IVANHOE - Group read thread
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2electrice
Thanks Chèli !
I'm starting reading Ivanhoe tonight or tomorrow, must finished the one that I am currently reading ...
I'm starting reading Ivanhoe tonight or tomorrow, must finished the one that I am currently reading ...
3cyderry
I probably won't be starting for a few days - I have an ARC of Strike from the Deep a thriller about Somalian pirates that I just started that has grabbed my attention.
4sjmccreary
#3 how'd you get that? do you know the author? ;-) Seriously, though, I hope I'll be able to find it once it comes out in print, so I'm looking forward to seeing your reactions to it.
As for Ivanhoe, I've got it here ready to go, but I find that I still have a stack of August books I haven't read yet, so it may be much later in the month before I start.
As for Ivanhoe, I've got it here ready to go, but I find that I still have a stack of August books I haven't read yet, so it may be much later in the month before I start.
5cyderry
4> I do know the author and he personally sent it to me back in July. I didn't want to rush through it so I held off until I could really dedicate reading time to this new book.
6geneg
I'm about 2/3 of the way through Rob Roy and won't be ready for Ivanhoe for another week or so. I want to read something by Edith Wharton before jumping back into Scott.
7thornton37814
I've started Ivanhoe, but I'll have to admit that it's not exactly the most compelling read. I did enjoy a couple of mentions of genealogy/family history in the opening chapters (prior to chapter 1).
8LittleTaiko
About ready to start Ivanhoe - trying to finish at least one other book first.
9aliciamay
I am well on my way with reading this. I am finding it a little difficult to read without any historical context and minimal knowledge of the era. The rivalry between the Normans and the Saxons, the anti-semitism, and the crusades being to sole motivation for so many actions just makes the story a little hard for me to comprehend. Luckily the tale of Robin Hood is loosely tied in so I can think back on the Disney movie for some frame of reference : )
10Helenliz
I'm quite enjoying this. I had it in my head that the tournament was the climax to the book - no idea where I got that from, but it's in the first quarter. So I'm rather unsure where we're going to go from here! The palmer and the disinherited knight's disguises seem to me to be one of those literary disguises that would never work in real life (think Clark Kent's glasses) although I may well be completely wrong there.
So far Prince John puts me in mind of a petulant 6 year old.
So far Prince John puts me in mind of a petulant 6 year old.
11MarthaJeanne
I started tonight. So far (not very) so good.
13MarthaJeanne
I have read 11 chapters, and am enjoying it much more than I expected.
14thornton37814
I've got to get back to it. It is really not working very well for me, but I was plugging along until I got distracted by the lectures I did last weekend and by Louise Penny's new book. Now I can get back to it.
15Helenliz
I've finished parts 1 & 2.
the baddies are beginning to get their comeuppance (I hardly think that's a spoiler!)
I've got a idea who the Black Knight is too.
the baddies are beginning to get their comeuppance (I hardly think that's a spoiler!)
I've got a idea who the Black Knight is too.
17LittleTaiko
Now you're making me want to get back to reading it. Why does work have to get in the way of the good stuff?
18MarthaJeanne
My copy doesn't have 'parts'. How are the chapers divided into parts?
I've read 19 chapters now. No clue about the black knight. But I'm quite sure you are further than I am.
Oh! unless he is ... Hmm
I've read 19 chapters now. No clue about the black knight. But I'm quite sure you are further than I am.
Oh! unless he is ... Hmm
19jasmine552
sorri,hw do i get copies of books to read
20MarthaJeanne
My copy is from Gutenberg. you can also borrow a copy from your local library or buy one.
Look on the book page for the get this book link - upper right hand corner.
Look on the book page for the get this book link - upper right hand corner.
21Helenliz
I think it was originally published in 3 volumes, as my copy (penguin classic) has the volumes identified and the chapters numbered individually. Volume 1, 14 chapters; Volume 2, 16 chapters; Volume 3, 14 chapters.
22thornton37814
I got my free on Kindle. It's probably the Gutenberg version as many of those freebies are.
23Helenliz
I've finished this. I can see that there's a lot that you could choose to pick holes in, and some of the attitudes are uncomfortable to a modern mind (but that doesn't mean they didn't exist or should be airbrushed out). Some of the characters are fascinatingly drawn.
The end? A bit predictable, and a bit of an anticlimax, if I'm honest.
The end? A bit predictable, and a bit of an anticlimax, if I'm honest.
24cyderry
Yes, Helen, I agree. Writing has changed over the years and what we accept nowadays as normal, would have been shocking a century ago. I feel hat Scot did portray the women as they would probably have been back then.
25PawsforThought
I've only just started and haven't really had time to get more thana few pages in. I'll most likely carry on reading in in October. Looking forward to reading what you all think of it (so far I like it, but I might be biased since I LOVE the movie).
26thornton37814
I'm not certain that I'll finish it this month, but I'm trying. I do have the weekend.
27MarthaJeanne
15>I have now also finished the first two parts. My guess of who you meant seems to fit so far.
