Ayla's review
Ivanhoe (Penguin Classics)
by Sir Walter Scott
I read Walter Scott's Waverley with some trepidation (I was in a depressed period in which I just stayed in for weeks and read every single unread book on my shelves, so finally got around to the ones I'd scooped up from the Strand's cheapest outdoor bin). Prior to starting, I thought of it as pushing the envelope on 19th century literature - it's one thing to like Dickens or Trollope but surely Scott would be unbearably twee. However I enjoyed it thoroughly and always meant to try another (like a quince or persimmon). I think George Meredith may remain beyond the pale however.
Ayla's review
Ivanhoe (Penguin Classics) by Sir Walter Scott
Ayla's review
rating:
Holy Crap this book is awesome. So far, the coal-eyed Knight Templar Brian de Bois-Guilbert has set his gaze on the fair Lady Rowena, who must draw her gossamer veils against his burning ardour. A mysterious and hood-obscured stranger relates the unseating of Bois-Guilbert by the Knight of Ivanhoe. If only Ivanhoe were returned from the Holy Land, he would again unseat the Knight Templar, perhaps at a joust similiar to the one they will all travel to tomorrow at Ashby-de-la-Zouche, swears the mysterious stranger. If only Ivanhoe were returned from the Holy Land, Bois-Guilbert would regain his honor, Bois-Guilbert swears. The fair Lady Rowena adds her pledge that if only Ivanhoe were returned from the Holy Land, he would unseat Ivanhoe. What will happen next?
I read Walter Scott's Waverley with some trepidation (I was in a depressed period in which I just stayed in for weeks and read every single unread book on my shelves, so finally got around to the ones I'd scooped up from the Strand's cheapest outdoor bin). Prior to starting, I thought of it as pushing the envelope on 19th century literature - it's one thing to like Dickens or Trollope but surely Scott would be unbearably twee. However I enjoyed it thoroughly and always meant to try another (like a quince or persimmon). I think George Meredith may remain beyond the pale however.