Ivanhoe is a historical novel by Walter Scott published in 1819 as the 10th of his 28 Waverley novels. Up until Ivanhoe, Scott's practice was to set his Waverley stories in Scotland and in fairly recent past of the 19th or 18th Century. With Ivanhoe, Scott changes the setting to England and farther back in time to the late 13h Century when Prince John ruled while his brother King Richard was off fighting in the Crusades and then imprisoned on the mainland. Scott did choose to return to such an early time period setting in some later Waverly novels, probably because Ivanhoe became one of Scott's best-known and most influential novels. Ivanhoe has over 9 times the number of Goodreads ratings as the next most rated Scott novel, Rob Roy.

The story is about the life of Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe, a Saxon knight who returns to England after having fought bravely and loyally beside Richard the Lionhearted in the Crusades. He has been disinherited by his father, Cedric, for falling in love with Cedric’s ward and his childhood friend, Rowena, who was betrothed to another. Ivanhoe travels in disguise and soon becomes a torn in the side of Prince John getting involved with Robin Hood and his Merry Men and rescues wealthy Jewish moneylender Isaac of York and his beautiful and brave daughter, Rebecca.

Soon Ivanhoe, Robin and his men and the mysterious Black Knight are in conflict with a cadre of Prince John supporters as Prince John tries to solidify his rule in the event of Richard’s return. Included in the conflict are forest-set ambushes and captures, an exciting assault on a castle and an Inquisition type witchcraft trial brought by the Knights Templars, a group depicted as fairly evil in this novel.

There is also an exciting tournament with jousting and archery that, along with a few other book events, were used in the 1939 movie The Adventures of Robin Hood. While it seemed like heavy borrowing from Ivanhoe by that movie’s writers, some of these plot vignettes were likely well-known ones handed down in folklore and first published in half-penny pamphlets available to the masses.

The novel’s characters were well-drawn, diverse and a very entertaining group. Ivanhoe is not the most fleshed out character in the novel. He is absent from the action for much of the book. But, while other characters got more ‘stage time’ and more interesting dialogue, Ivanhoe was still the central heroic character that the plot revolved around. As I had been warned of it several times by a Goodreads friend, Ivanhoe’s reduced presence was not unexpected.

The characters and story events all added up to, except for a slow first chapter, a fairly well-paced action-filled adventure. Scott’s writing was splendidly descriptive, but the narrative did get a bit turgid and wordy at times. I did think his style and wording, while smoother than I anticipated, was a bit more reminiscent of late 18th century authors than his contemporary Jane Austen’s.

Overall, it was a surprisingly enjoyable read, even a page turner at times. Out of the three novels I was reading at the time, it was the one I most looked forward to reading. I rate it as 4 stars.

“Hearken,” he (Brian de Bois-Guilbert) said, “Rebecca; I have hitherto spoken mildly to thee, but now my language shall be that of a conqueror. Thou art the captive of my bow and spear—subject to my will by the laws of all nations; nor will I abate an inch of my right, or abstain from taking by violence what thou refusest to entreaty or necessity.”
“Stand back,” said Rebecca—“which portion of “no” dost thou not comprehend? Kindly desist from thou crapulous Trumpery posthaste!”

Some of the above quotes hath indeed been tampered with from Sir Walter Scott’s original text. Apologies to all purists. Honestly, I cannot stand that longwinded de Bois-Guilbert. What a silly bunt (as Eric Idle would say).

Brian de Bois-Guilbert and poor Rebecca

Took me one month+19 days to read this (audio) book. I would have read it faster if it had been more compelling. but Ivanhoe is not an easy book to read, the olde English dialogue takes getting used to, and while some of it is quite entertaining it often drags, especially when that damned de Bois-Guilbert is delivering his interminable gabble.

It is hard to summarize what the novel is about as it is so fragmented. Set in the 12th century the novel (sort of) follows Wilfred Ivanhoe as he returns from the Holy Land after the Third Crusade has ended. He soon entered a jousting tournament and jousted the asses off the other competitors. Ivanhoe wins the tournament but is gravely injured after his foes ganged up on him; fortunately, a mysterious Black Knight shows up to aid him. He is then taken to Rebecca the Jewess. Ivanhoe, his Dad, Rebecca, and others are soon kidnapped by dastardly Norman Maurice de Bracy, a friend of the verbal diarrhea afflicted de Bois-Guilbert. They are taken to Torquilstone, the castle of Front-de-Boeuf (another antagonist). The Black Knight soon comes to the rescue with the help of the sharp shootin’ Robin Hood, Friar Tuck, and many other hipster outlaw types. Many more events follow and await your discovery.


