The Talisman [Paperback]

Sir Walter Scott (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2003

The Talisman is Sir Walter Scott's tale of the Crusades -- a tale of chivalry, of violence, of virtue, romance, and deceit. In Scott's own words: ".?.?.?the warlike character of Richard I, wild and generous, a pattern of chivalry, with all its extravagant virtues, and its no less absurd errors, was opposed to that of Saladin, in which the Christian and English monarch showed all the cruelty and violence of an Eastern sultan, and Saladin, on the other hand, displayed the deep policy and prudence of a European sovereign, whilst each contended which should excel the other in the knightly qualities of bravery and generosity. This singular contrast afforded, as the author conceived, materials for a work of fiction possessing peculiar interest."

Editorial Reviews

Review

Robert Whitfield excels at phrasing, which, accompanied by his pleasant voice and British accent, makes this tape pleasant listening. --AudioFile --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

About the Author

SIR WALTER SCOTT (1771 1832), Scottish novelist and poet, is known as the father of both the regional and historical novel. His early works were successful verse romances, but he achieved lasting fame with his prose. A law clerk, sheriff, and baronet, he was also part owner of a financially troubled publishing house. This and the expense of building and furnishing his country house at Abbotsford nearly ruined him. Everything he wrote from 1813 on was done in part to repay the debts he had incurred debts he was determined to pay off by his own labor. --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 388 pages
• Publisher: Wildside Press (September 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592243630
• ISBN-13: 978-1592243631
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,152,428 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great historical fiction, January 12, 2004

By 

Frikle - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Talisman (Hardcover)

I read this when I was a kid and reread it recently and it's an absolute pleasure! The book deals with the period of the Crusades. It's set in the deserts around Syria/Palestine. The armies of the Crusaders have set up camp after a temporary truce. King Richard the Lion-Heart lies ill and members of the European nobility are scheming to make a profit at the expense of the Crusade. Around all this, a knight (the main character) is sent on a mission to negotiate a potential peace with Saladin.

This book has the classic images of the Crusades: duels, secret convents hidden in the harsh, craggy rocks of the desert, hermits, sultans, kings, dukes, Nubian slaves, conspiracies, Arab doctors and the like. It makes fascinating reading and reveals a lot about the imagination of Scott and his time.

This book is one of Scott's less famous works but very undeservedly so. I think it's as good as Ivanhoe.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sir Walter Scott's Most Philosophical Novel, December 26, 2006

By 

T. Patrick Killough "All about Patrick" (Black Mountain, NC United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Talisman (Paperback)

In novel and poem after novel and poem, Sir Walter Scott argues that the past never completely dies. He suggests that what is better (e.g. Reformation and Protestantism, rationalism and peaceful behavior) generally replace what is less good e.g. European Catholicism, superstition, cattle raiding and clan wars). But even "the bad old days" had good things not so apparent today: intense personal loyalties, unquestioning courage, chivalry and unselfish idealism. There are elements deep inside human nature in never ending war with their opposites.

This philosophy of history is nowhere more apparent than in Scott's 1825 historical novel, THE TALISMAN, which can be regarded as the second in a trilogy of King Richard I novels, of which the first is THE BETROTHED and the third is IVANHOE. Richard is not the designated hero in any of the three, but this most popular of England's kings dominates any scene in which he appears.

Because he is their best warrior, other European Kings and Princes on the Third Crusade to recapture Jerusalem from the great Muslim leader Saladin grudgingly acknowledge Richard the Lion Heart first among equals. But they know that he generally regards them as self-seeking, cowardly and always ready to cut a deal with Saladin and run back home to Austria, France, Italy and elsewhere. Richard's haughty personality inevitably undermines his best intentions to hold a shaky coalition together.

The King is accompanied by his recent bride, the young, beautiful, frivolous Berengaria of Navarre. Richard's cousin, Edith Plantagenet, heads the ladies attending the Queen. Edith cannot disguise her growing love for an ostensibly poor Scottish knight, Sir Kenneth of the Couchant Leopard. The Queen teases her for this and succeeds in luring Kenneth away from a post of high honor personally assigned by the Lion Heart.

Before this, Kenneth, on a mission from the High Council of the Crusade (Richard lying ill of a devastating fever) rides to the wilds near the Dead Sea to consult with a mysterious Carmelite Priest. En route he meets the disguised Saladin and, after an indecisive combat, the two become friends. Saladin is later introduced in another disguise as El Hakim (the healer) to Richard whose fever he cures with a mysterious talisman. Only the disguised Sultan's intercession prevents the enraged but grateful Richard from executing Sir Kenneth after the latter allows the standard of England to be stolen by the Head of the Knights Templar and the almost equally evil Conrade of Montserrat. Returned in disguise as a black mute, a gift from Saladin, Sir Kenneth saves Richard from assassination and, with the help of his great Scottish deer hound, unravels the plot of the Templar and Conrade.

Sir Kenneth is revealed as Prince David of Scotland and thus high enough in rank to marry the King's cousin. Saladin, who had wanted to marry Edith Plantagenet himelf as part of an overall peace treaty, graciously yields to his friend Kenneth/David and gives the young couple the talisman as a wedding present.

Where is the philosophy? In his first encounter with Kenneth, Saladin, a Kurd, reveals his traditional belief that Kurds descend from a mixture of demons and beautiful mortal women, from evil and good, that these qualities war in Kurds forever and that even conversion to Islam does not make Kurds honor their demon ancestors the less. Islam allows Kurds to hope the demons will be converted to light in the end. There is much of the dualism of Iranian Zoroastrianism in the novel, a variant of Scott's often repeated view that in every turning point of history, good wars with and defeats evil, but never utterly, never completely-- and rightly so. -OOO-

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Who is running this Crusade?, July 16, 2005

By 

john purcell "johneric99" (Purcellville, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Talisman (Hardcover)

Scott's classic tale of the Crusade is a product of his Victorian times with endless hidden relationships and disguises reminiscent of Dickens' Pickwick Papers. No one is who you think they are and if they are, they aren't on the side you expected. Also, there are no battles, this is a Crusade of philosophical discussions, mystery, scientific discovery, romance, crime, and mistaken identity.

Richard of England has tenuous leadership of a band of Templars, Scotsmen, French, German, and assorted mercenaries in a Holy Crusade to recover Jerusalem from the Infidels. During the time of this story, a truce is in place and Richard is near death with a mysterious fever. As this was a time of great patriotic fervor, trouble breaks out in the allied camps when various national flags are desecrated. All part of a plan for the other allied leaders to become supreme over the near-dead Richard.

Fortunately, Richard recovers with the help of an Infidel medical man. To really liven things up, the Royal women then join the camp, including Richard's charming young consort. Various alliances are contemplated, all including marriage proposals as their contractual binder. A very brave young Scotsman turns out to be a person of greater standing than advertised.

All in all, a very enjoyable novel. Dont expect to learn any actual history from Scott. It is not true that Richard and Saladin were allied, however briefly, against the Templars and the Austrians. It is true that all held Richard in great respect and that the Infidels were very advance in the scientific and medical arts.