Ivanhoe

ইংল্যান্ড,১৬ শতক। ক্রুসেড যুদ্ধের সময়ের কথা। ইংল্যান্ডের রাজা রিচার্ড ক্রুসেড পরিচলনা করছেন দেশ পরিচালনার ভার তার ভাই জনকে ছেড়ে দিয়ে। কিন্তু জন ক্ষমতার লোভে রিচার্ডকে সরিয়ে পাকাপাকি ভাবে বসতে চায় সিংহাসনে। আইভানহো বই এর নাম একই সাথে প্রধান চরি���্র (?) রাজা রিচার্ডের খুবই কাছের মানুষদের মাঝে একজন। পারিবারিক ভাবে তাজ্য হলেও রাজা রিচার্ডের কাছে সে প্রিয় পাত্র। আইভানহোর ক্রুসেড থেকে দেশে ফিরে আসার পর থেকে রাজা রিচার্ডের, তার ভাই এর ষড়যন্ত্রের মকাবেলা করার সময়ের কাহিনী বর্ননা করা হয়েছে এই গল্পে।

পাঠপ্রতিক্রিয়াঃ আইভানহো Waverley সিরিজের ৫ম বই, সিরিজের ৪র্থ বই রব রয় থাকার পরও কেন যে ৫ম বই দিয়ে পড়া শুরু করলাম কে জানে। বই হিসেবে সুখপাঠ্য, মাঝে উপরি হিসেবে রবিনহুডের আগমন। :p

১৮১৯ সালে লেখা এই উপন্যাসটি মূলত ক্রুসেড যুদ্ধ-পরবর্তী প্রেক্ষাপটে লেখা। ইংল্যান্ডের নর্মান এবং স্যাক্সনদের রাজনৈতিক দ্বন্দ্ব এবং ইহুদি-খ্রিষ্টান দ্বন্দ্ব ঐতিহাসিক আঙ্গিকে ব্যাখ্যা করা হয়েছে।‌ রাজনীতি ও যুদ্ধের সাথে ��ানবজীবনের অবিচ্ছেদ্য অংশ প্রেমের বিষয়টিও এই উপন্যাসে মধুরভাবে ফুটে উঠেছে।


বিভূতিভূষণের অনুবাদটি প্রথমদিকে কিছুটা খটোমটো মনে হলেও পরে সয়ে গিয়েছে।‌ আর ব্ল্যাক এডিশনে কাহিনির মতোই ব‌ইটিকে মনে হচ্ছিল কালো-বর্ম পরিহিত যোদ্ধা!

Although it took me quite a while to get used to the language and sentence structure, I really enjoyed this one. Ivanhoe is part adventure, part historical fiction, part romance, and all fun.

I can't help but wonder why the book is called Ivanhoe, though. The title character is certainly not the main character, nor even one of the better written characters. As a matter of fact, most of the characters didn't appear to be all that complex or interesting.

I vote we re-name this book Rebecca. Because that woman is n  EVERYTHING.n

Sir Walter Scott, prolífico narrador y poeta del movimiento romántico británico, es considerado el padre de la novela histórica contemporánea. Su obra está influida por varios romances y baladas de Inglaterra y Escocia medieval, que fueron reinventadas por su pluma con un profundo conocimiento de la historia y el alma humana. Sus primeros trabajos, poemas y odas, dieron paso a una serie de novelas históricas ambientadas en Escocia, conocidas como el ciclo de Waverley, que le dieron reconocimiento y fama. Es “Ivanhoe”, escrita y publicada en 1819, la novela que lo lleva al prestigio internacional, alcanzando traducciones y lectores a nivel global hasta nuestras fechas. Ivanhoe supuso un parteaguas en la producción narrativa de Scott y en la literatura universal; a partir de ese momento, el autor británico abordó motivos ingleses con destreza y erudición, a la par que sus novelas se convirtieron en paradigma para varios autores emergentes. La obra está ambientada en el Siglo XII, durante el reinado de Ricardo Corazón de León, cuyo incierto paradero propició intrigas en la corte lideradas por su hermano Juan sin Tierra. Wilfrid de Ivanhoe fue uno de los leales caballeros de Ricardo, que, al regreso de las Cruzadas, buscó restablecerlo en el poder al tiempo que perseguía el perdón de su padre, Cedric el sajón. Según los críticos, la novela es una obra maestra porque Scott tuvo un amplio dominio del periodo histórico en donde transcurre la acción, que le permitió ser fiel a los caracteres de los personajes históricos y a las costumbres, sentimientos y vestimenta de la época.