The Black Knight (though he retains both arms in this book)

OK, now I am going to get medieval on this book. Actually, on reflection, I quite like Ivanhoe, though I was often frustrated when it grinds to a halt (shut up, de Bois-Guilbert!). By the end, I felt it definitely outstayed its welcome. I am surprised we don’t see that much of the eponymous hero, he does not show up until page 50 or so, after his jousting injuries he disappears from the narrative for many pages, only to become active again towards the end. His climactic battle with that damn de Bois-Guilbert is a disappointment and very WTF.

Wilfred

Sir Walter Scott's prose is a thing pf beauty and I even like the olde English once I got used to it. The story, while fragmented, is good, and not hard to follow. My only complaint is that for a “Romance” (as in “a medieval tale dealing with a hero of chivalry”, not a story of smooches and heartbreaks) it is not very thrilling. Sir Walter does write very good fight scenes but those are too few and far between to effectively liven up the narrative. There is just too much dialogue and that damn de Bois-Guilbert just goes on and on and on, repeating himself in his attempt to get into poor Rebecca’s pants. Apart from him, the characterization is generally very good, I particularly like Wamba the jester, and Robin Hood, especially when he is showing off. The humorous bits work for me but, again, there is too little of them.

I can’t really recommend Ivanhoe, personally, I will stick to  Alexandre Dumas for medieval badassery.

Notes:
• The Normans and the Saxons have an acrimonious relationship but they agree on one thing, their disdain for the Jews. The most put upon characters in the book.

• Richard the Lionheart really lives up to his name, and seems to enjoy ass kicking more than ruling the land.

•  Audiobook from Librivox, read by various readers, some are pretty good, some are not so good but bearable. Whatchoo want for free, eh?

Quotes:
“I pray thee, uncle,” answered the Jester, “let my folly, for once, protect my roguery. I did but make a mistake between my right hand and my left; and he might have pardoned a greater, who took a fool for his counsellor and guide.”
Wamba is the best!

“And now,” said Locksley, “I will crave your Grace’s permission to plant such a mark as is used in the North Country; and welcome every brave yeoman who shall try a shot at it to win a smile from the bonny lass he loves best.”
“Formed in the best proportions of her sex, Rowena was tall in stature, yet not so much so as to attract observation on account of superior height. Her complexion was exquisitely fair, but the noble cast of her head and features prevented the insipidity which sometimes attaches to fair beauties. Her clear blue eye, which sat enshrined beneath a graceful eyebrow of brown sufficiently marked to give expression to the forehead, seemed capable to kindle as well as melt, to command as well as to beseech.” (etc.) That is the most elaborate description of a woman I have ever seen.

“To all true English hearts, and to the confusion of foreign tyrants.”

Here is a de Bois-Guilbert special:
“No, damsel!” said the proud Templar, springing up, “thou shalt not thus impose on me—if I renounce present fame and future ambition, I renounce it for thy sake, and we will escape in company. Listen to me, Rebecca,” he said, again softening his tone; “England,—Europe,—is not the world. There are spheres in which we may act, ample enough even for my ambition. We will go to Palestine, where Conrade, Marquis of Montserrat, is my friend—a friend free as myself from the doting scruples which fetter our free-born reason—rather with Saladin will we league ourselves, than endure the scorn of the bigots whom we contemn.—I will form new paths to greatness,” he continued, again traversing the room with hasty strides—“Europe shall hear the loud step of him she has driven from her sons!—Not the millions whom her crusaders send to slaughter, can do so much to defend Palestine—not the sabres of the thousands and ten thousands of Saracens can hew their way so deep into that land for which nations are striving, as the strength and policy of me and those brethren, who, in despite of yonder old bigot, will adhere to me in good and evil. Thou shalt be a queen, Rebecca—on Mount Carmel shall we pitch the throne which my valour will gain for you, and I will exchange my long-desired batoon for a sceptre!” STFU!

