Customer Reviews

A Booke of Days: A Journal of the Crusade

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Booke of Days is the story of a minor lord from Southern France who joins the first Crusade. His name is Roger of Lunel. Roger joins the Crusade because the Pope has promised absolution for any who fight, and kill, for Christianity. The irony of this is not lost on Roger who keeps a diary of his journey. At first Roger examines the ideas of the crusade even as he compares them to the reality. Knights who ravish women in southern France, wear body parts cut off from their enemies, and murder other Christians who don't follow the proper pope. These are the people who will save Christianity?

With this start, I was concerned that his book might become an anti-Christian or anti-West book. It is not. It is a realistic look at the Crusades which describes the good and ill, of all sides. A Booke of Days also describes the people, the customs, and the times, better then any book about this period I have encountered. Some of the twists of the personal story seem stretched, but I liked the story so much I will was willing to believe. In the end, rather then being a book about the Crusades, it is a book about Roger of Lunel, set in the Crusades.
I liked Roger, so I loved this book. I also loved the hundreds of small touches which show the effort and the artistry of the author. If this book really isn't true, it could be. And anyone who has even a passing interest in History or Romance should read it.

The critics do this novel an injustice by stating that it is a slow read and more of a documentary than a epic novel. True, there are many historical points and notes which root the story in actual history, but these only help to show the richness of the history and help to express the story's fine details. I could not put this novel down, and I have gained a seemingly firsthand knowledge of the tragedies and glories of the crusades. I recommend this book to all interested in the crusades as well as those wanting to learn more of military camp life and history without the trials of textbooks.

The Booke of Days is the story of a minor lord from Southern France who joins the first Crusade. His name is Roger of Lunel. Roger joins the Crusade because the Pope has promised absolution for any who fight, and kill, for Christianity. The irony of this is not lost on Roger who keeps a diary of his journey. At first Roger examines the ideas of the crusade even as he compares them to the reality. Knights who ravish women in southern France, wear body parts cut off from their enemies, and murder other Christians who don't follow the proper pope. These are the people who will save Christianity?

With this start, I was concerned that his book might become an anti-Christian or anti-West book. It is not. It is a realistic look at the Crusades which describes the good and ill, of all sides. A Booke of Days also describes the people, the customs, and the times, better then any book about this period I have encountered. Some of the twists of the personal story seem stretched, but I liked the story so much I will was willing to believe. In the end, rather then being a book about the Crusades, it is a book about Roger of Lunel, set in the Crusades.
I liked Roger, so I loved this book. I also loved the hundreds of small touches which show the effort and the artistry of the author. If this book really isn't true, it could be. And anyone who has even a passing interest in History or Romance should read it.

This is based on excellent research, using primary documents from a participant of the Crusade that aimed to conquer the Holy Lands for the Christians. It describes the actual behavior of the crusaders, including the various knightly orders, such as the Johanniters, Templars, Teutonic Knights, and others. This is not a novel, but a first-hand account based on the diary of one of the knights, the Baron de Lunel from the Provence. Strangely enough, there is the word "novel" added to the cover. Inexplicably so! Why? The author took many years to translate from Old Provencial and had expert help in the process. But the book nowhere reads like an academic treaties. The diary is full of suspense and unfortunately (but historically quite correct) gore. This is a MUST read for anyone who wants to know the true nature of the Crusades and the actual behavior of the knights. Incidentally, the title of the book, A BOOK OF DAYS, reads about as insipidly and unpromisingly ! as it can possibly get. Where was the editor's mind when he/she chose that wording? I think Rivelle's effort and the book's merits deserve a far more attractive and alluring title.

Contrary to the beliefs of my fellow reviewer of Rivelle's A Booke of Days, this is not an actual journal translation. It is a work of historical fiction with a clever preface designed to set up the reader. It seems to have worked. Nevertheless, it is an excellent book, and it probably conveys more truth about the Crusades than any actual participant could have managed. It is a wonderful ironic-age version of the quest, decked out with beautiful parti-colored loose ends. I strongly recommend it.

the book is great!very good really!Ni!
of course i had some doubts if the book was true..(eustace part) but
anyway...i really thought it was true..this means just one thing...that his research and work are brilliant!Ni!
(could also mean I'm a little idiot to believe in that..)
its a very good story and i recomend anyone to read it!

So be it!

-Foge cão, que te fazem barão!
-Para onde, se me fazem Visconde?

I'm reading this book now, i'm when Roger is crossing the Taurus to Jerusalem, and i make to myself the same question that, surely, makes a lot of people: Is this HI/story truth? or just a simple novell of a brilliant man like Stephen? cause, i been reading "Cabayo de Troya", from J.J. Benítez (spain) that tells a story about Jesus, that he say is true, but i have some doubts about it! . Please, i really wanna know... Thanks a lot. Deus le Volt!

I'm reading this book now, i'm when Roger is crossing the Taurus to Jerusalem, and i make to myself the same question that, surely, makes a lot of people: Is this HI/story truth? or just a simple novell of a brilliant man like Stephen? cause, i been reading "Cabayo de Troya", from J.J. Benítez (spain) that tells a story about Jesus, that he say is true, but i have some doubts about it! . Please, i really wanna know... Thanks a lot. Deus le Volt!

If this story is true,then there is something he should know,what happened to my sister in Saint John Cocathedral in Malta in regards to this book.

Following Roger of Lunel on his crusade to the Holy Land. Maybe not a very HOLY cause at all, but then again a very captivating and alive story told in a very convincing manner... If you enjoy stories about knighthood, and all the twists and turns of a rather messy cursade... Then this is the book for you...