La novela nos permite conocer las diferencias entre Sajones y Normandos, los primeros, habitantes originales de las Islas, fueron derrotados en la batalla de Hastings, cuando el ejército normando de Guillermo II de Normandía venció y conquistó los territorios de las huestes del rey Harold de Inglaterra. El argumento de Ivanhoe parte de la rivalidad entre vencedores y vencidos, los primeros orgullosos y arrogantes caballeros, los segundos altivos y honorables campesinos. Esta mezcla permitió la creación del inglés moderno y la configuración cultural de los anglosajones. La pugna religiosa es otro aspecto del contexto de Ivanhoe: cristianos, judíos y sarracenos mantenían su distancia, fuertes prejuicios y estigmas satanizaban a unas y a otras gentes: los judíos fueron considerados una raza sin nación, un pueblo sin honor y miserable, dedicado a la extorsión y la usura, acaudalados hijos de Abraham enfrentados a los cristianos desde aquel Mesías muerto en la cruz. En este escenario deambulan cantidades de personajes, señores y vasallos, clérigos y monjes, escuderos y caballeros, doncellas y princesas, porquerizos y bufones. Un verdadero universo de seres y costumbres que cimientan el estereotipo moderno de la imaginería medieval retratado en series y películas.

Scott es pionero e innovador, toma escenas y retablos del folklor inglés para insertarlos en una narración absorbente, dando vida y continuidad a un sinfín de motivos caballerescos: diálogos intrépidos, palpitantes, corteses y heroicos, enfrentamientos y batallas a caballo, torneos, juicios, tomas de castillos, situaciones inesperadas, valerosas, audaces y cómicas, con un sentido del humor que utiliza la ironía, el contraste y el ridículo. Algunos de los personajes resaltantes: Wamba (mi personaje favorito) el bufón que desenmascara las apariencias con su velo de locura, el más cuerdo, el más gracioso, el más pintoresco; Gurth el porquerizo, valiente, prudente y leal, extraordinario vasallo convertido en hombre libre; Cedric el sajón, líder espiritual de la causa sajona, conservó el anhelo de revivir a su raza de entre las cenizas; Lady Rowena, inteligente, pura y bella, descendiente de sangre real sajona, no se dejará vencer por las intrigas y complicaciones; Isaac de York, usurero judío que se frota las manos ofreciendo sus préstamos a todas las facciones; Rebeca, hija de Isaac, hermosa joya de las arenas orientales, cautiva de su religión y de su velo, bruja y curadora, amor imposible de caballeros y templarios; el desconocido Caballero Negro, cabalgando misterioso en busca de justicia y de aventuras; el arquero Locksley, líder de bandidos y monteros en los bosques; el fraile Thuck; el templario Brian de Bois Guibert; el prior Aymer; de Bracy y Waldemar Fitzurse mano derecha y mano izquierda de Juan sin Tierra, en la política y en las armas; entre otros. Una constelación de personajes variopintos y diversos que representa todas, o casi todas, las ocupaciones y las clases sociales de la Inglaterra medieval y que sirvieron de modelo para posteriores trabajos, basta decir: “canción de hielo y fuego”.

