The Classic book worth reading.

Yes, the story, or rather the medieval world shown in "Ivanhoe" wasn't nice. Full of prejudice and violence.

It was an interesting point of view and a gripping (also witty) way of storytelling. A romantic adventure at its best.

[4.5 stars]

Antes de passar à opinião propriamente dita, tenho de falar sobre a edição portuguesa do Ivanhoe que tenho. Comprei-a em 2008 no hipermercado Continente, dentro daquelas publicações da Book.it de clássicos a preço convidativo. Já tinha lido As Aventuras de Tom Sawyer da mesma coleção e nada me desagradou, mas desta vez tenho dificuldades em encontrar algo de positivo para além do preço. Bastou-me ler o primeiro capítulo para decidir que não conseguia continuar a ler aquela tradução e que optaria por ler em inglês. Imensas gralhas, vírgulas mal colocadas, frases a soarem mal… A certa altura, para verificar em que página ia, comecei a procurar o capítulo que estava a ler no e-book e não o encontrava; foi quando percebi que esta edição não o tinha e pior, enquanto que o e-book tinha 44 capítulos, ali só se encontravam 42. Recordo que na capa diz explicitamente “Versão Integral”, o que não é verdade. Por curiosidade, li uma página do livro e comparei-o com o texto original, e concluí que naquele bocadinho o texto tinha sido completamente assassinado.

Tive curiosidade em pesquisar sobre a tradução/tradutor, e descobri uma edição dos anos 1950 de Ivanhoe, da Romano Torres, precisamente traduzida por António Vilalva. Isto levou-me a imaginar que, para esta edição, alguém se lembrou de digitalizar a tradução original (que ainda assim me parece tomar demasiadas liberdades em relação ao texto) mas achou que a revisão do texto era um passo dispensável – isto apesar de haver uma revisora creditada. É só especulação da minha parte, mas não me admirava nada. Concluo este pequeno aparte relembrando o ditado que diz “o barato sai caro”.

Passando ao livro propriamente dito: Ivanhoe é um dos romances de cavalaria mais famosos, recuperando o contexto social na Inglaterra do final do século XII. Foi uma época de profundas divisões no país, numa altura em que o Rei Ricardo I, Coração de Leão, se encontrava ausente do país após a participação na Terceira Cruzada e de ter desaparecido, supostamente após ter sido raptado. A nobreza do país estava dividida entre Saxões e Normandos, com predominância dos segundos, e é precisamente esta divisão o grande tema do livro.

Ivanhoe, que tinha partido com o Rei Ricardo para a Cruzada e deserdado pelo pai – um Saxão que continuava fiel às suas origens – não tem propriamente grande participação ao longo da narrativa, mas acaba por aparecer aos olhos de leitor como um símbolo da união entre as duas fações e, em última análise, um símbolo de todas as virtudes do povo inglês, fruto de várias culturas. Os judeus e a sua relação com outras culturas são igualmente um tema importante no livro e não deixa de ser interessante aprender um pouco mais sobre o papel deles na sociedade da época.

De resto, é um livro com ação constante, que traz consigo um certo tom épico, no sentido em que possui elementos como os regressados que desejam recuperar a sua honra, a luta contra a corrupção, a elevação do sentido da nação e, também, o reencontro com personagens que conhecemos de outras andanças (notável aqui o cameo de Robin Hood).

Foi uma leitura agradável e que me permitiu aprender algumas coisas sobre a época medieval, mas ainda assim, e para o meu gosto pessoal, achei as personagens demasiado a preto e branco e os acontecimentos, na sua maioria algo previsíveis. Não deixa de ser um bom livro, e por isso recomendo-o (mas comprem outra edição ou leiam em inglês!).

This was a re-read, even if I just read it a year ago it felt like it was forever ago I read it. The idea sounds interesting but find this to be one of the dullest and dustiest classics I've read upon a reread. Not my cup of tea

____

3.5 stars. Ivanhoe was one of the first classics I tried to read I few years ago and failed misearble, but now when I'm much more invested in classics I decided to give it a try. It's an good story but one of those classics that feels much a fiction of its time and not as timeless as some other, bit overall I did enjoy it but wasn't anything amazing about it.

