I promised Erin and DJ that I would go through my copy and pick out what I thought were essential chapters to read in case some folks didn't want to wade through the whole book. In places it reads like Homer's "Iliad" which is almost all about who "smote" who and who lost his head, etc. (That's war for you) Of course anybody can read the whole thing if they desire, but I've starred what I think is important:
*** 1st book... The Tale of King Arthur which lays the groundwork
2nd book... about a huge battle between Arthur and another king... kind of tedious, not necessary???
*** 3rd book The Tale of Sir Launcelot du Lac
4th book??? The Tale of Sir Gareth (I can't remember how important this book is)
we can skip the book on Tristram and Iseult ... it goes on forever, although there is a chapter on the Round Table and one on Launcelot and Elaine, and it is a good story
**** 6th book... The Tale of the Sangreal
*** 7th book... The Book of Sir Launcelot and Gwynevere
*** the final book... Le Morte d'Arthur
The copy I've read and think is good is a translation by Keith Baines, with an intro by Robert Graves. Publisher is Signet Books. I haven't compared it to other translations however.
I promised Erin and DJ that I would go through my copy and pick out what I thought were essential chapters to read in case some folks didn't want to wade through the whole book. In places it reads like Homer's "Iliad" which is almost all about who "smote" who and who lost his head, etc. (That's war for you) Of course anybody can read the whole thing if they desire, but I've starred what I think is important:
*** 1st book... The Tale of King Arthur which lays the groundwork
2nd book... about a huge battle between Arthur and another king... kind of tedious, not necessary???
*** 3rd book The Tale of Sir Launcelot du Lac
4th book??? The Tale of Sir Gareth (I can't remember how important this book is)
we can skip the book on Tristram and Iseult ... it goes on forever, although there is a chapter on the Round Table and one on Launcelot and Elaine, and it is a good story
**** 6th book... The Tale of the Sangreal
*** 7th book... The Book of Sir Launcelot and Gwynevere
*** the final book... Le Morte d'Arthur
The copy I've read and think is good is a translation by Keith Baines, with an intro by Robert Graves. Publisher is Signet Books. I haven't compared it to other translations however.