Otro punto alto de Ivanhoe es su ameno, fiable y locuaz narrador, una figura literaria que envuelve a los lectores en las tramas y los ambientes, que te toma de la mano, te coloca un yelmo, un escudo, una espada y un garrote, para llevarte a cabalgar a través del tiempo y del espacio. Los lances entre caballeros, los diálogos e intrigas cortesanas, la divertidísima cena del Caballero Negro y el clérigo de San Dunstan, el palpitante triángulo amoroso, los arqueros en los bosques, entre otros; constituyen momentos eternos en la literatura y en la cultura occidental de este y todos los tiempos. Ivanhoe es una novela universal por su capacidad de penetrar en los recovecos humanos, por mostrar las luces y sombras, las ambiciones, los sueños, el honor, el coraje, la valentía y el drama de una época remota e hidalga; por humanizar la historia con una mirada que reconcilia diferencias, que integra distintas ideas y que propone la resolución de conflictos en la tierra y no en el cielo. Ivanhoe es aventura sin fin.

Good gravy, I've had Ivanhoe on my literary back burner for longer than I can remember. I love a romping good adventure story, but when I say that I mean things like The Count of Monte Cristo, The Scarlet Pimpernel, The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit: Or There and Back Again, The Odyssey or The Princess Bride. I like my adventure stories to have... adventure. I expected adventure in Ivanhoe since it often falls into the same category as a lot of other swashbuckling adventures, filled with excitement.

I think my copy was broken, because I didn't get much excitement out of it.

It's not that it's a bad story by any stretch of the imagination. It's the grandpappy of historical fiction - published in 1819, the story actually takes place in the early twelfth century focusing on the whole Norman/Saxon brouhaha. Wilfred of Ivanhoe is shunned by his Saxon father for his dedication to the ENEMY: Couer de Lion, aka Richard the Lion-Heart, aka Richard I of England. And then there's a lot of stuff about politics and religion, which actually was pretty interesting, if a little unbelievable for the period in which the story was to take place. Likely that Ivanhoe would have had much opportunity to really hook up with the Jewish Rebecca? About as likely as Jack, a third-class passenger on a sinking ship, would hook up with high-class Rose in that dumb movie, Titanic. But at least the discussions of religion/class actually seemed to make a point in Ivanhoe.

But there were lots of pages of talky-talk that seemed very unrealistic. Everyone in the twelfth century, according to Walter Scott, was pretty well-educated and awful liberal-minded. But it goes beyond that! There's a scene in which there is a fire, and I swear pages went by where people are talking about the fire, but no one is actually making any movement to leave. Maybe it was my imagination but that scene dragged on forever. And there's so much greenery in the twelfth century! Maybe as a 21st-century gal it's hard to imagine so much greenery, but this went beyond the woods and the hills and the dales. Everyone wore green, there was green hanging everywhere. Green, apparently, was the new black in 1194.

Pages and pages of discussion about the size of the tables, the wood the tables were made of, what was on the tables, what the people sitting at the tables looked like, why some people weren't at the table... it never seemed to end.

But people really seem to love this story, so who am I to discourage anyone else from reading it? There were some good things about this as well, like an appearance of Robin Hood. A lot of what we believe about Robin Hood actually can be traced back to Ivanhoe, so that's pretty cool. Still I consider Pyle's The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood a much better adventure story than Ivanhoe, but that's probably beside the point.

I am glad to have read this, even though I learned in the Afterword that not only was Scott's writing sloppily anachronistic, but he also wrote the story to try to make some big bucks. For some reason that sort of rubbed me the wrong way, though certainly he's not the first nor the last writer to be in the writing game just for the Benjamins.

I'm mostly just relieved to be able to cross this off my list. WARNING: As with any work of historical fiction, take the story with a grain of salt.

I want someone to bring the Trysting tree back into popularity. There's something pretty neat-o about meeting under a tree to discuss really important things.

Parts of this were fun, but other parts were a bit of a slog, and still other parts were anticlimactic. Rebecca is the only fleshed-out character to root for and she is still pretty flat. I know many readers, including Jewish readers in the 19th century, considered Scott's portrayal of Judaism exemplary, but I couldn't help but see that the Good Jewish Character is also outrageously gorgeous and committed to a life of virginity by the end of the novel (that is...not bringing any more Jewish people into the world...) while the Jewish men are sniveling and repulsive. There's not a living Jewish woman in the novel besides Rebecca. Come to think of it, very few women at all besides Rowena, who is also outrageously gorgeous. Oh, and Rebecca and her crew leave England by the end of the novel, which kind of makes sense in the narrative because the Edict of Expulsion was in 1290. But they're going to Granada...and we all know what happened there in the 1400s...I guess what I'm saying is, while Scott's Jewish representation may have been good for its day, it still leaves a lot to be desired and betrays a lack of consideration about real Jewish lives. Scott includes a lot of historically accurate antisemitism along the way, and I'm not sure the triumphal moments and one goodish character are worth it.