In Ivanhoe, Scott skillfully undermines the alienating characteristics of the medieval gothic while taking advantage of its familiarity to and popularity with nineteenth-century audiences. Although containing elements reminiscent of the earlier gothic, such as the corruption and intrigue of religious orders, the madness of Ulrica and the burning alive of Front-de-Beouf in his castle, it also pokes fun at some of the wilder elements of this genre: the resurrected phantom of Athelstane, for instance, turns out to be quite alive and in search of a decent meal. Scott is clear in his rejection of supernatural devices, and rather than the scenes of emotional breakdown and overwhelming passion common in earlier gothics, his characters by and large behave with the rationality and self-control that would have been regarded as admirable by the author’s contemporaries. Throughout the story, Scott attempts to have his characters behave as modernly as they could without ahistoricism. By avoiding the distasteful areas of superstition, madness, and popery, Scott made it possible for nineteenth-century readers to sympathize more fully with the actors and to imagine themselves in the characters’ places without uneasiness or mental strain.

Ivanhoe was presented, in the overtly fictional voice of the translator Templeton, as a medieval account rendered into modern language. Historical anachronisms are thus not authorial errors but deliberate attempts to make the text more accessible to contemporary readers. Scott constructed a debate between Templeton and the likewise-fictional antiquary, Dr Dryasdust, who accuses the translator of “polluting the well of history with modern inventions.” Scott replies, in the person of Templeton: “I may have confused the manners of two or three centuries… It is my comfort, that errors of this kind escape the general class of readers, and that I may share in the ill-deserved applause of those architects who, in their modern Gothic, do not hesitate to introduce, without rule or method, ornaments proper to different styles and to different periods of art.” Scott this warns his audience that Ivanhoe should not be read as an attempt to recreate, nor to modernize as Leland did (and as Scott had done when he wrote in Middle English a Continuation of the poem Sir Tristem, which was intended to be a believable imitation of the medieval text), a medieval romance. Although Scott was widely read in medieval romances and often alluded to them, he did not model Ivanhoe on a particular medieval tale and makes no attempt to imitate an authentic medieval style. Neither his language, his plotting, nor his ideology are, or were intended to be, genuinely medieval.

The plot of Ivanhoe and other of Scott’s works likewise reveals less nostalgia than is often assumed. It is commonplace to state, as Alice Chandler does in her seminal work A Dream of Order: The Medieval Ideal in Nineteenth-Century English Literature, that Scott’s medievalism “brought to an increasingly urbanized, industrialized, and atomistic society, the vision of a more stable and harmonious social order, substituting the paternal benevolence of manor and guild for the harshness of city and factory and offering the clear air and open fields of the medieval past in place of the blackening skies of England.” While this was indeed a part of the appeal of Scott’s tales, it oversimplifies Scott’s complex attitudes toward the Middle Ages and ignores the conclusion with which several of his novels end.
Scott was far from giving unreserved approval to the medieval past. Even in regards to his most sympathetic characters he offers points of criticism. In describing the heroic Richard, for example, he remarked on the “wild spirit of chivalry” which urged the king to risk unreasonable dangers. “In the lion-hearted king, the brilliant, but useless, character of a knight of romance was in a great measure realized and revived… his feats of chivalry furnishing themes for bards and minstrels, but affording none of those solid benefits to his country on which history loves to pause, and hold up as an example to posterity.” Scott goes so far as to imply that the sullen fidelity of the serf Gurth is more admirable than the reckless courage and self-pleasing and licentious chivalry of the royal Richard; freedom and honor rest for Scott on responsibility and loyalty to the social covenant, not on personal glory.

