Ivanhoe

Rating:
Summary: The Story
Review: Ivanhoe a hero? NO WAY! That's what people thought, until he beat the best knight in the tournament. This book is a great read for children ages 9 and up. Full of suspense and adventure, this beautifully written novel brings the story out of the book as if you were really there. FIRE, FIRE! Ivanhoe is trapped in a burning castle! Will he get out in time?!! Read this book to find out.

Rating:
Summary: A pleasure to read
Review: Ivanhoe by Walter Scott, is set in England during the reign of King Richard , who is away on the Crusades to the Holy Land , leaving the administration of the country to his scheming brother , John , and his corrupt court cronies like Waldemar Fitzurse , Malvoisin and Front-de-Bouef.
Meanwhile a mysterious Disinherited Knight, aided by another anonymous Knight in black amour (Le Noir Fainéant) defeats all of King John's favorite knights at the jousting tournament at Ashby.
The challenger is revealed as Wilfred of Ivanhoe, the disinherited son of the Saxon nobleman, Cedric, who is the beloved of his father's charge, the comely Rowena.

The character who was for me, the most interesting, was the beautiful 'black eyed' Jewish beauty, Rebecca, the daughter of the merchant Isaac of York. Compassionate and yet fiery, humble yet proud, sensual and yet modest, it is not hard to understand the passion for her felt by the Knight Templar, Brian De-Bois Gilbert. She and her father must try to survive in a violently anti-Semitic society, in which they are rendered defenseless, as members of a humbled nation. Rebecca, faced with a horrific fate, refuses to renounce her faith, right until the end. In a sense she represents the Jewish Nation, or the Nation of Israel, right through the exile (Galut), and also today as the international community unjustly pillories the Jewish State, and plots her destruction.

Rebecca thus says during her trial by the order of Knights Templars: " ' To invoke your pity' said the lovely Jewess, with a voice tremulous with emotion 'would I am be aware, , be as useless as I should hold it mean...Nor will I even vindicate myself at the expense of the oppressor which seem to convert the tyrant into the victim."

So you see how timeless words of wisdom can be.

Also thrown into the book are Robin Hood and his Merry Men, and the witty Jester Wamba . A quotable quote from Wamba from Wamba is " To restrain them by their sense of humanity is the same as to stop a runaway horse with a bridle of silk thread.

The book is a pleasure to read. As Herbert Strang wrote in an early 20th century edition of Ivanhoe: "In introducing this great story to a new generation of boys and girls, I find myself wishing that I too, where about to read Ivanhoe for the first time"

After having read Ivanhoe , I can understand exactly why he wrote that.

Rating:
Summary: Ivanhoe the Great?
Review: Ivanhoe is a classic story of love and triumph. As a young man leaves to fight in the crusades, he leaves his love, family, and country behind. In the meantime the sniveling little brother of King Richard as taken the thrown and plans to take the kingdom as well, and he's well their until the homecoming of out long lost hero returns. He returns to an unexcepting father and a girlfriend may or may not still love him. Ivanhoe hides his identity to find if their love is true or not. Will another woman take her place? And who is that man in black?
Through fighting and love, hardships and false accusations this classic book and movie is extraordinary. It shows the true thought and feeling of medieval times and may be enjoyed by all. The realness of this story is amazing and thrusts you into a time of hardships. A story of regaining what's rightly yours and finding true feelings. Through heart and will Ivanhoe finds the answers he's truely looking for. I highly recomemd this book, and if your short on time go for the movie!

Rating:
Summary: Ivanhoe
Review: Ivanhoe is a continuation of the work of Sir Walter Scott as regards his historical novels. Scott was one of the first to create the concept of a historical novel and to this day, his ability to accurately capture and convey the historical time period in which his stories were set is impressive. If you have already read Rob Roy, this will be an easier read for you. It has less of the colloquialisms and true Scottish language and therefore you find yourself translating less and enjoying the story more. This book is perhaps better appreciated when it is read amongst other Scott works, including Rob Roy. It is a classic and it reads like one. The storyline isn't terribly complicated but the characters can be difficult to follow from time to time as they have multiple names and (for some), their true identities are revealed later in the novel. As with Rob Roy, you actually do end up learning a bit about what life was like for many people in that era, which I found perhaps most interesting about the book.

Rating:
Summary: Ivanhoe
Review: Ivanhoe is a great book, It was one of the best books that I have ever read. It is about a guy that gets kicked out of his kingdom. He comes back during a tournament disquised as a knight. When he is about to be beaten a black knight comes and saves his life. In his next match he gets hurt very badly and he is being taken through the woods and he is captured by some fake bandits and taken hostage in a castle. That is all that I can tell you with out telling the ending.

Rating:
Summary: A great book!
Review: Ivenhoe is a book worth reading. Once you get into it it has a great plot you can realy become caught up in. Just be careful not to get caught up in all the detailed explainations of people and things. I do not like romances but I really enjoyed this one. Ivenhoe is only the title charecter because of the Norman/Saxon theme. All the other charecters keep the book going strong.

