21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another return of the king..., July 7, 2004
John Steinbeck is noted for many things - The Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men, East of Eden, The Pearl, Cannery Row; he won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962 - most are not familiar with (or are unaware of) his literary life beyond novels. Steinbeck was an avid reader, reviewer, and turned the occasional time to translation. That is where this text comes in - Steinbeck had a long passion for the Arthurian legends. In 1958-59, he began the (still unfinished) task of reworking the tales of Arthur and his knights, spending time in England with the famous Winchester manuscripts of Mallory's 'Le Morte d'Arthur', and continuing his work in various stops and starts until his death in 1968. The text here is unfinished, and for some part unedited by Steinbeck; his literary heirs have kept the project more or less as Steinbeck left it. Hence, only part of the tales of Arthur are included here.
Steinbeck began with primary tales that come from the first section of Mallory's text, entitled 'The Tale of King Arthur'. This tale in fact only covers the early part of Arthur's life - the search for the Holy Grail and the final battle of the death of Arthur are not included here, as they were in separate sections of Mallory's text, from which Steinbeck did not live to complete translations.
This story includes the tale of Merlin, including Merlin's 'death', Uther Pendragon and the birth of Arthur, the sword-in-the-stone event, the wedding of Arthur and Guinevere, the advent and plotting of Morgan Le Fay, and tales of three knights - Gawain, Ewain, and Marhalt. From another text of Mallory's comes 'The Noble Tale of Sir Lancelot of the Lake', including the beginning part of the love affair of Lancelot and Guinevere.
Steinbeck's translation is interesting and full; many renditions of Mallory's text (including the popular standard by Baines) eliminate a lot of the material to make the narrative speed along - Steinbeck does not do this. He keeps to the original in substance while recreating the world of Arthur. Steinbeck said that it was not his intention to out-do Mallory - 'I believe the stories are great enough to survive my tampering'. Choosing the Winchester manuscript over the more common Caxton one also provides a key difference between Steinbeck and Baines.
A rare treat for those who enjoy the process of literary production is the appendix to this volume, compiled by his friend Chase Horton, which consists of letters to Horton and to Elizabeth Otis, Steinbeck's literary agent, from late 1956 to 1965, as Steinbeck continued this project (almost 70 pages of the correspondence is printed, including the wonderful final entry in which Steinbeck says that, even though he is excited by the Arthur project, he isn't going to show it to anyone, lest it be badly done, and he might want to destroy it!).
Hail Arthur! Hail Mallory! Hail Steinbeck!
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24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Unfinished Masterpiece, January 11, 2000
The Merlin of this book says to Arthur. "You are nearer to danger than I was, for you are riding in the direction of your death and God is not your friend." In a way, for me, this sentence sums up the feeling of sorrow that hangs over this book. This is not the radient noble Arthur of the myth's popularization, this is the baby killer, abandoned by God and Merlin and tossed on the waves of fate. A wonderful rendition of Malory, suprisingly not hurt at all by the modernization.
This book is unfinished, and ends with the beginning of the romance between Guenivere and Lancelot. Steinbeck never finished it, and it's presented here edited with a collection of his letters about the book at the end. The letters are interesting, but-- sadly enough-- are no substitute for what the finished book might have been.
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26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights, July 28, 2000
These stories are more approachable if you already know something about the tales of Camelot. If you've never read anything about King Arthur and the Round Table, I'd recommend that you start somewhere else--with T. H. White's "The Once and Future King" or Mary Stewart's Arthurian saga that begins with "The Crystal Cave." If you're already familiar with the Arthurian tales, Steinbeck's versions are extremely entertaining. The tales are pretty straightforward versions of the stories by Thomas Mallory. Steinbeck presents all the action and adventure, but is more interested in what's going on in the heads of his characters. He also gives a more realistic vision of the Middle Ages. It may have been exciting and romantic if you were a knight, but not the best of times to be a woman or commonfolk. Overall, I simply found this a fun book to read.
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