Whereas in medieval tales the focus is almost always on individual heroism expressed through valor and strength of arms, these qualities play a large but ultimately superficial role in Ivanhoe. In the final anticlimactic duel at Rebecca’s trial, for example, Ivanhoe does not defeat the tempestuous villain by skill; in fact, the other characters all agree that Bois-Guilbert would certainly have won the contest were he not so conflicted in his feelings for Rebecca that he collapses on the field without being struck by his opponent. Beneath the exciting trappings of jousts, abductions, and political intrigues, the central motivating tension of Ivanhoe rests on the disruption of familial relationships and the struggle to restore those relationships to their proper order. Even the political struggle between King Richard and Prince John is a fraternal conflict; and Richard recognizes that his royal duties include reconciling Ivanhoe with his father. This reconciliation is, in fact, his most important success: insofar as Scott suggests that Richard is a good king, it is because he unites England in loyalty to his person as he unites the disrupted families he encounters on his adventures.

The emphasis on familial order gives a different role to women than would be found in a genuinely medieval tale. In medieval chivalric romances concerning male competition the female figures occur secondarily, as lesser prizes to be won in addition to glory or honor. The nineteenth-century ideal of domestic harmony, and its association with political order, gave women a more important role than did medieval political ideology. In the jousts and duels of Ivanhoe, Rowena is the primary object of the struggle between the main character and his opponent. Rowena’s genealogical importance to legitimate Saxon claims of rule is emphasized by Cedric, but in the end she encourages Saxon assimilation rather than independence by marrying Ivanhoe, who has cast his lot with Richard. Her rejection of Athelstane signals the end of Cedric’s plan for renewed Saxon dominance, a plan which Scott marks as backward-looking and unrealistic, if understandable.

If Scott in fact advocates a medieval revival, it is not of the feudal system or of Anglo-Saxonism, but of what he understood as medieval virtues: self-sacrifice, emotion rather than sentimentality, loyalty not only to one’s leaders but also to one’s followers. These attributes were based on an integrated system of personal relationships: between members of a clan or family, between lords and vassals or serfs, between subjects and ruler. Scott depicts these relationships as essentially personal and familial, rather than abstract and national or bureaucratic, which they were rapidly becoming in his own lifetime.

Note, March 17, 2014: I posted this review some time ago, but just finished tweaking the language in one sentence to clarify a thought.

Obviously, this novel won't be every reader's cup of tea: the author's 19th-century diction will be too much of a hurdle for some, those who define novels of action and adventure as shallow will consider it beneath them, and those who want non- stop action will be bored by Scott's serious effort to depict the life and culture of his medieval setting. But those who appreciate adventure and romance in a well-realized setting, and aren't put off by big words and involved syntax, will find this a genuinely rewarding read.

Ivanhoe is a quintessentially Romantic novel, and that school stressed appeal to the reader's emotions rather than, or at least more so than, their intellects. But this does not mean it's devoid of a philosophical or moral point of view. Novels of action and combat appeal to emotions of fear and excitement, etc., but at their best, they often presuppose a code of conduct between humans that differentiates between good and evil, and cast the conflict in the story in those terms, with the writer on the side of good; and the various characters may model genuine virtues. This is definitely the case here. And the (small-r) romantic aspect of the plot in this book is not a simple tale of "boy falls for girl," either; the above description identifies Rowena as Ivanhoe's "true love," but in fact he comes to have very definite romantic feelings toward Rebecca as well, and the question of how how this triangle will be resolved contributes to the story's interest. Rebecca's character also brings an added depth to the novel --she's a strong, courageous lady who excels in a male-dominated profession in the midst of a sexist society (and the 19th-century culture of Scott's readers was scarcely less sexist than Rebecca's medieval world). Scott's treatment of her, as a Jewish character, also exemplifies genuine tolerance (in a much different sense than the inverted one popularized today, in which we simply proclaim ourselves as apostles of "tolerance," but then hate and anathematize anyone who disagrees with us, because their different beliefs identify them as "intolerant"); as an Anglican, he has honest differences with her religious beliefs, but he can enthusiastically affirm her as a person anyway, and, as an author, allow her to remain true to her own beliefs. So, there's a lot here for the discerning reader to appreciate!

