Perceval by Chrétien de Troyes (Review)

Title: Perceval, the Story of the Grail
Author: Chrétien de Troyes
First published Written: 1181
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Rating: ★★☆☆☆

There, I've finished all of Chrétien de Troyes! *celebrates* Although I must confess I abandoned Perceval in the middle of the book, that doesn't alter the previous statement :) Let me explain. Chrétien was not very good at wrapping up his writing and actually finishing books. So out of his five surviving works he has finished only three. Lancelot was taken up by some unknown writer, and he did a fairly good job of preserving Chrétien's style and bringing the story to a glorious end. Perceval was not so lucky. Or you can say it WAS luckier, four times more so, as it got 4(!) continuations by different authors. I dropped it in the middle of the second continuation, and I think it was a reasonable and time-saving thing to do. You see, in the middle of Chrétien's own writing, he just drops Perceval and switches to Gawain, who is great of course, but has near to no relation to the title story. The first continuation doesn't return to Gawain, but wraps up Gawain's adventures and switches to yet another knight nobody has ever heard of. All this in 9500 lines! My patience was already quite drained when I finished this continuation. Second continuation was better as it switches back to Perceval, but instead of wrapping up the story, it starts several new adventures, which I was too lazy to keep track of. So without seeing any sign of the Grail on the horizon, I've decided to abandon the book.

All this said, I think the beginning of the story is really great. It's as if Chrétien planned the beginning well and even maybe edited it (one may hope), but then just continued to write what came to his head without any structure in mind. Perceval's story begins in his teens, when he learns about knighthood (some comical moments here) and leaves his home for Arthur's court (now this is really heartbreaking. Poor mom!). He's totally uneducated and brutal, and offenses everybody as he proceeds with his adventures. He learns fast though, and is soon well acquainted with the ways of knights. But he still has to seek spiritual education to be worthy of the Grail. And that's what we don't see, as Gawain takes the stage for what seems like forever -_-

The symbolism in the story is very strong, and it's maybe the only Chrétien's romance which feels like literature, not just a retelling of a series of adventures, as it has some ideas and purpose. The notion of the Grail is still quite rudimentary. In the story the Grail is just a big plate for serving at meals, and the bleeding lance is the key artifact. It's interesting that to get information about the lance and the Grail all you need to do is just ask about them when you see them. But somehow most knights are hesitant to do so, maybe not to sound dumb or impolite. I think it's great that Chrétien underlined the importance of being inquisitive in order to succeed in one's education and personal growth.

Gosh, I'm so glad I've finished Chrétien de Troyes! It was really interesting to see the sources of some of the most famous Arthurian stories, but I'm longing for something easier to read now :)

In my book:
Too long and unstructured to be good, except for the beginning.

Lancelot by Chrétien de Troyes (Review)

Title: Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart
Author: Chrétien de Troyes
First published written: 1170
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Rating: ★★★☆☆

I was more excited about reading Lancelot than about any other of Chrétien's romances. I mean, Lancelot's story is so popular and here it appears for the first time, at least according to Wikipedia. But unfortunately the romance was not very exciting. Well, there is love between Lancelot and the queen, all right, and some horrifying details about their night together, like Lancelot bleeding all the time because he's lost his finger while trying to get to the queen's rooms... Imagine that. But overall it's just another story about some guy painfully trying to prove to everyone around that he's the best by challenging everybody else he sees without much consideration. This whole cart business was also not very clear from the text, and I was wondering why he needed taking it except for symbolic reasons.

There are some things I liked though. One is the depiction of father/son relationships. There are two such pairs in the story, and a son is usually a hothead, while his dad tries to stop him, reason with him and protect him. Needless to say, this makes the son ashamed of his parent, although in the end the dad is always right. This is so true to life I had to smile :)

Another scene I liked is when a lady offers Lancelot lounging in exchange for spending a night with her. Smart move, right? And it is so funnily described how very unpleasant it was to Lancelot and how he suffered from it, but he was still going to do this out of honour because he gave his word. I laughed out loud at this! :)

In my book:
Yet another typical Chrétien romance... I'm getting a bit tired of them.

