

Loading... King Arthur and His Knights (1953)by Roger Lancelyn Green
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No current Talk conversations about this book. Il ciclo della Tavola Rotonda rielaborato dall'autore, con illustrazioni in bianco e nero This is a very readable account of the story of King Arthur. Years ago, I wasn't able to get into T.H. White, but this was very enjoyable. This was one of the books that I read aloud to Jefferson. But then someone else read him the last chapter and put it away, so I needed to go grab it and read the last chapter before I counted it. That actually happened months ago, but I didn't get around to that last chapter until just now. Jefferson likes stories and games with knights and wizards, so I thought I should read him one of the originals. But when I started this with Jefferson, I thought I'd picked another miss, because it seemed so dry, and I thought I was going to have to put it away until he was older. But then he would ask some question that would prove he was paying careful attention, or he would leap up for a dramatic reenactment to prove that he was definitely captivated by the story. So these stories weren't exactly what I was expecting, but Jefferson loved them. And I enjoyed becoming more familiar with the Arthurian legends. Josh no reviews | add a review
Belongs to Publisher SeriesPuffin Story Books (73) Is contained inIs retold in
A retelling of the story of the boy fated to be the "true-born King of Britain," covering his glorious reign and his tragic, yet triumphant, passing. No library descriptions found. |
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![]() GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)398.220941 — Social sciences Customs, Etiquette, Folklore Folklore Folk literature Tales and lore of persons without paranormal powersLC ClassificationRatingAverage:![]()
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Then I started reading it aloud to my kids.
It was fine for the first few chapters, very familiar stuff related to Merlin and the Lady of the Lake, blah, blah, blah. The knights of the round table were assembled, the prose was really wonderful, and then everyone started going out on their adventures. It didn’t take very long for things to get really tedious - there tended to be repeating themes of some mix of chivalrous, if overly naive and trusting knights, knights who had no business representing chivalrous character or manners (but were never really called on it or had to deal with consequences for their idiocy/greed/rudeness/cowardice), and women who were either perfect, ideal, virtuous saints or wicked terrible sorceresses (the only exception being Guinevere, who, because of her choice which brought ruin to the kingdom, actually had a little depth to her character). The best part of the quest stories might have been that a lot of them reminded me of their counterparts in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Well done to the Python boys for staying relatively true to the source material.
The overall experience of the stories were a disappointment. I have seen/read lots of stories including King Arthur and his knights that were thrilling and full of heart. Because of that, I was looking forward to experiencing these classic stories themselves. Instead, I really had a hard time reading through all the stories (don’t tell my kids, I skipped a couple chapters before the quest for the Grail started) and I didn’t want to finish.
I don’t fault Roger Lancelyn Green, his writing was the best part of the book. And I’m not against reading other retellings of the stories, but I might just need a break to spend some time watching Merlin or maybe Monty Python again to help motivate me. (