This is an incredibly difficult novel to review. It was published in 1819, so rating it in the context of the modern books that I usually read is incredibly unfair. But I'll start with this, just in case you're wondering what to expect: I listened to the audiobook. About halfway through, I realized I had no idea what was going on and had to read the spark notes to catch myself up (maybe I'm just an idiot). It may be a romantic adventure novel, but it's not like a modern novel, so if that's what you're expecting, you'll be disappointed.

To be honest, if this very book had been sent to agents or editors today, I guarantee it would've been rejected. It's wordy, the characters are extremely superficial, the plot is fairly random, and the narrator 'breaks the fourth wall' on a regular basis. If it had been published this year, I likely would've given it 1 star. But it was written in a completely different context than books today are. So I had to push aside my expectations for the elements that foster my engagement and emotional attachment and try to appreciate the book for what it is and where it came from.

In the end, I had a very positive reading experience with this book. Now, I'm no literary expert, so my impressions may be totally off base. But from a lay reader's point of view, I think this book must've been quite progressive for its time - and I find myself a huge fan of Sir Walter Scott now. It was written by a man and published in 1819, but it is very pro-women and pro-Jew. Scott fights stereotypes and divisiveness, and he makes the reader feel empathy for his Jewish and female characters. And his female characters are strong. They are brave, confident, and articulate. One is even elderly - and she's still given a boss moment.

Ivanhoe may be the title character, but let's be real. Rebecca ("the Jewess") is the real star of this book, and her plight is still relevant today. Rebecca has power - she is beautiful, wealthy, intelligent, and has great medical skills. And when she spurns one man's inappropriate advances, he turns the situation around and frames himself as the victim. This inappropriate treatment of women - the measures taken to protect predators and keep women powerless - has happened throughout history, and things like it still happen today. And our boy Walter had this figured out back in 1819 and illustrated it for the world in this book.

In my opinion, one of the best parts of the novel is the conversation that occurs between Rowena and Rebecca at that end that perfectly illustrates the novel's main theme. The women talk about the power that they have, demolish stereotypes, and condemn division between people. And yes, this key conversation happens between TWO WOMEN (and there our boy Walter goes, passing the Bechdel test well over a century before it even existed). Maybe I'm clueless about literature and history (that's definitely true), but I can't get over the fact that a man in 1819 made female characters the stars of his adventure novel when so many male authors today reduce their female characters to a pretty face and a pair of boobs.

Overall - I'm glad I read this book, but I don't necessarily recommend it to everyone. You've got to be in the mood for an adventure novel that's less accessible, less engaging, and less emotional than most modern novels. Really, you've got to be in the mood to read an adventure novel while considering the historical context that it was published in.

Good grief, what a dreary book! It would have been a DNF but as a Scot living in Scotland never having read Scott I felt duty bound to drag my eyes through each chapter to the end (much skimming). It doesn’t help that the whole is written in archaic English - all those thee-thou-thines, ‘hasts’ and ‘doths’ quickly become irksome. It is also revoltingly anti-semitic. Thither to the charity shop bargain bin methinks.

تو سنین دبستان خوندمش و اون موقع حوصلمو سر می برد با توصیفای فراوانش ولی چون عادت به نصفه کتاب خوندن نداشتم تمومش کردم و همونقدر که داستانشو فهمیدم خوشم اومد.یادمه فامیلی مترجمش هم شکیبا بود و من شک داشتم که مرده یا زن:|
یه بار دیگه باید بخونمش.اون موقع خیلی سر در نیاوردم.ولی بعضی جاهاشو دوست داشتم و می پسندیدم(انتظار ندارید که بگم کجاهاش؟!)فکر کنم این آیوانهو یک معشوقه ای داشت که من خیلی معشوقه هه رو دوست داشتم.مطمئن هم نیستم.ولی اگه معشوقه ای در کار بوده من دوستش داشتم!
بعضی توصیفاتش هم خیلی زنده بودند و شرایط را کاملا می شد تصور کرد.
البته یادمه که سخت خوان هم بود و کند پیش می رفت.
و همینجا مراتب تشکرم را از سرکار خانم هارپر لی به جا می آورم که اگر اسم "آیوانهو"را توی کشتن مرغ مینا نمی دیدم،محال بود یادم بیاید که چنین کتابی هم خواندم!