Four Mini Reviews

As you have probably noticed I have close to zero time lately. I still manage to read, but posting and sleeping are not so lucky :) So I've decided to do as everybody seem do in such case: write mini-reviews! They are small books anyway :)

Title: Harry Potter y el Prisionero de Azkaban
Author: J.K. Rowling
First published: 1999
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Rating: ★★★★★

Yes, this one was in Spanish! We read it together with Hillary from ahorseandacarrot and it was fun! Books in foreign languages are perfect for read-a-longs. Without being accountable I just kept putting it off to read something more relaxing, but with our read-a-long I swished through it in less than two months at a pace of one chapter in three days. Wonderful! I'm a bit afraid to tackle the fourth book yet though. It's bigger and more "adult" and the chapters are longer... Well, maybe in summer, when I have more time :) Also, I'll announce the second Language Freak Summer Challenge next month, so I hope it'll give me a push :)

Title: The Sandman, Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes
Author: Neil Gaiman
First published: 1988
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Rating: ★★★★★

It was the first comic book I've ever read! Can you believe it? After the disappointment of Gaiman's American Gods and because of my inner snobbishness (comic books? They are for children!) I wasn't expecting much of it, but guess what? It was amazing! Dark and creepy sometimes, but totally amazing! I loved the art and how the story is told in short snippets, and how the parts of the puzzle fit together as you read and you get to know more about the awesome, awesome, awesome Morpheus. I love Morpheus. That's all there is to know about my feelings towards Sandman :)

Title: Yvain, or The Knight With the Lion
Author: Chrétien de Troyes
First published: 1176
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Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Unlike Erec and Enide and Cligès, I didn't enjoy Yvain at all, and so I don't have much to say about it. The plot devices never looked so artificial in Chrétien's works as here (pour water on stone to summon a horrible knight? Really?) and the main character never was such an asshole. Yvain leaves the love of his life a couple of days after the marriage and promises to come in a year... and OF COURSE he just forgets about it at all and therefore has to go seek some adventures instead of asking for forgiveness... I will not even go into his treatment of the lion. The lion is the only decent character in the story, really.

Title: The Train (orig. Sputniki)
Author: Vera Panova
First published: 1946
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Rating: ★★★★★

My mom has recommended me this classical Russian war novel, and as usual, her recommendation was brilliant! This short book tells a story of a hospital train during the horrible years of WWII, from its first bombing until the last war spring. Very different people work on this train - doctors, nurses, war officers, engineers... Each one has his/her own story, his/her own dreams and fears, but they all must live together and work endless shifts to make the passage of the patients from the front to the hospitals more comfortable. There's everything in this book: tragedy, loss, love, friendship, true selflessness and cunning self-advancement... Because people are different, and war makes these differences even more obvious.

Cligès by Chrétien de Troyes (Review)

Title: Cligès
Author: Chrétien de Troyes
First published: 1176
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Rating: ★★★★★

Cligès is the second poem by Chrétien de Troyes and it is a wild and amusing mix of Tristan and Iseult, Romeo and Juliet and your classic Arthurian romance. The story can be roughly divided into two parts: the first one tells about the Greek emperor Alexander, who came to King Arthur's court in search of glory and also found his love, and the second focuses on his son Cligès and his love to Fenice, which is very unlike the simple and idyllic story of his parents.

The most striking thing about this poem is that it's very, very funny. Chrétien's ironic and cute portrayal of the lovers' feelings made me smile all the time. They seem stupid but also really adorable in their agony. And aren't we all stupid when we are in love? :) Another thing that I like about Chrétien de Troyes is that he is always very self-conscious about his writing, and he talks to the reader, explaining his writer's choices and underlining the structure of the poem. It's as if he is telling you the story reposing in front of the fire after a plentiful dinner washed down with mulled wine.

The plot is more real and much less conventional than the plot of Erec and Enide, the only other Chrétien's poem I've read so far. Instead of battling imaginary giants at imaginary locations, Cligès is about real European politics and real battles and sieges. There is also abduction, treason, forbidden love, poisons, you name it! I really loved the "marriage solution" from the story. Fenice, in love with Cligès, doesn't want to sleep with her lawful husband, so every evening she gives him a potion which makes him sleep and dream certain dreams that make him sure she does her marital duty by him. Awesome, right??

In my book:
Cligès is much more readable than Erec and Enide and is very entertaining without any reservations!

American Gods by Neil Gaiman (Review)

Title: American Gods
Author: Neil Gaiman
First published: 2001
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Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Oh, this book... I can't put off writing this review any longer, so to make it easier let's make a deal here, OK? If you love American Gods so much that you can't stand any critic, don't read what I have to say about it, and if you do read it, don't hate me afterwards, please? :) It's just that I know many people feel very protective about this particular book, so I'm a bit afraid of their rage, because yes, unfortunately, I didn't like it at all...