Rating:
Summary: Knights, History, and of course, Romance.
Review: Let me start off by saying: if you can't appreciate details, do not even think about touching this book. Sir Walter Scott writes in the flowery language of the Renaissance, and he does it very, very well. The first five pages of the book are extensive (although MINOR)details of the surrounding countryside. Another thing that I wasn't so fond of was the obviousness of the whole situation of the black knight. You had to either be pretty stupid or very bored not to find out who the black knight is. For those of you who don't like to read this kind of book, I can only recommend it to you for studying the War of the Roses or the history of Britain. I read this book for my Honors English class in my freshman year, and suffice it to say, many of the kids thought it to be a total yawn (they also had to get cliff notes to pass the exam). I gave it a chance, though, and it truly is a good book (it'd probably be even better without the annoying writing style). When I mentioned romance in the review title, please understand that it's not a kinky/mushy type of romance like what you find in Harlequin novels (no offense, anyone); it's of chivalry and such. Give it a shot and try to stick with it. The story in itself isn't half bad at all once you get into it!

Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: My first 'classical' novel. An excellent book; well written, detailed, interesting chracters, and very good setting. I would reccommend it to anyone who enjoys a good historical novel.

Rating:
Summary: The Grandad of Historical Fiction
Review: Normans, Saxons, Robin Hood, and the Black Knight: if you have been on a search for the holy grail of historical fiction, then this might very well be the thing you're looking for. It has everything: splendid characterizations, rich detail, a rollicking plot, and elegant, lyrical prose. It is so rich in everything that it's . . . well, it's a little daunting.

The plot has to do with . . . where does one start? See, the Normans have been in control of Merry Olde England for about a hundred years, and are grinding away at the natives; stealing their lands, restricting their rights, making them vassals, etc. The fierce Saxons chafe under their rule: some stubbornly defend their holdings, others have taken to the woods to become outlaws. And things don't promise to get any better. The fair-minded King Richard has been away for many years and is rumored to be locked up in an Austrian dungeon. His brother, the evil John, along with his nefarious minions, is attempting to usurp him. Into the mix comes Ivanhoe, back from years of crusading in Palestine, and anxious to regain both his inheritance and the hand of the fair Lady Rowena, both of which are coveted by the Norman, De Bracy.

And this is just the start. There is the jousting tournament, the "grand spectacle of the age;" there is the siege and sack of the foreboding Norman castle, Torquilstone; there is the witchcraft trial of the proud Jewess Rebecca in which she faces a hideous fate; and finally, there is the maybe-not-so-surprising re-entrance of the noble King Richard. There are kidnappings, subterfuges, disguises, vile insults, grand gestures, cowardice, bravery, knavery, dungeons, castles and forests. No, you can't beat it for plot.

The characterizations are detailed and complex. There is the fiercely proud Cedric the Saxon. There is his comrade, Athelstane, who is brave, but slow, and perhaps too fond of food and drink. "The Unready," is his moniker. Here is a marvelous description of the general nature of the would-be king, John: "a mixture of carelessness and presumption with low artifice and cunning." Rebecca, perhaps, is the most memorable character. Downtrodden as she is--due to circumstances entirely beyond her control--she nevertheless maintains a mixture of pride, humility, honor, and kindness, and is very endearing. My favorite is Wamba, Cedric's jester, whose wit and boyish energy are delightfully charming: "[His] brain consisted chiefly in a kind of impatient irritability, which suffered him long not to remain in any quiet posture," so that, "on horseback, therefore, he was perpetually swinging himself backwards and forwards, now on the horse's ears, then anon on the very rump of the animal; now hanging both his legs on one side, and now sitting with his face to the tail, moping, mowing, and making a thousand apish gestures . . ."

Next is the descriptive nature of Scott's narrative, which alone is worthy of the price of admission. Yes, it slows the plot a little, but detailed description is truly the richest meat in historical fiction. Right off the bat, we get the scene: that part of England, "watered by the Don," heavily forested, and with hills and valleys and glades. There then follows a brief description of the populace and recent history. Finally, it zeros in on two characters. We see what they are doing, where they are, and what they are wearing: from cap to toe, we get style, cleanliness, condition and color. Everything in the book is described this way, from clothing to dwelling to fashion to food to customs. Here is a marvelous description of Rowena's chamber, a part of Cedric's castle, "the rude magnificence of which corresponded to the respect which was paid to her by the lord of the mansion." Although richly adorned, "let not modern beauty envy the magnificence of a Saxon princess. The walls of the apartment were so ill finished and so full of crevices, that the rich hangings shook to the night blast, and, in despite of a sort of screen intended to protect them from the wind, the flame of the torches streamed sideways into the air, like the unfurled pennon of a chieftan." This is where she will sleep.

As mentioned earlier, the last great aspect of this novel is the absolutely beautiful language, which, it must be said, can sometimes be a bit difficult. Not only did Scott write 200 years ago, but he also consciously attempted to give one the sense of what the language was like 800 years earlier. To reap the substantial linguistic awards available here, it is best read sitting up, wide awake and alert. Here is a little gem, one of hundreds, this one having to do with the meal of the ravenous Black Knight in Friar Tuck's hermitage: "This mighty dish he placed before his guest, who, using his poniard to cut it open, lost no time in making himself acquainted with its contents." A small little comment, sure, but amusingly clever.

It's a great book. Great in every respect, and well worth the slightly increased mental energy one must put forth to absorb it. Don't put it off any longer.

Rating:
Summary: Prettty Good Book
Review: Ok I read this book when i was 11. It really gives you a great description of the mid-evil times! Its not the most easy book to follow! But it is worth reading! (im not the best review writer!)