Rating: Summary: pretty good book about Medeival life Review: The book was an accurate dipection of life in the Middle Ages. I strongly recomend this book to any on that is interested in the Middle ages
Rating: Summary: Unique and interesting Review: The Return of Martin Guerre is an impresseve collection of historical data based on an event that occured in the 16th century. The story itself is interesting and it is in itself interesting to look at how people lived in a different time period. The fact that this book is not fiction, nor historical fiction, but rather a true story, makes this book much more enjoyable and fascinating.Some true stories that come about throughout our history are more bizarre than fictional creations and this is one of those stories. I thought that Davis created a historical document that reads more like a novel than a text book. The characters were all properly explained and depicted and the settings used throughout the book seemed to be properly represented. Davis was able to make a compilation of boring facts amount to an interesting story. She keeps it short and sweet, gets to the point and makes it as exciting as possible. I was thoroughly impressed with a book that I initially thought I would not enjoy. If you are looking to read about a historical event that has not been done to death, The Return of Martin Guerre is a bit off the beaten path and a nice change of pace.
Rating: Summary: This book stinks! Review: This book has got to be the worst! If you want to know the story of Martin Guerre, then good for you, but learn about it from somewhere besides this book. Natalie Zemon Davis obviously needs to go back to writing school. Journalistic type entries are pathetically interwoven within the story. It totally deprives the reader of hearing the base story of what happened with Martin Guerre and drawing their own conclusions from it. There is so much French interwoven into the book, that you almost need to be bilingual to understand what is going on. However, it is excellent for book reviews since it obviously lacks so many things.
Rating: Summary: Interesting Way to Write History Review: This book is VERY interesting. Davis writes it as something between a novel and a serious historical text. As such you do have a narrative arch and a good consideration on the quality of the text; but at the same time she spends her time in placing caveats to the story she is writing. So we have at times "alternate" possibilities to what happened, and she certainly accepts a lack of climax in explaining some important later characters which historians have been better able to study. Davis also seems to assume you have seen the movie of the same title (to which she consulted), and wrote the book as an appendix to the movie. Very fun.
Rating: Summary: Interesting Way to Write History Review: This book is VERY interesting. Davis writes it as something between a novel and a serious historical text. As such you do have a narrative arch and a good consideration on the quality of the text; but at the same time she spends her time in placing caveats to the story she is writing. So we have at times "alternate" possibilities to what happened, and she certainly accepts a lack of climax in explaining some important later characters which historians have been better able to study. Davis also seems to assume you have seen the movie of the same title (to which she consulted), and wrote the book as an appendix to the movie. Very fun.
Rating: Summary: it's true! Review: this excellent analysis provides the truest basis for the new musical "martin guerre". you can catch it in los angeles. next stop broadway.
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