As I slowly replenish my TBR shelf I have been frequently at a loss for new things to read. I finally had to resort to those of my shelves wherein reside the books that have long been forgotten and or ignored. It was on one of those shelves hidden in the dark that I found this volume. I had heard of Ivanhoe but never knew what the story was about. I believe my only knowledge of this fictional hero was due to a TV program airing in the 1950's. It was during this time that a series about Robin Hood was rather popular and I guess that popularity lead to the importing of a British program about Ivanhoe and I believe Ivanhoe was played by the young Roger Moore. Beyond the episode or two that I may have seen I knew nothing about Ivanhoe and I sincerely doubt that TV series would have helped my ignorance. So why not pull this attractive leather bound gold leaf treasure from the shelf and give it a read?

Well I'll be darned if I wasn't gobsmacked surprised. This story is a classic by Walter Scott, a Scotsman, and the book is over 200 years old so I admit to selecting this book and feeling considerable trepidation in doing so. British 19th century, and early 19th century to boot, fiction had me expecting the usual archaic language, run on sentences, addictive use of punctuation all leading to torturous reading. My expectations were completely unrealized. Who would have thought that it takes a Scotsman to write a readable and enjoyable work of British fiction in the English language? This is a darn good book and something of a thriller if you can imagine such a thing for that time. I do not wish to mislead you in believing there aren't some reading obstacles in this book. There are numerous medieval terms employed and a bit too many Latin phrases and expressions used. The author, however, spares the reader by using a glossary of terms and phrases as well as notes explaining medieval customs and practices portrayed in the story. With this assistance the reader will have no trouble following the story in all its ancient detail. So what is the story about?

Obviously this is a story of knighthood in all its idealized glory as well as its unsavory abuse. As a warning to the reader I should mention a great deal of the story depicts unrestrained anti-semitism. While this may be disturbing it is historically accurate both as to the time of the story and probably at the time of the book's publication. Part of the story revolves around racial divides and religious differences and while anti-semitism may be disturbing it is germaine to this particular book.

The plot takes place during the reign of Richard The Lionheart which I didn't know until reading this book. I also didn't expect to find Robin Hood, Friar Tuck, and the men of Sherwood involved in the tale of Ivanhoe but they are all there. This story introduced me to an element of English history that I was completely unaware of and that was the ethnic divide between native Englishmen, Saxons, and their conquering overlords the Normans. England at this time was inhabited by a population divided by tribalism and on the verge of civil war. It was the grandfathers of the present generation that fought at Hastings but the hatred still existed. Ivanhoe, a Saxon, made the unforgivable decision to join King Richard, a Norman, on his Crusade to the Holy Land. For this act of tribal treason his father disowns him and his lady love, Rowena, is pledged to a local Saxon noble. Ivanhoe returns secretly to England and participates in a tournament in which he vanquishes the Norman contestants with the help of an anonymous Black Knight. Unfortunately Ivanhoe is injured in the jousting and is quickly and secretly taken in and hidden by a Jewish merchant and his beautiful and medically skilled daughter, Rebecca. Ivanhoe is understandably in danger for having the bad taste of defeating the favored Normans in front of Prince John who is presently plotting to usurp his brother's throne. There is a great deal of knightly combat, kidnapping, damsels in danger, treachery, and just rewards to keep the reader turning pages. The age of this story hasn't hurt it one bit as it remains a very entertaining book and well worth reading. Enjoy.

Sempre suggestiva l'ambientazione medioevale inglese, si ritrova in questo romanzo uno tra i personaggi più sfruttati dal cinema, Robin Hood...la verbosità di Walter Scott tende ad annacquare l'azione, ma rimane comunque una lettura avvincente ed ha aperto la strada al romanzo storico.

