Somebody actually wrote "Gird up thy loins..." and it's to be found here. I always thought perhaps that was a joke/line from "Monty Python's Holy Grail" or some satiric entertainment. Here's another great line, "...no man wearing chain and spurs ought thus to intrude upon the presence of an unprotected lady." I suppose not! And homoeroticism (accidental?) is all over the place: "They sat down [hermit and knight]. and gazed with great gravity at each other, each thinking in his heart that he had seldom seen a stronger or more athletic figure..." Yes, a great jousting scene opens the novel (who knew there were so many rules?), two damsels are in distress, castles and moats, and knights returning from the Crusades. I do understand religion ruled pretty much everything in this time period. Scott does indeed let us know anti-Jewish sentiment was rampant. Problem is, he does so over and over to the point where it felt to me the author especially enjoyed writing about it. I kept thinking, "Stop it already." True, there is some lovely prose: "The deep prolonged notes, raised by a hundred masculine voices (natch) accustomed to combine in the choral chant, arose to the vaulted roof of the hall, and rolled on amongst its arches with the pleasing yet solemn sound of the rushing of might waters." The descriptions of clothing and cathedrals, etc., are fascinating. And there are some surprising identity revelations along the way. Overall, great atmosphere, great portrait of knights in shining armor. Fun times for all!

A highly entertaining novel which, it cannot be stressed to much, is really NOT about Ivanhoe. Rather, Scott's heroine is a woman, the Jewish moneylender's daughter, Rebecca. Unlike his previous Waverley novels, for this one, Scott went back to the late 12th century, when the Third Crusade having drawn to a close, but Richard the Lionhearted as had his return delayed by being captured by Leopold of Austria. The conflict between Norman and Saxon lords has led to Wilfrid of Ivanhoe being disowned by his father for falling for Rowena, a descendant of the former Saxon powers in England. A mysterious palmer becomes involved in the struggles of different characters, and there is little doubt as to his true identity (spoiler avoided here, though I came close!) A tournament of jousting and archery, the nefarious activities of Prince John, the frolicking antics of Robin Hood and his men (whom supposedly got their start in English legend from this novel), and the eventual working out of the Ivanhoe-Rowena relation all make for a spirited read. But it is Scott's compassion for the healing, loving, faithful spirit of Rebecca which gives this story its major emotional uumph, a sympathy for the Jewish people matched only by Eliot in Daniel Deronda. In addition, later luminaries such as Carlyle and Ruskin attributed a re-awakening ofinterest in the medieval period to this writer and this work in particular. Truly excellent!

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.

Ivanhoe is a classic that is well worth reading for its historical significance alone. Personally, I have mixed feelings about the book itself, but I'm happy I read it. The writing isn't accessible and the characters lack dept, but Ivanhoe still proved an interesting read. I found Ivanhoe fascinating in many ways. First of all, the historical setting and the events it describes were quite completing. I understand that the novel isn't completely historically accurate, but I still think it can teach us something about this period in English history. Moreover, not only is Ivanhoe a historical novel, it is also one that has historical significance. Published in 1819, it is often credited with popularizing medieval history and romance. The novel probably had a profound influence on literature set in medieval times. Moreover, it definitely influenced our modern perceptions of famous characters such as: Richard the Lionheart, King John, Robin Hood and his gang (the merry friar and so on).

As a novel, Ivanhoe failed to impress me. The plot isn't bad as such, but somehow the novel feels too long. The writing is at times beautiful and there were even some comic episodes, but on the overall the novel feels overwritten. The moralizing passages are often particularly long. While the novel somewhat explores the Jewish- English relations, it doesn't really go into depth. The position of Jews in medieval England is a subject I'm interested it. While I'm glad it was a part of the book, I was left hungry for more. Similarly, some other historical events were not really explored in detailed. A large part of the novel is devoted to the concept of chivalry and christian morality and quite frankly, most of it was quite boring.

More than anything, this novel lacks compelling characters. In terms of characterization, everything is black and white. Ivanhoe the protagonist is such a dull character that even minor characters seem more interesting. This 'good guy' is so annoyingly and unconvincingly perfect, that the cardboard villain seems more human. There is no character development to speak of in this novel, not when it comes to the protagonist and hardly any when it comes to others. In my opinion, Rebecca 'The Jewess' is the only character that came to life. She is absolutely the best character in the novel and the only thing that saves it from being mediocre. If only Ivanhoe had the sense to fall in love with her or express something else than 'platonic' feelings, maybe he wouldn't have seemed such a bore. He isn't much of a protagonist, I'm afraid. Indeed, this novel had its flaws. Nevertheless, I would still recommend it.

On my short list of books I am actively reading, I include a "bucket book," defined as a book I really should have read by this time in my life, but which for various reasons, I have not. In this category, I just finished Ivanhoe, which I found quite enjoyable. I think it was also my first Scott novel. Fun.

Well, that was fun. ^_^

I read this for a college literature course, and I remember being one of the few people in the class who liked it. I remember my professor even admitted to not liking it very well.

