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 felt the reverberations of sustained hatred within this work, Saxons against Normans, Normans and Saxons against Jews, father against son, brother against brother, and knight against knight, ingredients to a bland slog. These pages are filled with the forces of good cast against evil in the years following the Third Crusade. Richard Cœur de Lion returns to England to find his brother, Prince John, incubating conspiratorial ambition with a coterie of villainous nobles. Wilfred of Ivanhoe is a knight disinherited from his father, Cedric. While Wilfred is allied with Richard, Cedric harbors Saxon pride and chafes at Norman rule. In partnership with Richard, Wilfred triumphs over the dark side to win the hand of Rowena, a daughter of Saxon royalty and ward to Cedric.

Under the command of Mr. Scott, this tale dragged. Colorful characters like Robin Hood, Wamba the jester and Gurth the swineherd were countered with the moneylender Isaac of York and his daughter Rebecca, a pair abused throughout. The repugnant stench of antisemitism arose from every direction in this plot, which weighed heavily on me. In the end, I find little to praise in Mr. Scott’s rendering. Something tells me Alexandre Dumas père would have granted us a far better reading experience with the same basic framework.

Audio #91

January/February 2018 Re-read

Ahhhhh . . . I love this book. It's not perfect and it won't appeal to everyone, but I LOVE it. (I basically skimmed the second half this time because I was getting impatient, but anyway.)

Some stuff I noticed this time around:
~ Rebecca isn't perfect (which is fine because she's still amazing)
~ Ivanhoe really isn't a bad sort and I ought to appreciate him more
~ THE SASS IS STILL THE BEST

Basically, this is a fantastic book and one of my very favorites. It's bittersweet, but it stops a hair short of making-me-sad-bittersweet. Instead, it just makes me content, feeling like I've gone off on one of the grand adventures of yesteryear, and happy at having this wonderful, classic tale of merry old England to come back to.

I JUST LOVE IT A LOT, OKAY?! *hugs it (gingerly, because I have an old copy and it literally fell apart a couple of years ago and my dad had to perform major tape-related surgery on it)*

P.S. Also, I just realized that I first read this at basically the exact same time three years ago? Which is kinda weird and really cool.

Honestly I found this nearly unreadable. 400+ pages of antisemitism, an experience that to me was like being smacked in the face again and again and again. To be clear, Scott seems to (mostly) be saying that antisemitism is bad, but no Jewish character can be on page or referenced without someone calling them "accursed" or otherwise throwing a stereotype or a slur at them. It's exhausting. Scott seems to view Jews as prey animals -- which, I know Maus plays with the same thing, but it's very different from the perspective of a Jew -- reviled and persecuted by all. Every single character they come across has something nasty to say about them (us), including the supposed heroes.

Ivanhoe himself, meanwhile, is bland as can be; I was waiting and waiting for his famous battle for Rebecca's life and honor and he doesn't even do anything in it! Yet Scott is appalled at the mere thought of him having romantic feelings for the "Jewess" who nurses him back to health, and at the end, the happiest ending he can conceive of for Rebecca is her leaving England, because it's implied that she just doesn't belong there. As the product of Jews and Scots who banged, let me just say a hearty: fuck you!

Two stars for all the best bits, which feature Robin Hood and -- forgive my ignorance until recently for not knowing this -- form the basis of the parts of the legend so gloriously displayed in The Adventures of Robin Hood starring Errol Flynn. I recommend watching that: it's much more entertaining and no one talks shit about Jews even once.

Like most, I first read this in high school, but understood nothing of the tense realities underlying the history. I won't bother repeating the plot. It's well-known and is the basis of all adventure romances: knight rescues maiden. repeat as necessary.

The religious and ecclesial questions, whose larger overtones even to which Scott himself is unaware, are staggering. The Church of Papal Normandy is different from the Church of Old Saxon England. Yet Old Saxon England has bishops, monks, and prayers to the saints, so the "hero" church isn't Scott's Protestantism. So who is it? Let the reader understand...

One must also tie this story in with Norman Cantor's narrative about Norman historiography in Inventing the Middle Ages. First of all, the history professors who research the Norman invasion are CIA spies (Cantor documents this) and believe the Norman invasion of England and the destruction of Old English culture is both good and necessary. Draw your own conclusions about today's geopolitics.

This book is borderline perfect. Scott, contrary to the shrill denunciations from critics of the Romantic Nationalists, is actually quite tame and balanced in his conclusions. The true hero avoids the excesses of both extremes: not all nationalists are correct (thought most are), but nor are the Oprah-multiculturalists and their evangelical pastors correct.
t
t tIt's everything one ever wanted in an adventure book. The neo-lib media elites at TIME magazine boasted of reading and re-reading postmodern trash this year. I shall reread Shakespeare and Scott. Indeed, living well is the best revenge.
t
tNow that I understand more on the Papal Norman invasion of Old England, and the religous and heroic resistance of Old English Nationalism, I appreciate and enjoy this story even more on the third reading. I don't think Scott even fully understands how true his writing is in this regard. His narrative, better than any history or work of theology, opens new religious questions concerning medieval england.