But I am just a reader whose eyes glaze over during fight scenes. While I am full of gratitude to Scott for popularizing historical fiction as we know it, this just isn't really my personal favorite kind of fiction. It's not a bad story, just...not really my thing. Glad I read it, might try a different Scott novel sometime. I am so chuffed by his massive web of deception surrounding the Waverley novels and their authorship. It's too funny and I want a lighthearted period drama about it stat, please! I am also struck by Scott's profound love for Shakespeare (and that of the editor of my edition, who catalogued even two-word phrases). Wow, there were a ton of references, in the story arcs and in the language. I expected tons of biblical references, too, and there were sooo many, more obscure than I usually see--Scott must have been a great reader of Scripture in his own time. Fascinating!

It is hard to know what to say about Ivanhoe. It is part Robin Hood style adventure, part history and full of thematic richness. I was surprised that Ivanhoe himself figures into this tale somewhat sporadically. There are many characters who receive more in depth development, and the Jewess Rebecca is more fully developed than the heroine, Rowena.

The attitudes toward Jews in the novel make one uncomfortable in the same way that you feel when reading The Merchant of Venice. It is obvious that Scott himself does not sanction this view of Jews, but even the characters who admire and are helped by Rebecca make comments regarding being defiled by her presence or touch. I constantly had to attempt to put myself into the time in question and remind myself that this is history and to have written it any other way would have been false.

It is easy to see why Sir Walter Scott was a popular writer in his time and has survived. The story is fun, in the same way tales of King Arthur and his Knights are. The descriptions of the lists and tournaments are vivid portrayals. There are plot surprises, there is laughter, particularly in the forms of a jester and a Thane, and there is familiarity in the characters that we have seen time and again from this era, Richard the Lion-Hearted, Robin Hood and his Merry Men, and the evil King John.

3.5 stars? Give or take.

This was my DWS birthday book selection, Sir Walter Scott being an August baby. I went into it knowing that it was about knights and chivalry, but there is much more to it.

First things first: there is a TON of anti-Semitism. Scott portrays his Jewish characters very schizophrenically, alternating between sympathizing with them and depicting them stereotypically as grasping and money loving. There are scenes directly equivalent to The Merchant of Venice with Isaac of York trying to decide between his daughter and his money. Rebecca is depicted as virtuous, skilled, and possessed of wisdom, while her beauty makes her the desire of lecherous men. Still, she does not receive the affection that she desires from a particular English knight. That two centuries later we still have people who hate Jews and Muslims beggars belief.

I think the reason for this novel's longevity is Scott's incorporation of the elements of the Robin Hood tale. Once I realized that Richard the Lion Hearted and Prince John were involved, I hied me off to Wikipedia to learn more. Sure enough, it was Scott who consolidated the details of earlier legends into the storyline we all are familiar with today. The Merry Men, dressed in green, robbing from the rich and giving to the poor, Friar Tuck, Allan-a-Dale, feats of marksmanship, opposition to Prince John—he melds it all together into a unified story that seems to have grabbed our imaginations.

The part that we have let go of is the Saxon-Norman rivalry which Scott layers into the mix. I'm sure that such discords existed at some point in history, but Scott was apparently trying to make a point about such prejudices to his contemporaries. Nowadays it doesn't hurt the story, but it doesn't really help it much either.

The writing is florid by today's standards, but still very readable. There are some odd sentence constructions and word spellings, but for a book that is over 200 years old, it is still entertaining. There are bits that are predictable to the modern reader, especially those familiar with the Robin Hood story, but it would have been new and exciting when it was first published. I've been nervous of Scott's writing until now, but I have the courage to try more of his work after enjoying this one.