I found it delightful, in the same way Robin Hood and King Arthur tales are delightful. You have to have an appreciation for the whimsical, though, and not take anything too seriously.

It's probably no coincidence that I liked this novel and I also still read YA fiction at my advanced age.

UPDATE: I just watched the A & E movie version, which refreshed my memory of the book a little. They made the ending of the movie a little happier than the book. They also made more of the romantic attraction between Ivanhoe and Rebecca. There was some of that in the book, but the two did a better job of resisting temptation in the book, which made them more likeable characters, although the movie characters may have been more realistic.

I'm a very critical reader of historical novels: they usually fall short when it comes to historical accuracy. Also this one does: it's clearly written with a presentist - early 19th century - agenda (English nationalism, defense of the integration of jews into society, anticlerical accents...), and lots of details are anachronistic. But nevertheless, this is an enticing read! Clearly, Walter Scott (a very solid historian) didn't write this as a reconstruction of the Medieval world, but as a novel of romance and suspense. With this he stands firmly in line with Victor Hugo (or vice versa?). See also my general review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show....

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!

normally I don't like it when protagonists in books are anachronistically liberal and unprejudiced, but I would have made an exception for this story. In fact, I remember as a kid creating elaborate scenarios in my head where Ivanhoe runs off with the Jewish Rebecca instead of staying with the English Rowena. In fact, reading it this time around, I almost found myself liking the villain Brian du Bois-Guillbert. He might have been evil, but at least he was able to step outside of the prejudices of his time and would have been willing to give up everything and marry Rebecca. Also, he was an atheist, which was pretty cool. I mean, what did Ivanhoe actually have going for him? He was an unimaginatively nice and chivalrous guy who was loyal to the brave but stupid Richard the Lion-Hearted. That's about it. He certainly wasn't any kind of visionary, and anyway, he was injured for most of the book.

The book that accounts for most of the writer's reputation. In this he attempts to make a turn towards the past by writing a story that had as its model the medieval romance, as it would be written in the 12th or the 13th century. A story full of noble - and not so noble - knights, beautiful damsels - often in distress -, non-strict priests, witty servants, charming thieves, and much more of the character cast that one finds in this genre. This story is, of course, adventurous and exciting, excessive in some places, emotional and often funny, and revolves around brave deeds of nobles and commoners that try to defend their honour and the honour of the weak from the villains who have no moral reservations. The author is doing a great job in imitating the pompous style of these romances, using a pseudo-archaic language to render the language of the time.

These, of course, are the one side of this book. The author had, as I said, the medieval romance as a model when he was writing this book, but at the same time he did not seem to want to drift away from his personal style, so he created an ideal combination of this old genre with the historical novel of its time, preserving all the beauty and romance, adding realism and a critical look. So the story is full of nostalgia for a noble past, but at the same time the writer as a historian or in satirical mood criticises the conditions of life that prevailed at that time, the prejudices, especially those against the Jews, the injustice and the prevalence of the law of the strong, ending up even to question the concept of chivalry. In the context of this realism, there are many historical references that I imagine are part of the author's attempt to talk about things of his time. One of the main issues he deals is the conflict between the Saxons and their conquerors, the Normans, who had imposed a regime of violence and lawlessness. The writer, talks much about the effects of this division, the bitterness felt by the Saxons and their desire for revenge, but ends with the fact that in the end these two so different peoples eventually became one when equality and justice prevailed in their relationship. Of course, there are too many parallels with more periods of British history and it would be pointless to mention them in my brief review.

The result of all of these was, of course, the creation of a masterpiece that obviously its diachronicity and popularity over the years are better evidence of its value than my own positive opinion. A wonderful book that overflows with romance, offering us a beautiful story of bravery and heroism with a truly enjoyable narrative that takes us ideally into medieval England and passes messages to the reader that are precious in every place and every age.

Το βιβλίο στο οποίο οφείλεται το μεγαλύτερο μέρος της φήμης του συγγραφέα. Σε αυτό επιχειρεί να κάνει μία στροφή προς το παρελθόν γράφοντας μία ιστορία που είχε ως πρότυπο τα μεσαιωνικά ρομάντζα, όπως θα γράφονταν τον 12ο ή τον 13ο αιώνα. Μία ιστορία γεμάτη ευγενείς - και όχι τόσο ευγενείς - ιππότες, πανέμορφες - και πολλές φορές σε κίνδυνο - δεσποσύνες, ελάχιστα αυστηρούς ιερωμένους, πνευματώδεις υπηρέτες, γοητευτικούς κλέφτες και γενικότερα μεγάλο μέρος από το καστ των χαρακτήρων που συναντάει κανείς σε αυτό το είδος. Αυτή η ιστορία είναι φυσικά περιπετειώδης και συναρπαστική, υπερβολική σε κάποια σημεία, συναισθηματική και πολλές φορές αστεία και περιστρέφεται γύρω από τα κατορθώματα ευγενών και μη που προσπαθούν να υπερασπιστούν την τιμή τους και την τιμή των αδυνάτων από τους κακούς που δεν έχουν ηθικούς ενδοιασμούς. Ο συγγραφέας κάνει και πολύ καλή δουλειά στη μίμηση του πομπώδους ύφους αυτών των ρομάντζων, χρησιμοποιώντας μία ψευδο-αρχαϊκή γλώσσα για να αποδώσει τη γλώσσα της εποχής.

