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Summary: The greatest source of inspiration for any fiction writer.
Review: To all Medieval History/English and Arthurian legend fans, this is the MUST!!! No holds barred, Malory touches every knight, every story, every legend to touch upon. I don't know anything about him, but Malory must've taken years to write this book... and had the greatest sources to boot. Malory starts with the story of Uther Pendragon to Arthur, his story with Excalibur and the lady of the lake, goes on to the ordination of the different knights, from the majors like Launcelot and Galahad to Bors, Gawain, Eckwalt and Percival. Through this, it goes on to tell the stories of each knight's adventure, from something as big as Galahad's visions before drinking of the Sangreal to Launcelot coming upon a church and finding a man of religion lying dead. Once in awhile, the book would even have its most comedic moments. All in all, this book is as good as if someone took every single Arthurian book out there, squeezed the best stories out and put them in a book under 1000 pages. A must for anyone who loves adventure... or has a dull life and wants to spice up their life. It's inspired my fiction writings more than any other work of fiction out there. I'd give it more than 5 stars, but the darn rating system won't let me.
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Summary: Rich and full of depth -- wonderful!
Review: I have read T H White's "Once a Future King" and after the second novel started to get tired of his shtick that he wraps around the Arthur story. When I started reading Le Morte Arthur -- I was delighted that there is no shtick and just the story. That's the difference between a real classic and a derivative work. Malori is powerfully engaging. The chapters are short so it can be read like a series of small poems, related to each other. There is no strain to be entertaining as in T H White's work -- just pure beautiful myths of ages long past. Excellent T reading, lunch reading, and any cirmstance reading
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Summary: it's worth it
Review: ~This book is very big, very old, veyr hard to read, but still quite good. In case you are unaware, this is basically a synopsis of the larger King Arthur tradition, a kind of readers digest version. Thus, it is only readable in small doses at times, because the gramar can be painful, and one event will happen in one sentence that totally changes the plot line. So a guy will be in London or whatever, and then two lines later all the sudden he's in Wales. He jousts, then goes onto Scotland~~ where~~ he jousts some more and takes a castle. I wish I had known this before i read it, and it would have made much more sense why things weren't making the kind of sense I would have liked.However, some of the characters are great to follow. My favourite was Tristram, simply because of his struggles against a corrupt King Mark, and his endless quest to find his woman while not betraying his codes of knighthood in the meantime. You will have yours, so zero in and maybe find more stories~~ about~~ that person in the original tradition.~~~
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Summary: This is the place to start ...
Review: Thomas Malory's "Morte d'Arthur" is quite literally the "jumping-off place" for anyone who is interested in the legends of King Arthur. This is the book that sets the scene for so many other novels concerning the same characters. Here we are introduced to Tristan and Isolde, Lancelot, The Fisher King ... the "usual" cast of characters. We develop some background understanding of their actions and motivations as a result of Malory's exposition. This particular edition of the tales is translated into modern prose; I own another edition (published in the late 19th C.) that is more heavy going due to the stylized writing. My only caveat on "Morte d'Arthur" is that the tales are not always linear. Sometimes they represent things that are happening simultaneously, which may give the impression of the author jumping back and forth in time. Try not to let that affect your ability to enjoy this classic.
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Summary: Great Version, ...
Review: This is an excellent edition of the greatest Arthurian romance of all time. At first it may seem daunting, and a little bit sexist, but there's something about this set of stories that inspires not the conscious, thinking part of the mind, but rather the subconsious. Reading it is like having a dream. Reading from start to finish is a tremendous task (it took me several months and I can read pretty quickly), considering the length and the fact that it's in the original language (not quite as difficult as Chaucer, but more difficult the Shakespeare). Many of the words he uses had different usages in his day. Others like "orgulous" are hardly ever used. Still, like I said, this is for the subconscious, and I consider it well worth the difficulty. There is a vocabulary list somewhere on the University of Virginia website, where they have an electronic edition. This could be of help.
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Summary: Mandatory Reading for Fans of the Arthurian Cycle
Review: Malory's "Morte d'Arthur" is the starting point for just about every English-language version of the Arthurian cycle. This is where we meet Tristan and Isolde, Bors de Ganis, Bedivere ... along with the usual "biggies" like Lancelot, Guenivere, etc. This is a must-read if you want the best background on the tales and the characters. However ... Malory's take on the tales is somewhat non-linear. He tries to give the impression of things happening simultaneously - nearly impossible to accomplish in print. I will admit that this is rather slow going ... but well worth the trouble it takes to finish.