4 1/2 stars

I was a little chary of starting this one when I did as I'd recently finished The Mysteries of Udolpho and I wasn't all that keen on embarking on another long and sometimes boring read. This was meant to be set during the Age of Chivalry after all, I had great fears that there would be people declaiming right and left, maidenly honour being besmirched and people reading poetry as entertainment. In the fragile state I was in I wasn't sure I'd be able to cope. However I needed have worried, Ivanhoe was an absolute cracker. Not a dull moment from start to finish. In fact I don't think there was much breathing space from start to finish. There were also jokes from 'rude mechanicals' which were genuinely funny without needing anyone to explain the punchline.

The setting is England around the times of King Richard the Lionheart and the Holy Crusades. To make Ivanhoe the story it is, Walter Scott throws in a vast heaping of history, adds large chunks of realistic ambiance and spices everything up with more than a dash of mythical story telling (i.e. totally made up bullshit) and dishes us up a stew both tasty and hearty. King Richard is missing and rumours abound, the villainous Prince John plots and schemes for the throne and the greenwoods ring to the sound of Merry Men. Also back from the Crusades comes the brave young Ivanhoe, bosom friend of his majesty and estranged from his family for daring to love a lady of most noble Saxon birth who her guardian (Ivanhoes own father) wished to marry off to another great Saxon prince and so create yet another contender for the vacantish throne. And here we have the first of the clashes portrayed in the book - Saxon vs Norman. Shortly after another is introduced in the form of a cringing Jew who is despised and reviled by virtue of being suspected of growing rich off the blood of Christian men and for simply existing. Sir Walter Scott does make rather a caricature of Issac the moneylender but he does show the social conditions which lead to his devotion and love of money.

These aren't the only themes in the work but they are probably the most prominent and Walter Scott doesn't shy away from showing how even the best of men could be blinded by their society taught bigotry. Ivanhoe was a man of his time, a super man of his time to be sure, but still greatly flawed. Although refraining from actual physical abuse his contempt for even the virtuous Jewess Rebecca threatens to overshadow our opinion of him.

This determination to show reality rather than an entirely idealised picture of life is one of the great feature of the book. In tournaments knight die - lances splinter and impale the unlucky, swords don't just clang harmlessly off of armour, they sheer through blood and bone. You can almost hear the screams of agony coming from the pages during these 'friendly' entertainments.

The lands are practically lawless, only the powerful and extremely well connected had any real hope of getting 'justice'. Women who were abducted were very likely raped. Repeatedly. Knights were neither gentle nor kind. Torture was rife, religious bigotry was beyond endemic and might made right from King down.

Of course this was a fictional story so in the end the good guys are going to win; for all of Walter Scotts gritty realism this was never really not going to be the case. Still, even the ending gives pause for thought; there isn't quite the golden little ribbon neatly tying everything up in one happy package.

A wonderful story, it only loses half a star because, while entertaining, the people inside the covers never show any actual individuality. Baring the nuanced Rebecca they have a character and a section of society they are meant to represent and they don't step outside of these roles. Even the titular character Ivanhoe is no more than a cardboard cutout, although there is a slight suggestion of personal growth near the very end there isn't any more time for this to be developed. This lack of depth didn't really worry me, the story was great and I loved it. I'm definitely looking forward to reading what else he has on the list.

I have decided to put down this book and not finish it 2/3 of the way in, the reason being that while it was interesting to read about the old times of knights, tournaments and great battles at castles, it wasn't in any way interesting enough for me to keep on reading. I feel like being this far in, I've already gotten out of the story what I possibly could, and I don't really care about how everything's going to end.
Funnily enough, I was originally under the impression that this was going to be a children' story written in a somewhat easily accessible language. Turned out I was completely wrong. It's a classic story for adults written in a rather dense 1820s-language. Maybe my disappointment is part of the reason why I don't really feel like finishing it.