Ivanhoe is a fun action-filled adventure set around 1200.  Richard the Lionheart is King, his brother, John, is scheming against him, and Robin Hood is a minor character.  Knights fight and damsels get rescued.  Need I say more?  Well, actually,  I do.  As a book first published in 1820, it has some major differences from a modern novel.  First, ideological discussions that may take only a few paragraphs in a similar work today span multiple pages in Ivanhoe.  These can be very interesting, but also set the book on a markedly slower pace than modern equivalents.  Second, Ivanhoe's sensibilities and mores do not remotely reflect contemporary standards.  Suffice it to say that virtually every page contains at least some antisemitism, which all the characters consider normal, albeit to varying degrees.  A reader who can get past these anachronisms, will likely find this classic quite entertaining.

Romanzo di grande successo al suo primo apparire, apripista del genere storico, modello perfino del grande Manzoni, Ivanhoe rivela ancora oggi le ragioni della sua gradevolezza non potendo più, per ragioni cronologiche, essere annoverato fra i bestseller. È un romanzo corposo per mole, evanescente nella sommaria trama e gradevole per il tono umoristico dal quale è attraversato. Alla base del successo l’eterna lotta del Bene contro il Male, la netta contrapposizione fra eroi ed antieroi, i colpi di scena, gli smascheramenti, le trasfigurazioni, il riconoscere nella storia medievale le proprie origini di popolo attuale, la forte connotazione nazionalista nel binomio Sassoni –Normanni, Scozzesi-Inglesi. La trama è nota ai più viste anche le innumerevoli trasposizioni e non solo cinematografiche che gli sono state dedicate; si tratta in breve del rientro del re Riccardo dalla Terra santa intrecciato a quello del nostro prode cavaliere Ivanhoe che tende a giuste nozze con la protetta del padre Cedric, Rowena, tra mille peripezie, duelli, tornei, imboscate, tradimenti e la finale vittoria del Bene sul Male. Recluso fra i libri etichettati come letteratura per ragazzi, la sua giusta collocazione potrebbe essere più azzeccata nei paraggi di Dumas padre, ad ogni modo è lettura da farsi in età adulta quando si possiedono gusti letterari ben delineati, poco inclini ai facili entusiasmi e strumenti di conoscenza per darle giusta collocazione all’interno della storia della letteratura inglese; non è certo compito mio, esistono studi infiniti al proposito. A me resta solo da consigliare un libro vivace, seppur impegnativo per mole, abbastanza fluido , capace di richiamare tempi, ideali, costumi ormai tramontati ma pur sempre avvincenti in un piacevole ritorno al passato

Един от най-добрите рицарски романи, който съм чел - редом ми е с "Черната стрела" на Стивънсън и "Кръстоносци" на Сенкевич!

There is something unique about a novel written 200 years ago about a point in history that’s 600 years before that. With most modern historical fiction works, the relationship between the past and the present are at least half-way understood. But with Ivanhoe, this relationship is obscured by the years since it writing.

My interpretation is that Scott used this story to reflect upon religious irony between the two time periods. He depicts medieval religion as self-serving, power hungry, and especially antisemic. It may have been Scott’s hope that the depiction of such deplorable behavior 600 years ago would have created a place where these acts could be contemplated in isolation from Scott’s present world. The hope being that a condemnation of people in a fictional 12th Century England would carry subconsciously into judgements of similar behavior in Scott’s 19th Century world, where all of these afflictions still existed. To this end, Scott shows his cards with a single solitary line in the novel: “Will future ages believe that such stupid bigotry ever existed!” Anything more than that would risk breaking the seal between Scott’s fictional world and Scott’s reality where humanity actually lived.

The overall story is typical 19th Century writing. Long narrative passages that tend to overly stretch out the story. The writing is filled with vocabulary that is seldom in use today. Making matters worse, is the 12th Century dialog of the characters, which amplifies the antiquated English. But at moments, Scott does a good job bringing knights of the medieval England alive. He even brings the legendary Robin Hood to life, which may have been anticipated by his readers due to time period. In short, there’s entertainment and contemplation here for readers of any century provided that you have the patience to make it through to the end.

When Sir Walter Scott famously threw down his cape in order to protect a lady's footwear, I was charmed.

By contrast, when reading "Ivanhoe" I was slogging through the novel out of duty. It was a classic, I'd been told. So what if the characters never seemed quite real to me?

So what if I felt that the plot was wholly unrelatable?