Still really enjoying it. I also will not finish this month. E-books take a back seat to the paper ones.
Still really enjoying it. I also will not finish this month. E-books take a back seat to the paper ones.
28Helenliz
27> I suspect the disguises here are the "wear spectacles and hide in plain sight" literary type. Where the reader can see through them, but the participants seem to be blind to the flimsiest of disguises. A case of the other participants see what they're expecting to see, not what's in front of them, perhaps.
As an external observer, the real state of affairs is maybe easier to see.
As an external observer, the real state of affairs is maybe easier to see.
29aliciamay
28> That makes more sense. I felt pretty sure I knew who the Black Knight was, but since no one in the story did I was second guessing myself.
30MarthaJeanne
If he is who I think he is, one character keeps thinking that only that person could do what the black knight is doing.
32thornton37814
I finally finished last night. I'm glad it's over. I, too, had guessed the identity.
33MarthaJeanne
I was right. (Not finished yet, though.)
We can't have spoilers in here, can we?
We can't have spoilers in here, can we?
35giftbasketsz
S'ha suprimit aquest usuari en ser considerat brossa.
36HarryMacDonald
The revelation of various identities doesn't seem like such a big deal to me, one way or the other. It was certainly a convention of the fiction of that time, and I doubt that Sir Walter really thought he was fooling many people. Meanwhile, I find it interesting that nobody has commented on the intensity of Bois-Guilbert's obsession. It is, in fact, one of my favourite aspects of the book, along with the virtuoso/operatic construction of the siege-scenes, and what we might call the bullshit-contest btw the knight and the Clerk of Copmanhurst.
37MarthaJeanne
I've finished now, and have now downloaded Kenilworth to read. (We have enjoyed visiting Kenilworth castle both this summer and last.)
What do you find worth mentioning about his obsession? That a man decides that he wants to own a woman and does not see that she is a person of her own? That he acts in such a way as to make himself horrible to her, and expects her to swoon at his feet in awe ( and even affection)? We see the same thing in the news again and again. Perhaps most noteworthy is that Scott understands her side of it. Rebecca is in many ways the best character in the book. Whereas most of them are fairly 2-dimensional, she seems very real.
What do you find worth mentioning about his obsession? That a man decides that he wants to own a woman and does not see that she is a person of her own? That he acts in such a way as to make himself horrible to her, and expects her to swoon at his feet in awe ( and even affection)? We see the same thing in the news again and again. Perhaps most noteworthy is that Scott understands her side of it. Rebecca is in many ways the best character in the book. Whereas most of them are fairly 2-dimensional, she seems very real.
38Helenliz
The thing I found interesting about it was the way he seems to acknowledge that this obsession is not rational, yet he seem unable to let the logical argument persuade himself that for his own good he should walk away. I thought that the end was, in a sense, a bit of a cop-out. It was a bit too neat to have him expire rather than have to face the shame that winning the joust and exposing his obsession or losing/throwing the joust would equally have had on his subsequent career.
Rebecca was a most principled character, and had real depth. Rowena was, frankly, a bit wet. The woman I wanted to know more about was Ulrica - now that sounded like an interesting story.
Rebecca was a most principled character, and had real depth. Rowena was, frankly, a bit wet. The woman I wanted to know more about was Ulrica - now that sounded like an interesting story.
39HarryMacDonald
In rebus 37 & 38. Thank you, Helenliz: couldn't have said it better myself. For those of you who find interest in this sort of thing -- presumably not MarthaJeanne -- another powerful evocation of this mentality and behaviour is the characterization of Bradley Headstone in Dickens' Our mutual friend. Of-course, Barone Scarpia in Tosca breathes much the same air. I think it is gratuitously dismissive to say that Bois-Guilbert is the kind of person one sees in the news every day.
Going back to operatic comparisons for a moment, some might find it interesting that one of the first, if not the absolute first, operatic treatment of Scott's tale was Otto Nicolai's DER TEMPELRITTER, and one doesn't need a lot of subtlety (or German) to grasp that the librettist saw B-G as the central figure.
As to what (or whom) one sees in the news, of-course, I suppose that much of that depends on where you get your news. Since I rarely watch TV or read any papers other than the morning VRAYHAYT and WOMEN'S WEAR DAILY, I am probably missing plenty.
Good discussion topic! Thanks to MarthaJeanne and Helenliz. -- GCG
Going back to operatic comparisons for a moment, some might find it interesting that one of the first, if not the absolute first, operatic treatment of Scott's tale was Otto Nicolai's DER TEMPELRITTER, and one doesn't need a lot of subtlety (or German) to grasp that the librettist saw B-G as the central figure.
As to what (or whom) one sees in the news, of-course, I suppose that much of that depends on where you get your news. Since I rarely watch TV or read any papers other than the morning VRAYHAYT and WOMEN'S WEAR DAILY, I am probably missing plenty.
Good discussion topic! Thanks to MarthaJeanne and Helenliz. -- GCG