very readable. For the early material, look into Chretien's uncompleted Perceval and Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival. Chretien is short, sometimes even funny. Wolfram's is much longer, covering much more material and probably difficult in a translation which attempts to closely follow the poetic form of the original. Happily, t
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Jul 06, 2010
Lisa
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I read this book in a Medieval Lit class in college, and while it was good, it wasn't great. Very dry and meticulous.
Mar 16, 2009
Daniel
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Kind of a tedious read...I think Monty Python has ruined for chivalry stories for me because every time one of the characters tries to do something "knightly" or "heroic" it just seems really ridiculous. I get this crazy mental image of a sallow and acne ridden Wolfram von Eschenbach huddled over a candle in some dungeon vicariously living out his nerdy fantasies by scribbling about the heroic exploits and/or tragic love affairs of his rather wooden and one dimensional charac
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Dec 16, 2009
Brad
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This is my favorite of all the works of Authurian romance. Vivid writing and perhaps the most uncanny and well-developed narrative of the grail kingdom. Parzival's dogged determination to leave his isolated rural boyhood and become a knight provides a lot of humor in the first section of the book.
Jan 07, 2008
Paul
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Purchased to read while on my tirade about the Ark of the Covenant. There are some good arguments that it currently resides in Ethiopia, and this work was cited as a reference. Dry as hell if you're reading it for fun, but looking for specific info, it's pretty good.
Apr 04, 2009
Benjamin
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In the middle of my Joseph Campbell revival, with his emphasis on the mythic quest and the completion of 2666, which engages with the motifs and themes of Parzival - a quest for meaning beyond this life like the Grail - in the person of a knight (Archimboldi)...
Sep 30, 2011
Christina
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This was a hard read but it was interesting at different parts. I'm glad I got a chance to read it even if I didn't understand some of it.
Dec 17, 2009
James
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A densely-translated German epic, Parzival tells the story of ... Gawan. And Parzival, too, but Gawan seems to get about as many pages. It's a tale of chivalry, of the spiritual life of warriors, of reaching the end of a quest by a difficult road.
Mar 30, 2008
Trish
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This is not really my thing. It was hard for me to really relate or care about what was going on in this novel. There are soo many characters!! I did appreciate the humor of the narrator but that is about as far as my praise goes.
Dec 16, 2009
Alyssa
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One of the most famous Medieval romances. A great story about the search for identity. Wolfram is actually a very forward-thinking writer whose idea of the idealized knight is in stark contrast to the typical Arthurian knight.
Oct 21, 2008
Jennifer
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if you only read one thing in Medieval lit, it better be the Divine Comedy. But if, after that, you decide you want more Medieval lit, this should be next on your list! Seriously fantastic.
Sep 17, 2007
Benji
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It's difficult to read and it doesn't pay off much, but there is such awesome stuff in this book. I had it at 3 stars but had to bump it up. Some parts are mind-blowing- along with classic moments of the cycle.
Apr 03, 2008
Geoffrey
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I'm actually re-reading this one. It is a magical book--to say more would ruin the secret that lies within...
The second time through was even better!!
The second time through was even better!!
Oct 24, 2011
Malinda
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OH MY GOODNESS! This book is very long and made me fall asleep...so many times...but when I was able to stay awake, Wolfram proved to be very funny!