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Summary: Outstanding New Edition of Malory's Work
Review: "Le Morte D'Arthur" comes at a turning point in English literature. It is both a summation of the courtly legend and lore of the Medieval world and indicator of literary times to come. Not quite a novel, not quite a collection of tales, not quite an exemplar of etiquette and ethics, it was still one of the great creative accomplishments of the 15th century. Countless generations of writers, poets and artists and felt its influence. Unfortunately, my memories of Malory's work are tainted by my memories of the difficulties of reading the book. In college I was sentenced to reading small paperback editions with tiny, cramped print. It was never possible to settle into the task for more than a short time without feeling a headache coming on. As a result my impression of the book was that it was both interesting and impenetrable. It was with great relief that I went on to other classes and texts. Lately, I found I needed a copy of 'Le Morte D'Arthur" again, and in reviewing the available editions discovered this new edition, edited by John Matthews and illustrated by Anna-Marie Ferguson. When it arrived, I was amazed and delighted. Academically the edition is much as one would expect. It is basically a reprint of a Medici Society version of the Caxton original. Matthews has corrected some spelling problems. He has also silently interpolated some snippets of the manuscript version (some 20 total) where these make the narrative clearer. It is unfortunate that he did not document these additions to prevent scholastic confusion, but he did not wish to break up the narrative with footnotes. I have found several of the changes and they all make the sense better. There is a forward by fantasy writer Michael Moorcock, a very informative and readable introduction by Matthews, and a short piece on the illustrations by Anna-Marie Ferguson. It is the physical presentation of this edition that makes it extraordinary. The book is quite thick, very well bound with a heavily coated slip cover. The paper is well made and heavy enough to prevent the print through that can hinder readability in books with dense printing. The type font is glorious. Large and simple enough to be easily readable. This makes it possible to easily pick out the sense and structure without having to squint at every word. I found the text more readable than some of the efforts at modernization I have encountered. Finally, the illustrations. These are plentiful, 62 in all, half of them in color. Ferguson has a fine detailed style with both watercolor brush and pen. They have pleasant dreamlike quality that arises from her masterly use of light. These are not mere illustrations, rather, the artist has made them invitations to consider the world of King Arthur. In summary, this is a welcome new addition to the Malory canon, and one well worth owning.
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Summary: Wonderful legends
Review: The story of King Arthur, the boy who pulled the sword from the stone and was crowned King of Britain has been with us for centuries, much in part to this book, Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur. This book, often published in two volumes, is here in complete form and features stories from the entire Arthurian saga, including some not nessarily about the King. This book has been the basis for many of the modern stories of Arthur, such as T.H. White's The Once and Future King (the inspiration for The Sword and The Stone) and the movie Excalibur.
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Summary: Amazing Artwork
Review: I give the artwork 5 stars - I bought the book for the art. I often give the book as a gift to people who appreciate fine art. I'm pretty sure this edition will become a collector's item due to the outstanding artwork by the very charming and talented illustrator, Anna-Marie Ferguson.
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Summary: For Arthurian enthusiasts, definitely. Otherwise...
Review: It's always difficult to "rate" a classic book because the standards by which writing is judged have changed so dramatically. Had "Le Morte D'Arthur" been written in 2001, it would earn 1 star: there is almost no description, the plotlines are implausible and the characters are for most part sketchy at best. It often seems to be little more than a joust-fest punctuated with occasional meaningful moments. However, for anyone who is genuinely interested in the Arthurian legend, Malory's work is essential reading. The atmosphere of surreal beauty which is associated with the legend of King Arthur permeates this work in full: a sense of destiny and inevitable tragedy lends a minor key to what otherwise seems like a purely exuberant epic. This theme culminates in the last section, "Morte D'Arthur," which I would recommend someone read even if they lack patience for the rest. In that section the characters are suddenly full of life as they never were before, though ironically on the verge of their own destruction. The sense of a higher destiny and heartrending tragedy at last merge together and give meaning to what before seemed an almost frivolous legend. As to characters, while they don't have vividly drawn personalities, Malory throws out hints all through the story which are eventually pieced together to form a picture of each character's personality. While he never makes value judgments about Gawain's behavior, by the end it is clear that Gawain has been heading for his own downfall from the very beginning. This sort of subtlety is refreshing in an era when authors are expected to make their characters "deep" with lengthy descriptions or dead-giveaway hints. If only more modern writers would let us figure their characters out by ourselves. The greatest character in my view was Sir Dynadan, who was consistently loyal, humorous and sarcastic throughout. His affectionate and tough personality sets him apart as a real person amid the often hollow suits of armor that march endlessly through the story on their respective quests. This is not a fun read, and if it seems too daunting I would highly recommend "The Once and Future King" by T.H. White, which captures the atmosphere and basic plotline of Malory with an added psychological depth and vivid characters.
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