I had high expectations of this book, and it went fairly well in the beginning, but then weird shit started to happen, and I was thinking "Why am I doing it to myself??" all the following 450 pages. OK, maybe the ending (that revelation of what's going on, you know what I'm talking about) was also not bad, but I was already bored to death by the time I reached it. Why was it so? Let me try to explain.

The main problem for me was the overly depressing mood of the story. I felt the pressure of the despair oozing from the pages all the time, and there was no comical or other relief. Is it surprising then that my favourite character in the book is the "Fuck off" raven? I know that if the book affects me so, it means the writing is good. Well, it is good, but I didn't like what it was doing with me anyway. And don't forget the corpses! Sooo many of them... I've had enough of corpses for a year of reading.

As for the characters, well, they are another problem. Shadow is awful. He is resigned, passive and incurious, and I don't understand him at all. The gods are also rather dull. I mean, come on, they could have been really outstanding, but instead they are very meh... I realize that it's kind of ideologically fitting, because they are dying out, but still... I wanted something more exciting. Wednesday came fairly near to being exciting, but not quite. 

In my book:
I didn't enjoy American Gods at all, and I would especially NOT recommend it as a rainy day reading. Seriously, it may draw you in a long-lasting depression.

Erec and Enide by Chrétien de Troyes (Review)

Title: Erec and Enide
Author: Chrétien de Troyes
First published: 1170
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Rating: ★★★☆☆

The reason I actually enjoyed this poem is probably the translation. Mine is a verse translation into Russian, and it is really good: readable, rhyming, stylistically suitable. Without a good translation these epic poems can be a bit repetitive and tiring, you know, and Erec and Enide sometimes was. It's full of the descriptions of the feasts, presents, entourage and blows in the duels. But clever word choice and a fast rhyme flow somewhat covered those nuisances.

Erec and Enide is the first of Chrétien de Troyes's Arthurian romances. He took some old legends and remodeled them according to current chivalrous tradition. So no surprise the reader sees some French locations there and some imported goods which were not present at the hypothetical Arthurian times. Each and every knight is under constant pressure to prove his value to everybody and himself, and this usually leads to some stupid decisions, like travelling alone or not stopping for rest to tend one's wounds... I guess the death rate was rather high among the knights of the round table.

Erec wants revenge from some unknown knight for an offence he has given to the queen. While accomplishing this, Erec meets his future wife, Enide, fights for her and brings her back to the court. After marriage rumors start that Erec is caring more for his wife than for his valor (hm... not surprising at all!), so he decides to go search some fights again, this time taking his wife with him and testing her on the way.

I don't like Erec at all. He is straight as a stick, and is not very amiable and clever. Enide is more to my liking, as she is always alert for anything that can harm her husband, and can perfectly well deal with some unwelcome suitors (that want to kill her husband and get her as a prize, obviously) by outwitting them. Nevertheless, I'm really surprised that a woman is allowed to play such an important role in the story and accompany her husband in his adventures. A great decision, Chrétien de Troyes!

In my book:
Although Erec is not the most popular knight of the round table, Erec and Enide is a good introduction to the topic. It's rather entertaining and only at times repetitive.

P.S. Jean has also written a review on Erec and Enide, so go check it out HERE. Arthurian event is the best, I tell you!

Geoffrey of Monmouth's works

Title: The History of the Kings of Britain
Author: Geoffrey of Monmouth
First published Written: 1136
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Rating: ★★★☆☆

Geoffrey of Monmouth is the one who laid the foundation for Arthur's insane popularity, as he was the first to collect all the legends and stories about him, put them into historical context and present as truth. Geoffrey claims that his work is just a translation of some "certain very ancient book written in the British language", but the truth is that he just mixed whatever written sources he has read with some Welsh myths he has heard and spiced the story up with some fictitious adornments to make it exciting. Although The History of the Kings of Britain had been considered a serious historical work for some time, now it should be read more as a historical fiction or fantasy. Nor is it less gripping than the modern books of these genres.