Αυτά, βέβαια, αποτελούν τη μία πλευρά αυτού του βιβλίου. Ο συγγραφέας είχε, όπως είπα, ως πρότυπο τα μεσαιωνικά ρομάντζα όταν έγραφε αυτό το βιβλίο, παράλληλα, όμως, φαίνεται ότι δεν ήθελε να ξεφύγει πολύ από το προσωπικό του ύφος, για αυτό δημιούργησε έναν ιδανικό συνδυασμό αυτού του παλιού του είδους με το ιστορικό μυθιστόρημα της εποχής του, διατηρώντας όλη την ομορφιά και το ρομαντισμό, προσθέτοντας ρεαλισμό και κριτική ματιά. Έτσι η ιστορία είναι γεμάτη από μία νοσταλγία για ένα ευγενές παρελθόν αλλά την ίδια ώρα ο συγγραφέας, πότε με το ύφος του ιστορικού, πότε με σατιρική διάθεση κάνει κριτική για τις συνθήκες ζωής που επικρατούσαν, για τις προκαταλήψεις, ειδικά αυτές εναντίον των Εβραίων, την αδικία και την επικράτηση του δίκιου του ισχυρού, καταλήγοντας να αμφισβητήσει ακόμα και την έννοια του ιπποτισμού. Στα πλαίσια αυτού του ρεαλισμού υπάρχουν πάρα πολλές ιστορικές αναφορές που φαντάζομαι ότι εντάσσονται σε μία προσπάθεια του συγγραφέα να μιλήσει για πράγματα της εποχής του. Ένα από τα κύρια θέματα με τα οποία ασχολείται είναι η διαμάχη ανάμεσα στους Σάξονες και τους κατακτητές τους, τους Νορμανδούς, που με το σκληρό καθεστώς που είχαν επιβάλει ένα καθεστώς βίας και ανομίας. Ο συγγραφέας πολύ για τα αποτελέσματα αυτού του διχασμού, για την πικρία που ένιωθαν οι Σάξονες και την επιθυμία τους για εκδίκηση, καταλήγει, όμως, στο γεγονός ότι στο τέλος αυτοί οι δύο τόσο διαφορετικοί λαοί μπόρεσαν στο τέλος να γίνουν ένας όταν επικράτησε η ισότητα και η δικαιοσύνη στη σχέση τους. Φυσικά υπάρχουν πάρα πολλοί παραλληλισμοί με περισσότερες περιόδους της βρετανικής ιστορίας και θα ήταν περιττό να τους αναφέρω στη σύντομη κριτική μου.

Η κατάληξη όλων αυτών ήταν φυσικά η δημιουργία ενός αριστουργήματος που προφανώς η διαχρονικότητα του και η δημοτικότητα του όλα αυτά τα χρόνια είναι καλύτερες αποδείξεις για την αξία του από την δική μου θετική γνώμη. Ένα υπέροχο βιβλίο που ξεχειλίζει από ρομαντισμό, προσφέροντας μας μία πανέμορφη ιστορία γενναιότητας και ηρωισμού με μία πραγματικά απολαυστική αφήγηση που μας μεταφέρει ιδανικά στη μεσαιωνική Αγγλία και περνάει μηνύματα στον αναγνώστη που είναι πολύτιμα σε κάθε τόπο και κάθε εποχή.

De roman Ivanhoe (1819) van Walter Scott is niet het beste boek uit de 19de eeuw. Geen punt. Minder dan beste boeken zijn vaak óók interessant. Deze roman over de 12de-eeuwse ridder Ivanhoe is wel een intrigerend geval, net als Scott zelf. Het boek werd anoniem gepubliceerd, om te beginnen. Walter Scott was al beroemd als dichter, en wilde zijn reputatie niet in de waagschaal stellen toen hij in 1814 (voor het geld) een roman schreef, Waverly. Hij liet zelfs het hele manuscript van deze (en volgende romans) kopiëren voordat het naar de uitgever ging, opdat men zijn handschrift niet zou herkennen.

Onterfd door zijn vader keert Ivanhoe, die op kruistocht is geweest, onder een schuilnaam terug in Engeland, waar de overwonnen Saksers zich verzetten tegen uitbuiting door de Normandische edelen. Hij behaalt een klinkende overwinning in een groot riddertoernooi en laat daarna zijn aanbeden jonkvrouw Rowena tot Koningin der Liefde en Schoonheid kronen. Zal hij haar uiteindelijk in zijn armen kunnen sluiten?Ander hoofdrollen zijn weggelegd voor koning Richard Leeuwenhart, Robin Hood, de aanvoerder van een bende vogelvrijen met het hart op de juiste plaats, en natuurlijk de beeldschone jodin Rebekka.