Look, this book was written to please readers of adventure, that kind of adventure. It wasn't until many decades after I did my schoolgirl reading of Ivanhoe that I realized... it wasn't my obligation to become an enthusiastic reader of physical adventure.

My jam is exploring consciousness, big history, learning and teaching, and other forms of inner adventure. That's hardly Walter Scott's fault. ;)

nota real: 4'5

Siempre he sido la estudiante que le emociona las lecturas obligatorias ya que las considero una recomendación, más que una obligación. Las leo con cariño y casi siempre me han dejado huella los libros que he tenido que leer a lo largo de mi vida estudiantil, por lo que me hice con una edición de segunda mano de “Ivanhoe” con entusiasmo al enterarme que tenía que leerlo para mi clase de teoría literaria comparada. Grande fue mi frustración al intentar leerlo -sin éxito- dos veces en menos de un mes, y seré sincera, me molesté con el libro. De ahí en adelante se convirtió en mi enemigo público numero uno y mi reto; Al momento de tomar la lectura en serio tenía un único propósito: detestarla. Más grande aún fue mi desconcierto al llegar a la página 150 amando a tres personajes y estando genuinamente intrigada por saber qué ocurriría con ellos y la trama de la novela; Así que se podría decir que desde el principio pasé por una montaña rusa de sentimientos.

Las primeras cien páginas fueron una detallada y profundamente descriptiva introducción para darle paso a un ritmo de trama mucho más dinámico. La clave de conectar con “Ivanhoe” es encariñarse con los personajes, ya que, al retratarse las mismas situaciones/escenas constantemente, es el recorrido de los héroes lo llamativo. Leer las hazañas de los protagonistas, sus dificultades y crecimiento es la razón por la que al estar en la recta final de la novela, me encontraba gritando por el destino e identidades de mis personajes favoritos. El vínculo con el lector es fundamental y puede que sea difícil teniendo en cuenta el denso inicio, pero de conseguirlo, plantearse darle un puntuación perfecta a “Ivanhoe” no me parece una completa locura.

Otra vez -en contra de mis deseos- la vida académica me ha demostrado que mis profesores no se equivocan al elegir las lecturas obligatorias -y qué alivio-. No hay palabras que describan lo épico que fue leer sobre Locksley, Rebeca o el Caballero Negro.

The book is entertaining, with lots of action and adventure. I found that the minor characters, like Gurth and Wamba, had more personality than the title character, Ivanhoe. In fact, the villains of the book were more interesting than the nominal hero.

Second reading: February 2017

First reading: December 2014

Indisputably a classic for all of the right reasons. This is an incredible adventure story that is full of famous icons and age old ideas about courtly love but it is also a fascinating social commentary and complex bit of storytelling. Sir Walter Scott provides highly entertaining content which also respects the intelligence and intellectual curiosity of its readers. Read Ivan home for the story but know that it will leave a mark on your heart and will challenge the way in which you perceive others.

Sir Walter Scott challenges social ideas both of his time and the time of his setting. His caricatures of the heroes and the villains are interesting, complex and properly balanced. When the worst stereotypes of medieval Jews are shown in Isaac, they are immediately counterbalanced in the sincerity and generosity of Rebecca. Where the monastic friars are corrupt, licentious and self-serving they are counterbalanced by Christians who are sincere, faithful and gentle. We have a Black Knight who is anything but dark or evil. We have Templars who are attired in light and airy garments who are evil personified.

The balancing and counterbalancing extends also to the characters themselves. In Cedric we see a brash, judgmental, harsh Lord who is also tender and loving and gracious. In Sir Brian, we see a calculating and sophisticated warrior who seeks to serve his own interests until he is bewildered by an inexplicable affection for someone he cannot have who renders him gentle, supplicant and almost worthy.

I have always loved Robin Hood and the fact that he feature so prominently in this story serves me as a bit of the cherry on top of the sundae. I love sir Walter Scott's treatment of Robin Hood. He is highly organized, deeply Noble and, as the Black Knight calls him, a king in his own right.

This is my second reading of the book and I spent a significant portion of my childhood watching the Anthony Andrews movie. this novel does not fail to impress. I enjoyed it, I learned from it and I am certain that I will be reading it again and again throughout my lifetime.

If you can deal with Scott’s flamboyant style and purple prose here is a story many girls and boys used to read of the days of yore

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.