Geoffrey starts the history of Britons with the story of Trojan Aeneas, which he totally ripped off from Virgil. Aeneas's grandson Brutus is banished from Italy where his people now reside and has to colonize Britain. After battling some giants to free the island for settling, he becomes the first of the kings of Britons. Geoffrey tells about all the subsequent kings chronologically, but he has his favorites, and while some of them get two lines, the deeds of others occupy tens of pages. Among the characters most beloved by Geoffrey are: King Lear, Cassibelanus, Vortigern and of course Arthur.

Unlike Nennius, who only lists Arthur's battles, Geoffrey describes his life in detail. There is a totally amazing story of his conception (not without the help of Merlin!), the story of his battles and the conquest of half of Europe and the account of his death and departure to Avalon after a wound inflicted in the battle against his treacherous nephew Mordred. All the basic elements of the subsequent retellings are there, but it is still a legend, not a fully developed story. We don't know much about the character of Arthur of his followers, there is no explanation of Mordred's treason and Guinevere's behavior. There is no sword in the stone as yet, no famous knights surrounding him, no Grail and no real charm in the story. But it's a beginning, and a fascinating beginning for all that.

In my book:
This is a good place to start exploring Arthur story, but it's important to remember that most of the book is Geoffrey's fantasy :)

Title: Life of Merlin
Author: Geoffrey of Monmouth
First published Written: 1150
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Rating: ★★★☆☆

Unlike The History of the Kings of Britain, Life of Merlin is a story in verse, and it doesn't concern Arthur at all. It tells about Merlin as a mad prophet, who went off his head and withdrew to the forests after the death of his two brothers. After that, his wife and sister are constantly trying to drag him back to civilization, but in his short relapses he makes his horrifyingly true but cynical and indiscreet predictions and runs away again. Finally, he trains some apprentice prophets and dies in the forests after foreseeing the future of Britain.

The story would have been amazing, if the second half of it was not filled with the useless information about birds, fishes, geography, physics and what not taken from Etymologiae by Isidore of Seville. These educational passages were really tiresome to read.

In my book:
A lovely poem composed of several fable-like stories. With the omission of the "etymological" parts would be really precious.

Historia Brittonum by Nennius (Review)

Title: Historia Brittonum
Author: Nennius
First published Written: 833
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Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Nennius's opus, thought rather short, is epic. He documents the history of Britain from Adam (every decent history should start there, right?) until 9th century. He traces the lineages of the peoples of Europe, talks about migrations and conquests... well, collects everything known to him, I guess :) But his focus is on Britain, first on its conquest by the Romans, and then on the Saxon invasion.

It was very interesting to read about numerous Roman undertakings in Britain and remember the facts I heard at British history lessons in the university. Then I was reminded of the fact that the Britons actually invited Saxons to live on their shores as a buffer from invasions. Who knew they would get OUT OF CONTROL? :) King Vortigern who invited them is an awesome character: he's portrayed as a coward, a tyrant and the one who would sleep with his own daughter and give the resulting (grand)son away. After becoming a hated figure for allowing Saxons take over he seeks refuge in Wales. Nice guy, eh?

As was usual at that time, Historia Brittonum contains not only more or less dependable facts, but also legends and rumors. Some of them are Christian, as for example the miracle of St. Germanus, and some of them are inherited from Welch mythology, as the story of Arthur's boar hunting with his legendary dog. The chronicle ends with the descriptions of the curiosities found in Britain beginning with hot springs in Bath and ending with flying stones.

Historia Brittonum is largely regarded as the first written source to document the life of king Arthur. However, he takes very little place in it, as he is only mentioned as a guy who battled Saxons twelve times. Not that is was something unusual at that time, but he was surprisingly successful in all of them. That's basically all that we get to know about him from this chronicle. He doesn't even fit in the story very well, because for every other known ruler Nennius gives his lineage from a god, or a Roman emperor, or some such famous character, and Arthur gets no such background.

In my book:
A nice example of an early history, although not very informative. Reads more or less as a legend collection, with the addition of some long tiring lineages.

The Golden Ass by Lucius Apuleius (Review)

Title: The Golden Ass
Author: Lucius Apuleius
First published: 158
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Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

If you are not a literature major, don't read this book! It's a repulsive mix of Decameron, myths, witch stories and religious preaching. The only beautiful part in The Golden Ass is the story of Cupid and Psyche, which is so unlike everything else, that I suspect Apuleius has stolen it from some earlier source. So if you can, try to find this story separately and enjoy it without its miserable surroundings.

