Customer Reviews

Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights Pb

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

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!

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.

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.

You can watch Steinbeck start to tackle the project that has seduced so many writers-- why not take Mallory's massive Arthurian cycle and turn it into something accessible to a modern reader? At first, Steinbeck merely dips his feet in the waters. The first "chapters" are nearly-exact "translations" of Mallory into modern English, with very little added or taken away. Then, slowlby but surely, Steinbeck's voice begins to emerge and he begins to not just translate but retell the tales. Steinbeck grows into the task, telling the stories with greater and great power, conviction, energy, excitement and style and then-- well, then it just stops. For students of Mallory or Steinbeck, this is an interesting work, a unique collaboration 500 years in the making. If you're looking for a good version of the Matter of Britain, however, this will disappoint in its incompleteness.

This book contains elements that are truly excellent, however the quality is far too inconsistent and unfinished to recommend it wholeheartedly. Steinbeck, in his introduction, comments on how much he treasured Malory's _Morte d'Arthur_ as a boy, and stated that his goal was to rewrite the stories for a modern audience.

The first section or so is a rather dry retelling of the familiar events and battles. As Steinbeck progreses through the book though, he seems to wander from his goal to merely and faithfully retell Malory's stories; the tales he tells become more lighthearted and introspective as Steinbeck's natural instincts for storytelling take over. One chapter, "Gawain, Ewain and Marhalt" takes a brief chapter in Malory and makes it into a hilarious story that is over 60 pages long. The knights become very human, and Steinbeck appears to be gently mocking the chivalric code. He does offer far more insight into the characters of the knights than earlier writers ever did; we begin to understand why some of the events could have happened. However, when he gets to the affair between Lancelot and Guinevere, he bogs down permanently. For any reader who has wondered how on earth Arthur's favorite knight could have been having an affair with his wife - well, Steinbeck didn't seem able to answer that one either. He leaves us dangling with Lancelot in shameful tears over one stolen kiss - and then the book ends! I believe that Steinbeck could not reconcile his mixed feelings surrounding the downfall of Arthur's knigdom, and therefore he had to stop, and apparently never recovered the enthusiasm to continue.

This book has wonderfully entertaining and insightful elements, but it is obviously an unfinished work, and therefore cannot be considered as a truly significant addition to the Arthurian library.

I had been looking for a readable rendition of Malory's Morte d'Arthur and my husband suggested reading Steinbeck's version. Yes, the same Steinbeck as in the Grapes of Wrath. At the time, I honestly didn't even know that Steinbeck had written a "translation" of the original Malory text. From what is explained in the introduction, Steinbeck not only used the Winchester Manuscripts of Malory's works but also a number of other sources as well in creating this modern rendition of the book. What was nice is that he kept a lot of it in the same type of structure as the original Malory and just updated some of the words and sentence structures to help make it more enjoyable for the 20th century reader.

I truly did enjoy Steinbecks version and it looks like he kept not only the spirit of Malory alive and well but also made it much easier and enjoyable to read (I tried reading the Malory version...ugh!...I wanted to bang my head on the table). Unfortunately, though, this isn't a complete reworking of Malory's work. He covers the early stories of Arthur, Merlin, Lancelot and the earlier knights, but doesn't cover the Grail Quest nor the death of Arthur. Steinbeck just never completed the work and nobody knows why. What he did finish was published in this version. I wish Steinbeck did finish the tale because he did a fantastic job.

Working from original sources such as the Winchester manuscript and the famous book by Thomas Malory, Steinbeck recreates the essential mythical stories of Britain's literature and history. They are seven interconnected but independent stories, which unfortunately form an unfinished book, that ends just at the beginning of the fatidic romance between Lancelot and Guinevere. Steinbeck modernizes dialogues without, apparently, interfering with the plots, and along the way he introduces a sense of humor, British style, which makes the stories all the more enjoyable. It is a world of wonders, the realm of dreams and the magical, populated by errant knights, princesses in distress and danger, childish giants, wizards, as well as terrifying witches, especially the beautiful but sinister witch-queen Morgan Le Fay, King Arthur's half-sister. Arthur, by the way, is far from being a perfect or hieratic hero. He is a young man astonished by his peculiar destiny, who ages bitterly among betrayals and misadventures. The several knights also constitute different kinds of types. There is the arrogant and scheming Gawain; the experienced and gentleman Marhalt; the young and hard-working Ewain. Also the heroic, ironic and tragic -and very tired- Lancelot, the one with the tragic fate. Several female figures are remarkable, especially the three guides of the tale "Gawain, Ewain and Marhalt": the capricious teenager; the solicit and ultimately annoying mature woman; and the strict old woman who trains Ewain, a true military monster who takes a timid, insecure young man and turns him into a war machine. Of course another distinguished character is Merlin the wizard, who is also political consultant and military strategist.

It is a pity that death surprised Steinbeck before finishing this masterful reinterpretation of very old myths, a great homage to his childhood and to the origins of his vocation as a reader. These are very entertaining tales, full of insightful reflections on the art of chivalry, women, war, and the concepts of honor, virility and dignity.

I'm a great fan of the Arthurian legends and grail romances. Having read Malory's Morte de Arthur, I must say that Steinbeck's version exudes passion in a way that Malory's does not. I regret that he never finished it but it was certainly great to be able to feel another's passion for the same legends. The editor's publication of Steinbeck's letters, written, whilst he was researching the tales is essential reading for anyone who wants to search for his own 'grail'. The letters expose his own reasons for writing such a book and lend some reasons as to why he never finished it. A must read for all interested in the Arthurian legends.

John Steinbeck has always been one of my favorite "classic" authors, and books of his like East of Eden and Grapes of Wrath are among the greatest in American literature. I have also had a fascination with the Arthurian tales. I should have found a combination of Steinbeck and King Arthur to be great; instead, I found only a passably good book (a little over three-and-a-half stars).

As is obvious from the letters Steinbeck wrote on the subject, he had a fascination with King Arthur too. The book he wrote is largely a translation of older works, especially Malory. While entertaining enough, it suffers from two principal flaws: it is an incomplete work (the book was published posthumously) and it is not what Steinbeck does best.

This book is best for Steinbeck (or Camelot) completists only. For those who want a proper introduction to either the author or this subject, there is plenty of better places to start.

I read this book as a teen and loved it and forgot about it until I came across it again recently. I forgot what a little jewel it is. Steinbeck, with his own inimitable style, has taken the ancient stories and retold them with his own wry, wise perspective of live and of human frailty.

I am particularly partial to the story of Sir Marhalt, an under-appreciated knight in the romantic pantheon. Marhalt is a fierce warrior and a great knight but he is very independent and doesn't want to be part of the Round Table. He goes adventuring with a "damsel" he meets in the forest and the results are both comic and exciting. When he is forced to do battle with the Lord of the South Border and his six sons, his damsel worries but Marhalt does not. Finally he tells her that he would rather fight seven men than one beecause if any one of the seven thought he was any good, he wouldn't need the other six.

A knight after my own heart.