Ivanhoe (Sir Walter Scott)

Ivanhoe, by Sir Walter Scott, is a tale much loved.  It concerns Wilfred, a Saxon Knight returning from the Third Crusade, and his quest to claim his lands (taken by the Normans) and his love, the Lady Rowena, who is under the care of his father Cedric.  Prince John, with designs on the throne while Richard I is away on Crusade, factors heavily in the tale, as does the Lion Heart himself.  Robin Hood plays a large part, as does the evil Templar Knight Brian Bois-de-Guilbert, along with Isaac & Rebecca of York, Jews much disdained in Christian England.

I've read that Scott invented, or at least reinvented, the historical fiction genre, so his depictions are supposed to be reasonably accurate.  They have shortcomings, but aren't too bad.  It's interesting (in a sad way) to see how poorly Jews were treated by Christians in this era, and how Saxons viewed the conquering Normans in Medieval England.

I have very mixed feelings about this work.  The prose is excellent- more eloquent than modern times, without being as difficult as Dickens.  Scott begins each chapter with a poem pulled from different sources, which I loved, but sometimes gave away what would happen.  The plot is good.  The characters, too, were wonderful.  My favorites were Cedric's jester, Wamba, who displayed an unusual amount of wit for a 'fool,' and Friar Tuck, Robin Hood's friar.  A lot of good stuff was to be found here.  Still, that said, something was off here, and I had a hard time figuring out what.  I think, in the end, the plot was delivered in a way that failed to build suspense.  The identity of Robin Hood & King Richard are not immediately revealed to the reader, but it's pretty obvious, so it wasn't a shocker when you found out the truth.  Some fights were described in a very anti-climactic way, and Scott would "pull out" of the story, and say things like "let the reader understand, that what I'm about to elaborate is in every way conceivable as having happened in this period."  I felt as though I had trouble immersing myself in this world, being often "pulled out" and reminded that I'm reading a recollection.  So, this is a work I wanted to give an A, or even A+, but in light of these things, I'll have to settle for something a little lower.

In the end, Scott is a good author, and I hope to read more in the future.   And, as a final thought, here is my favorite poem that fronted one chapter:

The hottest horse will oft be cool,
The dullest will show fire;
The friar will often play the fool,
The fool will play the friar

So true!

Rating: A-