Percival and the Presense of God: Young Percival's Quest for King Arthur & the Holy Grail [Paperback]

Jim Hunter (Author), Raymond H. Thompson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1997

A tale of the young Percival of Arthurian legend. Freely adapted from Malory and Chrtien de Troyes, this intense, thoughtful work tells of Percival's dual quest for Arthur and the Grail, and of the strange loss that follows.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"One thrills time and again at [Hunter's] use of words." -- Daily Telegraph

"Percival considers in turn the evidence for something outside his realistic world of mud and murder: conscience, sexuality, love, altruism." -- Times Literary Supplement

"[Hunter's] best book so far." -- Guardian

About the Author

Jim Hunter was born in England in 1939 and has lived there since, apart from one year in the U.S.A. in 1960-61. His publications include seven novels and a dozen critical and educational books. He has taught literature in a number of British schools, and in two of them was Headmaster. He now lectures for the Open University --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Green Knight Publishing (August 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568820976
• ISBN-13: 978-1568820972
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #809,864 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Wastelands brought to the sould, August 14, 1999

By 

J. Angus Macdonald "bibliovore" (Concord, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Percival and the Presense of God: Young Percival's Quest for King Arthur & the Holy Grail (Paperback)

I love the Arthurian legends, from Geoffrey of Monmouth to the latest claptrap. The themes are timeless, the characters ever-mutating, and the styles used in presenting the tales tell us more of the writer's time than of Arthur's, assuming he even existed. This was a book I had heard of for many year, but had never been able to read. I would suggest that anyone reading this book already be familiar with the outlines of the Quest for the Holy Grail at a minimum; better yet, know your Chretien de Troyes very well and have a good grounding in the Arthur-as-Welsh-Celt school of writing. Aside from that, this is a very sparse book, not as in there is nothing to it, but the style and action is kept minimal. It ends more or less where Chretien ended his tales -- almost midsentence.

The tone is devastating. There seems little hope in Percival's world. There had been hope recently -- the evidence is all around, but it has passed. This is a tale of a quest incomplete, of a searcher thwarted. It is a sad tale, sad to the core, as blasted as the Wastelands.

Read it if you have a love for these tales, but keep a happier book nearby for afters...