Rating: 
Summary: The Endless Quest...
Review: Ever wonder why we are consumed with being "in love", having that passionate lust, courting endlessly for the unattainable blissful love? Tristan and Isuelt is where it all began, with more that 1,000 European versions from Brittany to France. This book is a captivating mystical story about the passionate side of love. Tristan, (meaning the child of sadness) a Nobel hero and Isuelt, the Irish Princess, engage in a love that is so intoxicating and absolute. After consuming a "love" potion, the two spend all their energies on being together, facing various barriers they overcome to attain the pre-destined love.
This book demonstrates that the positive thing in love is self-transcending - takes you beyond yourself and gives meaning to your life. Maybe somewhat obsessive and short in duration, but deep and exhilarating, larger than the self. When love ends it's remembered as a magical interlude, permanently in the memory of the mind which constantly plays back.
This version by Bedier and Belloc is an exciting, hi-paced read, that will make anyone fall in love with being in love. It touches on a note that Passionate Love really has little to do with the norms of society.
Beautifully written and a joyous read.
Rating:
Summary: The twists of Courtly Love
Review: Here is a complete English translation of the Tristan and Iseult Romances that we have been able to find. That in itself makes this book a valuable work of literature.What I enjoyed most about the Romances is the unreality of it all. You feel like you are somewhere else, somewhere magical and vicious, somewhere beautiful and bloody. This is the setting for the courtly love traditions. I also enjoyed the challenges the books presents: Is there repressed homosexuality between King Mark and our hero, Tristan? What can Tristan's dog teach human beings about loyalty and love? What issues exist in a world of both love and violence, and why are the two so closely connected? This is a great social commentary as well as an entertaining Romance. While the text reads quickly and seems simplistic, there is a lot going on under the surface.
Rating:
Summary: The twists of Courtly Love
Review: Here is a complete English translation of the Tristan and Iseult Romances that we have been able to find. That in itself makes this book a valuable work of literature. What I enjoyed most about the Romances is the unreality of it all. You feel like you are somewhere else, somewhere magical and vicious, somewhere beautiful and bloody. This is the setting for the courtly love traditions. I also enjoyed the challenges the books presents: Is there repressed homosexuality between King Mark and our hero, Tristan? What can Tristan's dog teach human beings about loyalty and love? What issues exist in a world of both love and violence, and why are the two so closely connected? This is a great social commentary as well as an entertaining Romance. While the text reads quickly and seems simplistic, there is a lot going on under the surface.
Rating: 
Summary: A Keeper
Review: I had to read this for a history class and thought I woult dread it, but it is a very nice love story - way better than Romeo and Juliet, and did reflect the changing view of romantic love in literature of the time. I will be keeping it in my library instead of selling it back to the bookstore - and that says a lot!
Rating: 
Summary: Love is the biggest feelin' that u can share with somebody.
Review: I liked this book because it spoke about a love story. The two lovers cannot love each other easily, there were so many ostacles, first of them Iseult's husband. True Love isn't impossible to find, and through the pages of this book u can think about the way u can find it....
Rating:
Summary: An oft retold tale told wonderfully
Review: I would not have read Bedier's translation of "Tristan and Iseult" on my own. Throughout my degree, and my previous highschool education, I've come across "Tristan and Iseult" in four different forms before Bedier's, and was so tired of the tale that I thought no one would breathe life into it again for me. Not so. Bedier's translation (which was then translated by Hilaire Belloc and completed by Paul Rosenfeld) has repainted "Tristan and Iseult" into a truly living piece of mythology. Presented with exquisite detail, and with portions of the story even my four previous readings had never uncovered, this is, I believe, how the tale was meant to be told. The achetypal doomed-romance, "Tristan and Iseult" is the well-known tale of the romance between those two lovers, born of a magical philtre, and doomed in the face of Iseult's marriage to King Mark. The age of chivalry practically shines from the pages, and the heart-wrenching story itself is a joy to read, with only a few bumps and jolts of prose along the way (likely, I imagine, translation difficulties). If you are at all interested in mythology, especially that of Arthurian theme or times, Bedier's translation of "Tristan and Iseult" is the one for you. You won't be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: An oft retold tale told wonderfully
Review: I would not have read Bedier's translation of "Tristan and Iseult" on my own. Throughout my degree, and my previous highschool education, I've come across "Tristan and Iseult" in four different forms before Bedier's, and was so tired of the tale that I thought no one would breathe life into it again for me. Not so. Bedier's translation (which was then translated by Hilaire Belloc and completed by Paul Rosenfeld) has repainted "Tristan and Iseult" into a truly living piece of mythology. Presented with exquisite detail, and with portions of the story even my four previous readings had never uncovered, this is, I believe, how the tale was meant to be told. The achetypal doomed-romance, "Tristan and Iseult" is the well-known tale of the romance between those two lovers, born of a magical philtre, and doomed in the face of Iseult's marriage to King Mark. The age of chivalry practically shines from the pages, and the heart-wrenching story itself is a joy to read, with only a few bumps and jolts of prose along the way (likely, I imagine, translation difficulties). If you are at all interested in mythology, especially that of Arthurian theme or times, Bedier's translation of "Tristan and Iseult" is the one for you. You won't be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: An oft retold tale told wonderfully
Review: I would not have read Bedier's translation of "Tristan and Iseult" on my own. Throughout my degree, and my previous highschool education, I've come across "Tristan and Iseult" in four different forms before Bedier's, and was so tired of the tale that I thought no one would breathe life into it again for me. Not so. Bedier's translation (which was then translated by Hilaire Belloc and completed by Paul Rosenfeld) has repainted "Tristan and Iseult" into a truly living piece of mythology. Presented with exquisite detail, and with portions of the story even my four previous readings had never uncovered, this is, I believe, how the tale was meant to be told. The achetypal doomed-romance, "Tristan and Iseult" is the well-known tale of the romance between those two lovers, born of a magical philtre, and doomed in the face of Iseult's marriage to King Mark. The age of chivalry practically shines from the pages, and the heart-wrenching story itself is a joy to read, with only a few bumps and jolts of prose along the way (likely, I imagine, translation difficulties). If you are at all interested in mythology, especially that of Arthurian theme or times, Bedier's translation of "Tristan and Iseult" is the one for you. You won't be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Great Read!
Review: Some of these old texts can be made very dry, mundane and boring in the modern translations. This book moves fairly fast and is written in a way that is both engaging and palatable. I didn't want to put it down! The Vintage Classics version is definately worth it.
Rating:
Summary: Great Read!
Review: Some of these old texts can be made very dry, mundane and boring in the modern translations. This book moves fairly fast and is written in a way that is both engaging and palatable. I didn't want to put it down! The Vintage Classics version is definately worth it.
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