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!

n  «Ivanhoe, Ivanhoe, side by side we’re proud to ride with Ivanhoe …»n
Inghilterra, 1194. Il principe Giovanni, approfittando della prigionia in Austria del fratello, Riccardo Cuor di Leone, si è impossessato della corona e governa con durezza e perfidia sull’Inghilterra. Sullo sfondo, la aspra contrapposizione tra Sassoni e Normanni. Sir Wilfred di Ivanhoe, cavaliere coraggioso e valente, lotterà a sprezzo della vita per restituire il trono a Riccardo e la libertà alla bella e orgogliosa Rebecca.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEvz-...
Tra palazzi nobiliari, lizze e tornei, assedi di castelli e agguati nella foresta, si muovono personaggi leggendari: Robin Hood di Locksley, fuorilegge amante della giustizia e l’enigmatico … Cavaliere del Lucchetto ...
«Ecco la mia mano» disse Locksley; «e la considero la mano di un vero inglese sebbene attualmente bandito.»
«Ed ecco la mia,»disse il cavaliere «ed io la ritengo onorata di stringere la vostra. Perché chi fa del bene avendo illimitato potere di fare del male merita lode non solo per il bene che fa ma anche per il male che impedisce. Addio, prode bandito.» Così si separarono in buona amicizia; e il Cavaliere dal Lucchetto, montato sul suo robusto cavallo da combattimento, si allontanò al galoppo nella foresta.
E poi Lady Rowena, fanciulla sassone di straordinaria bellezza; il ricco ebreo Isaac di York e la sua leggiadra figlia Rebecca ...
«Non so se la bella Rowena sarebbe stata molto soddisfatta della commozione con cui il suo devoto cavaliere aveva guardato fino allora i bei lineamenti, le vaghe forme e gli occhi brillanti della leggiadra Rebecca; occhi il cui fulgore era adombrato e quasi mitigato dalla frangia delle lunghe sopracciglia di seta, e che un menestrello avrebbe paragonato alla stella della sera raggiante attraverso un pergolato di gelsomini.»
E ancora, Giovanni Senzaterra; Fra’ Tuck; Cedric di Rotherwood, detto il Sassone; Riccardo Cuor di Leone; il Templare Brian de Bois Guilbert e ancora tanti altri personaggi, tutti tratteggiati magnificamente.
Narrazione che parte con lentezza e si conclude in crescèndo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hPes...
Dedicato a tutti coloro che almeno una volta nella vita hanno costruito per sé o per i propri figli una spada di legno e a tutte le donzelle che almeno una volta si sono punte con l’ago da ricamo … senza cadere addormentate …

Walter Scott transporta-nos para os difíceis tempos medievais vividos em Inglaterra no final do reinado de Ricardo I onde impera a hostilidade entre os normandos e os anglo-saxões que se vêm sem herança e sem direitos.

Começamos por ser apresentados a cada um dos protagonistas à medida que estes se reúnem para o torneio que se está prestes a realizar e que, mesmo apesar das dificuldades do país, está a atrair a atenção de todos... e ficamos também a conhecer um misterioso cavaleiro cuja identidade é da máxima importância.

Gostei especialmente da prosa de Walter Scott e da maneira como me arrastou para um tempo muito diferente e com prioridades muito diferentes. A narrativa torna-se cada vez mais interessante graças aos sucessivos desenvolvimentos - donzelas raptadas, heróis feridos, combates sangrentos, preconceito religioso e julgamentos por combate - claro que não podemos deixar de ficar curiosos com o desfecho!

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

Dit is het bekende verhaal van Ivanhoe, origineel van Walter Scott. Dit boek echter is een verkorte uitgave voor de jeugd. Maar ik vind het wat te veel ingekort, zodat het soms moeilijk te volgen is, vooral de relaties van de verschillende personages onderling. Er moet veel meer aan de hand zijn dan in dit boekje wordt verteld.
De illustraties zijn ook niet mooi, het zijn eerder ruwe schetsen. Een tegenvaller.

Esta é uma excelente aventura, uma excelente história, e um magnífico romance histórico. Muito bem escrito, e interessante do princípio ao fim. Contudo, e infelizmente para mim enquanto leitora, o efeito surpresa estava comprometido por já ter visto a versão cinematográfica. Devo até ter visto o filme mais do que uma vez, dada a clareza dos pormenores que a memória me ia entregando, à medida que avançava no livro.

Considero também que este será um livro mais "apropriado" para a fase infanto-juvenil. No entanto, e para quem gosta de romances históricos, porque não ler este que é o trabalho mais popularizado de Walter Scott, considerado o pai deste género?

Não irão encontrar um mau livro, isso eu garanto.