The plot is quite well-known: a curious protagonist Lucius, who is very interested in witchcraft, tries some magic ointment and turns into an ass. He has to live in this form for around a year, and the novel is composed of his misfortunes while serving different masters and various stories he has heard during this year. Goddess Isid finally saves him, and the last part of the book is the glorification of her and her cult. Doesn't sound too bad, eh? But it is! This canvas is filled with violence, repulsive sex (yes, incest and intercourse with animals (I don't remember the correct English name for this and am afraid to google) included), lavatorial humour, and so on... I soooo did not expect this from such a renowned classic. And you don't get any warnings about this anywhere. So now I warn you, and if you are bothered by the above mentioned topics, as I am, avoid this book.

This is a short review, but that's just all I have to say about it :)

In my book:
Disgusting

Mabinogion and Welsh Mythology

Title: Mabinogion
Author: Anonymous
First published: 1410
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Mabinogion is a collection of several (13 in my edition) prose stories from different medieval Welsh manuscripts. It was first published in London in 1879 by Lady Charlotte Guest, and this translation, although censured, first sparkled public interest in Welsh mythology. I read a translation into Russian from medieval Welsh by Erlichman, with a lot of comments on translation, the origin of names and the roles of some characters in the oral tradition. I'm glad I chose this edition, because without the comments it would be rather difficult to understand several things and enjoy the book so much.

All the stories are divided into several sub-collections in accordance with their style. The first part, the "Four Branches of Mabinogi" itself, was the most exciting for me, as it comtains the oldest and the best preserved myths. They are concerned mainly with the sacred history and geography of Wales, as they tell how heroes/gods taught people different crafts, explain why some places are called as they are and so on. What is the most valuable about these stories is that somehow they nearly evaded monastic and Norman corrections and additions, and therefore show Welsh oral tradition in its purity.

Later collections demonstrate the origin of Arthirian legends. He appeared in the nation's fantasies as a protector from all the invaders from the continent. In the first tales he doesn't have his Camelot or the round table and is not called an emperor. He is just a traditional Welsh hero. But the further the story in the book, the more familiar traits we see. Some argue that the last tales were even borrowed from Chrétien de Troyes because of so much chivalry. Church's influence is also obvious, as proper weddings and Christian holidays appear in the stories. This process of adapting the old myths to the new "fashion" is very interesting to observe, but it is also a bit sad that such a vast narrative tradition was sacrificed to the new literary standards.

The book was also quite entertaining for me as a fantasy lover, as the names of the places and people were heavily borrowed by Tolkien and all the Arthurian writers. With such a vast influence on the literary tradition, Mabinogion is an important read for those who are always interested in the origins of things.

Oedipus the King by Sophocles: What's so Greek about It?

Oedipus the King is my first Greek play, and I must say I didn't like it. And it's not the story, which is very powerful itself, it's the form that spoils everything.

Well, I assume everybody knows the plot, so no need to remind you of it. However I'd like to say that  I don't understand why everybody thinks this a story about perversity, about sexual desire to one's mother, which is even named "Oedipus's complex". Come on, people, he never knew it was his mother! And when it was revealed he took his eyes out. He is a normal man, it is just his bad fate. So I think the story is about Fate, with the capital letter. You are not getting away no matter what you try.

But I wanted to discuss form rather than the story here. And here is what is the most striking:

1) Nothing happens on the scene. There are murders, suicides and other atrocities, but we know about them only from the dialogues. Well, I guess it's difficult to stage taking out one's eyes believably, but the murder - why not? As a result, the whole play looks like a session of some club of old gossipers, and it is hard to believe in the misery of the characters, as they appear only to read their monologues.

2) There is chorus, which acts for the mob and sometimes also for the reader, as it "unobtrusively" hints what everybody should feel about the events. I don't like anybody telling me what to feel, and it's quite irritating when something is going to happen (well, not really happen, but be discussed rather :) ), but you need to read the laments of the chorus before. Were those pauses made to give the public time to go to the toilet in the middle of the play, I wonder? ;)

3) You are supposed to know the story BEFORE you read or watch the play. Otherwise you'll have no chance to understand what has Oedipus done to become a king. There is a hint about the Sphinx, but it is not told directly. Well, I guess that everybody knew it then, but still it's rather inconsiderate :)

It may partially be my fault that I expected too much of such a renown play, but I was rather disappointed. It will not divert me from further reading of Greek plays, of course, not yet at least, but for now I really prefer Shakespeare. I enjoy some real drama on the scene!